Memorial

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Statement from George F. Schneider:
"Our Troops had moved ahead and we followed. A break had been made in the German line and Captain Christy told me to take one of the runners with me and return to the rest of our company still at the farmhouse and guide them through the opening. Storm volunteered as well as Ken Bedford who was standing nearby. After a short discussion it was decided that Storm would accompany me. Before we could leave Captain Christy decided to come along. He sat in the front seat and Storm sat in the back over the right wheel. The pontoon bridge was now completed and tanks were rolling across in large numbers. We had already radioed for tanks to assist us in advancing through the break in the German line. As we traveled down a gently slopping gravel road we could see the dust from approaching tanks. As we approached the first tank Storm said his last words, "Beaucoup dust " The second tank was approaching us and, when it was about 10 feet from us it struck a mine with the outside edge of its left track. Most of the German mines were teller mines and were shaped like a large two-layer cake. These were their most destructive mine, and being made of metal and packed with powerful explosives, they were lethal. These could be dedected with mine detectors and the road had been swept by our antitank group and declared clear of mines. The one detonated by the approaching tank was made of plastic and could not be dedected with a mine detector. It was an elongated box pack with 10 pounds of explosives and often contained a timer so that several vehicles could pass over it without detonating it then later on it would explode and create disruption perhaps in a rear column. We had traveled this road on our way to the front and had avoided tripping any mine so these had obviously had timers on them or else all vehicles had miraculouslyavoided them.The tank struck the mine on its far left and most of the explosion was expended on the roadway. The tank suffered no damage and never slowed down. Antitank mines were not necessarily designed to destroy tanks. To disable a tank by blowing off or damaging one of its tracks was the purpose of a mine. By thus disabling movement of a tank it became a sitting duck for an antitank gun to finish it off. My first reaction from the explosion 10 feet away was to stop but before I could react iIhad progessed to a line in the road where a string of mines has been laid. I hit one with the right rear wheel and was blown over the steering whee and to the left front. Captain Christy was blown straight forward and landed about 75 feet away. He was killed outright. Storm landed between Captain Christy and the wreckage and had one leg completely blown off. He had been sitting directly over the blast."
It is told in the family, that on the day Pfc Ralf C. Storm was killed, their family pet howled the entire day and would not be consoled.