Waiting for Dr. Rachel Apoo

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After having my prostate sliced out by a doctor using a laser shoved up my flagpole, I then developed a bilateral hernia while sketching in Europe. I noticed the hernia when I woke up one morning in Herdecke Germany. I thought I had it because I had decided to try the coffee in the historic Air B&B. It had developed so fast that I feared I might have to cut the trip short as it expanded. I spent the morning reading online articles about hernias and became convinced that it wasn’t dangerous at the time. I am sure a laser beam had ripped the lining of my lower abdomen from the inside during the prostate operation. I figured lots of hiking around Europe would help the healing process. Perhaps I was wrong.

The doctor arranged a follow-up after the prostate removal operation with his assistant Rachel Apoo. I had consulted with one doctor about correcting the hernia, but his consultation was less than informative or reassuring. He planned to sew plastic mesh on the inside of my abdomen. My sister had a hernia, and she had the exact same operation he described twice and it failed both times with different doctors. She later went to Dr. Jonathan Yunis who used pig’s bladder to correct the hernia. It was this trusted doctor I eventually used to do the operation. It cost $11,000 out of pocket and Ambetter Insurance refused to help with the costs in any way since he was out of network. Health insurance is a scam.

I asked Apoo about the hernia correction surgery. She told me the operation had nothing to do with the hernia that developed shortly after leaving the operating table. That protected the doctor from any possible lawsuits. She also prescribed me a drug which would lengthen the amount of time between bathroom breaks. The whole reason I had the swollen prostate removed was so that I could sit for several hours and finish a sketch or painting before having to run off to a bathroom. In Germany I was peeing everywhere I sketched. I marked trees all along the route of the 75th Infantry Division as they liberated the Ruhr Pocket during WWII. The pills Apoo prescribed were turned down by my health insurance. On a second office visit she prescribed another pill which did the trick. It is called Oxybutynin ER. I ran out of the drug last week and now I have to pee every few hours or so. I get up several times at night as well. I am calling in a refill today. I tried calling in a refill yesterday, but the Walgreens robots put me on hold for an extremely long time and then a human hung up on me. I hope to have better luck today.

April 14, 1945: Herdecke Germany

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The water supply for Herdecke Germany would be influenced by the Ruhr River and managed by the Ruhrverband corporation. In 1935, during the Nazi era, the organization was brought into line with Nazi ideology and placed under the authority of the Reich Office for Spatial Planning. Key infrastructure, such as the Hengsteysee reservoir, played a role in regional water management, with strict quality standards adhering to German drinking water regulation. The heavy Allied bombing of the city likely damaged the water supply.

Once the 75th Infantry Division captured any German city, they would have to establish water points to purify the water for the troops. The job of purifying water was critical. it was necessary test water being used by the troops and also testing was done on the city civilian water supply.

With the troops living so close to one another, the dangers involved in contracting a germ carried by water could result in catastrophe. Therefore to the men of the water points which were set up for the US Troops during the time spent overseas.
Water point signs were set up in each city leading to the purest water. The signs for the 75th Infantry Division were marked diamond, with an arrow pointing towards the freshwater supply.

On a small scale, American soldiers purified water using portable Halazone chlorine tablets for individual canteens. In this way, each soldier was responsible for purifying his own water supply. Halazone tablets were commonly used during World War II by U.S. soldiers for portable water purification, even being included in accessory packs for C-rations.

Engineer water supply platoons set up purification points near streams or ponds. For these larger scale water supplies, ERDLator Units were used. Technically named the “Water Purification Unit, Van-Type, Body Mounted, Electric Motor Driven unit, these were truck-mounted, van-type devices developed by the Engineer Research and Development Laboratory that performed flocking, filtration, and chlorination on water pumped out of local streams.

A passage from a field engineers manual points out the importance of the purification units: “One of the most important units was the water supply platoon. This platoon operated water purification plants called ERDLalators that could remove silt and suspended matter, filter, and purify even contaminated stream water. Producing from 1-3,000 gallons per day — the larger number was achieved using separate large rubberized settling tanks, one unit could adequately supply an infantry battalion under adverse conditions” Drinking impure water could be deadlier than a machine gun bullet.

What seems to have saved many World War II soldiers from disease was the popularity of coffee. As soon as the line of march stopped for more than a moment, the men would fall out and boil up some coffee.

Purified water is stored in large canvas tanks until forward military units need it. Unit tank trailers and 5 gallon metal storage cans are used to transport the water from the engineers water point to the troops. Every unit of 100 men or less is issued a water sterilizing bag, known as a lister bag. It is usually used to store and distribute water that has already been made fit for drinking. The bag can also be used to purify water when the water truck can not get to the front lines. The bag is made of heady duty canvas and can hold 36 gallons of water. It is hung from a tripod of poles or branches. Calcium hypochlorite was used to chlorinate and purify the water. Orthotolidine was used to test the water to see if it has been adequately chlorinated. A deep yellow color indicated that the water was safe to drink. It too3 0 minutes for the chemicals to kill any germs that were in the water.

These efforts, directed by the Corps of Engineers and Medical Corps, ensured safe drinking water in diverse theaters of operation. It was also used to supply fresh drinking water for the thousands of displaced persons who were released from forced labor camps.

April 14, 1945: Old City, Herdecke Germany

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At the little town of Herdecke Germany, the burgomeister formally declared: “I surrender the town of Herdecke to the Allied Military forces at 1000 April 14, 1945. It is understood that from this time forward, control of Herdecke will be by the Allied forces.”

The surrender was to L-Company of the 289th Infantry Division.

Within several days, First Army units to the south of Herdecke had closed in to the other side of the Ruhr River. The battle was over.

Albert Vögler, a prominent industrialist and Nazi supporter, committed suicide while being led away by American soldiers from his luxurious Hause Ende Ville in north Herdecke. He bit down on a hidden cyanide pill, dying instantly. Despite his death, he was still identified as one of the defendants in the Nuremberg trials of prominent industrialists, which prosecuted the group of businessmen who helped Hitler. The industrialists were tried at Nuremberg, for using slave labor, plundering occupied territories, and aiding the Nazi war machine. Most received prison sentences ranging from 2 to 12 years, though many were released early in the 1950s.

The Nazis initiated a conscious policy of “annihilation through work,” under which certain categories of prisoners were literally worked to death. Camp prisoners were forced to work under conditions that would directly and deliberately lead to illness, injury, and death.

Vögler an important executive in the munitions industry during World War II was an industrialist who financed the Nazis, Vögler was a member of the Circle of Friends of the Economy, which was a of German industrialists whose aim was to strengthen the ties between the Nazi Party and business and industry. As a business man, Vögler feared the rise of communism in Germany. Records of donations from Vögler to the Nazi Party from as early as 1931 exist. Vögler met Adolf Hitler on September 11, 1931. Beginning in 1932, Vögler openly funded the Nazi Party.

Vögler invited Hitler several times to his Haus Ended estate. Hitler did not feel safe at the estate at the beginning of the war, so Vögler spared no expense and effort to develop a huge bunker system and to install extensive security measures for the protection of his villa.

After 1940, Vögler was heavily involved with the manufacture of munitions. The armaments industry used much forced labor as well as slave labor so the costs of manufacturing were minimal. Albert had his fingers in many industrial pies, he was involved with United Steel Works in Düsseldorf as Chairman of the Board,. He was also associated with the German-Luxembourg Mining and Smelting Company and Rhein-Westphalian Coal Syndicate in Essen Germany. In the end his guilt over the blood money he had made resulted in his suicide by cyanide.

April 14, 1945: Herdecke Germany, Ruhr River Viaduct

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The Ruhr River-Viaduct was opened in 1879 as part of the Düsseldorf-Derendorf–Dortmund South Railway, In May 1943, it was damaged by a flood wave following Operation Chastise (Dambusters Raid ). 19 British Lancaster bombers from Royal Air Force 617 Squadron aimed to destroy the Möhne, Eder, and Sorpe dams using “Upkeep” bombs, designed to skip across water and sink against the dam wall. The Möhne and Eder dams were breached, releasing massive floods. The Sorpe dam sustained little damage.

The devastating floodwaters traveled down the Ruhr river, impacting several towns and villages downstream in the Ruhr Valley, including the area surrounding Herdecke Germany, which is situated on the Ruhr between the Sorpe dam and the Rhine. The flood wave swept away a pillar of the viaduct, narrowly missing an approaching train. The destruction caused massive, though temporary, damage to water, power, and industrial infrastructure in the region. Over 1,600 people died in the flooding, a significant portion being allied prisoners of war and forced laborers.

Forced labor was used to reconstruct the arch destroyed in the floodwaters of the Dambusters Raid, but then in 1945, the Wehrmacht demolished two of the Viaduct’s arches to hinder Allied advances.

The three battalions of the 75th Infantry Division continued to press south towards the Ruhr River. Every yard was bitterly contested by the German enemy whose freedom of movement was limited and compressed on all sides. German troops were hopelessly trapped and were being fired upon by artillery from all sides. The American foot troops continued to press forward three abreast. The Germans were attempting to prevent the Americans from capturing a main road that could offer an escape route across the Ruhr River.

The 2nd Battalion found resistance weakening, and they took advantage of this to drive south through to the Ruhr River. E- Company of the 2nd Battalion wrestled their objective from the enemy. My father 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken was in the 1st Battalion which found it’s sector crumbling and they reached the Ruhr without major difficulty.

The 3rd Battalion encountered stiff resistance from Germans who had entrenched themselves on the opposite slope of a hill slightly north of the river with the intention of defending that high ground at all cost. As elements of the 3rd Battalion advanced toward the hilltop, F-Company of the 289th Infantry Division, pushed through on the enemy right flank, catching the enemy in a deadly cross fire.

The German positions collapsed and the advance continued to Herdecke with the enemy fighting a delaying action as they retreated. An airstrike was made on the town of Herdecke, and the city was offered an opportunity to surrender by L-Company. The offer was accepted and K and L Companies crossed the Ruhr River on the south side of the town.

The 290th Infantry Division was relieved on April 14, 1945 by elements of the 313th and 314th Infantry in what would prove to be the final battle action in the European Campaign.

April 12, 1945: Old City Hall, Dortmund Germany

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In Dortmund Germany, I searched for an old building that might have stood back in 1945. The Altes Stadhaus was hosting a wedding when I stopped to sketch. People were gathered outside at the entrance to the building despite the intermittent rain. A woman released a metallic helium balloon and people cheered as the balloon floated up to the grey sky. I hunched over my drawing trying to block the rain before the page became a liquid mess. Saint Reynolds Church could be seen down the street.

The Altes Stadhaus is an office block which was built in 1899, designed by “master builder” Friedrich Kullrich, an architect from Berlin. It was built in the Renaissance Revival style. The building was partially  damaged in World War II, due to heavy Allied bombing which leveled the city center. A record-breaking air raid on March 12, 1945, dropped over 4,800 tons of bombs, the largest in a single city during the war. 98% of the city center was leveled. The Stadhaus was rebuilt in the same Renaissance Revival style to remind people of the cities past. Though opulent in design it was simplified compared to the 13th century original building. Reconstruction seldom restored the full grandeur of the past.

On April 12, 1945, the 95th Infantry Division attacked attacked Dortmund from the southeast and liberating the central and southern part of the city. Edward D. Snell, in F-Company, 2nd Battalion, 378th Regiment, said he couldn’t believe how much of the city was destroyed by years of bombing. There was nothing left of the center municipality of Dortmund, it was completely gutted.

After the fighting subsided, there were many displaced persons (DPs) running around looting stores and shops. Displaced persons were usually forced laborers who had been starved on minimal rations of a thin watery “soup”. This “soup” was low in nutrients (e.g., swede soup, or “Yoshnik” made of a few potatoes, barley, and beans), and it was intentionally inadequate for sustaining the heavy labor demanded of the prisoners. After liberation, they foraged for food to survive.

It was about this time that Ed and his squad were informed that President Franklin D. Roosevelt had died. This news had a solemn effect on the whole Division. His squad captured a Nazi headquarters near the center of Dortmund. He relieved one of the German officers of his P-08 Lugar, and his dress sword. Within the headquarters, they found racks and racks of beautiful rifles and shotguns that the German military police had confiscated from the public. Ed and his squad were ordered to destroy them. He said he felt awful having to break up those weapons in the middle of the street. They were some of the finest rifles and shotguns he had ever seen.

The 290th Infantry Division  passed to the west of the city of Dortmund in a push to get to the Ruhr River. With Dortmund surrounded the Ruhr pocket was crushed. The 290th Infantry Division, 75th Infantry, 2nd Battalion captured Herdeke Germany on April 14, 1945. Herdeke is directly south of Dortmund on the Ruhr River. The enemy had fought  a delaying action as they retreated. An air strike was made on the town. The burgermeister surrendered to L- Company. He wrote, “I surrender the town of Herdeke to the Allied military forces at 1000 April 14, 1945. It is understood that from this time forward, control of Herdeke will be by allied forces.” K and L-Companies crossed the Ruhr River to secure it’s southern bank. This would prove to be the last battle for the 75th Infantry Division of the European campaign.