"Don't Just Kill Them, Murder Em": Burton E. Burfeind's War Stories
Synopsis ""Don't Just Kill Them, Murder Em": Burton E. Burfeind's War Stories"
"Don't Just Kill Them, Murder Em," was a motto heard by my father, 1st Scout Pfc. William A. Wilch, during fighting in WWII. Given after harrowing combat action, to encourage him to have no remorse for killing their enemy. Spoken by 2nd Scout Pfc. Burton E. Burfeind, who added Wilch's squad nickname to drive home his point, "Shoot Pee Wee, Just Shoot." Wilch found Burfeind's strategy kept them from being killed or captured, time after time on missions. Wilch's accounts of these actions, are described in fine detail from start to finish, with a backstory theme of love. Which this soldier has for family on the home front, his squad mates, then surprisingly for his once hated enemy, a short distance from the battlefield. He relates strong bonds formed with men, in U.S. and British camps, that were formed during training for the D-Day Invasion. Then the affects it had on him when they were left behind, by being wounded or killed in action. Photos are included throughout the narrative, including several of these soldiers together during training in that period. In addition there are documents, V-Mails, diagrams, interspersed with letters. Written home of missing family, home comforts, and several combat mission results. Wilch describes his being wounded in action, recovery, and return to battle, and being wounded a second time. Wilch talks of his enemy's effectiveness as combat soldiers, from fighting until he guarded them as prisoners of war. He relates his incredible meeting with a German paratrooper 12 years after the war, he thought he had killed in Normandy. Covering his post war years receiving The Legion of Honor, an invitation to The Kentucky Derby, and a thoroughbred filly named after his late wife. "Don't Just Kill Them, Murder Them," has his humorus accounts and miraculous combat coincidences, connected to later life. Pfc. Wilch's memoir was compiled to honor his lost friends, share with readers, friends, and their families. Memories of WWII held secret, for over 6o years.
