This is the way I heard it.

Corporal Kaminsky was precariously perched

to top a makeshift utility pole 40 feet above the frozen ground.

In the dim light of a crescent moon,

he squinted to complete his task

and tried not to lose his battle with gravity.

As a member of the 1104th Engineer Combat Group,

Kaminsky was used to such work.

What he was not used to was doing it so close to the enemy.

You see this particular pole to which this particular 18-year-old

corporal clung was planted in Belgium,

specifically in the Ardán forest,

and just through the trees,

a big chunk of the German army was regrouping

after their enormous offensive

that would be remembered forever as the Battle of the Bulge.

There was so close, Kaminsky could smell him,

an odorous stew of broadwurst, gasoline,

and boiled cabbage filled his nostrils.

You could hear them, too.

They'd been playing propaganda recordings all night long,

an unholy mix of the German national anthem,

...