I was a cryptographer or code technician in the Signal Corps with the U.S. Seventh Army in W.W.II. Decoding and encoding our own secret military messages and analyzing those of the Germans was nerve-wracking, serious business. Thousands of lives--our own and the enemy's--depended upon the results of our work. It was stimulating, challenging, frustrating, exciting--and also very draining. Sometimes we learned awesome intelligence matters upon which whole battles turned: troop movements, number of casualties, pivotal captures or losses, changes in strategic plans, etc. (Several times I knew exactly where Adolf Hitler was. He was just always too deep underground for us to get at him!)
After the bitter, bloody "Battle of the Bulge" in the winter of '44-'45 things moved at a dizzying pace throughout that final spring.
Commanding the U.S. Seventh Army was General Alexander Patch. We in the Seventh were to the south, on the right flank of the attack, eventually winding up in Bavaria in the foothills of the Alps. To our left, in the center, was the U.S. Third Army, commanded by flamboyant, swashbuckling Genarl George Patton. They finally went all the way into Czechoslovakia and Austria. (I once had a snapshot of Patton deliberately and publickly relieving himself into the Rhine River, but I sold it!)
During those final weeks things got pretty hectic. I suppose the goofiest exchange I ever encoded and decoded had to do with the fact that the Third and Seventh Armies were assigned to certain areas on the map of Germany to attack and capture--and they were supposed to stick to their "zones."
So here came a "Smart-ass" message from Patton to Patch--all in top secret five-letter code groups. It may have taken me half an hour to break it down and copy it in cleartext:
"Alex--
I have captured the village of ?Landelsaxa?. It is in your zone. What shall we do with it? Give it back to the "Krauts"? Come on! Get the lead out! You are moving too slowly!
(Signed) George"
The reply, which, of course, had to be put into sacred, secret code:
"George--
Stuff it up where it will do the most good! And stay to hell out of my zone! You could get hurt!
(Signed) Alex"