World War II veteran surprised with a drive-in party for his 95th birthday

Four generations of George Wolf's family gathered in the yard outside of his home in Hopewell Township on Memorial Day to wish the World War II veteran a happy birthday.

Wolf, a lifelong farmer, turns 95 years old on Thursday.

"I was surprised, of course," Wolf said while sitting in a lawn chair by his garage. "I never expected anything."

The family organized the surprise drive-in party at Wolf's home in rural southern York County. Dozens of vehicles parked in his yard, and relatives sang "Happy Birthday" to him. They also enjoyed single-serving desserts, including ice cream and cupcakes. 

During the novel coronavirus pandemic, the family had been just dropping off meals for him, daughter Susan Herbert said. It was nice to be able to get together on Monday.

Wolf served at the Battle of Remagen Bridge in Germany at the end of World War II. He received a Purple Heart for the injuries he suffered during the war.

Remembering the war

Wolf recently recalled details of his service.

He was inducted into the Army in 1944. He and his wife, Hazel, had a 4-week-old son at the time. He was only 19.

Wolf, who is from southern York County, remembers riding a bus to the New Cumberland Army depot and seeing the men in a field doing calisthenics.

"Do you mean I'm going to have to do that?" he recalled thinking at the time. "Being a farm boy, I never did that kind of stuff."

After about a week, he went to Fort Belvoir in Virginia where he trained to put up bridges and tear them down. One day, a captain told the men that a lot of soldiers had been lost in Germany. Wolf and others had to go to Texas for infantry training for several weeks.

Wolf and his fellow soldiers shipped off to Germany. They rode on a train, traveled in trucks and walked to reach their destination.

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One night, Wolf's leader told him and two others to dig a hole. The men were tired so they laid down to rest instead of digging the hole. Fewer than five minutes later, the shells started bursting in the trees above them.

"We got our little shovels, and we got a hole pretty quick," he said.

Their mission was to go to the Rhine River and cross it. As they got to the river in the evening, they decided to sleep in a service station. One of the men found wine in the basement, and they had some to drink that night. 

In the middle of the night, the squad leader woke them up to cross the river. The railroad bridge, called the Ludendorff Bridge, had plank bottoms, and as the men tried to cross, the Germans threw shells on the span. They ran back a couple of times.

However, Gen. George Patton wanted the soldiers over the bridge, so the third time they crossed it. Some of the planks blew up, and a few of the guys fell through. 

"We were lucky enough to get past that," Wolf said.

When they got to the other side, they were the only ones there, he recalled. Only airplanes were fighting in the air. 

They dug a fox hole again and stayed for three days until some tanks arrived and they could move forward.

Injured by a mortar shell

The soldiers moved through the German towns. The men were in pairs. Wolf's friend told him to go up to the attic in one of the houses and watch to see if he could get to the next house OK.

Just as Wolf reached the top of the attic steps, he heard the whistle sound of a mortar shell coming. It hit the house.

"... it blew a big hole in my helmet, and it knocked me down the steps," Wolf said.

He doesn't know how long he was out. When he came to, the German civilians were standing there, watching him. He made it outside where he was picked up by a medical Jeep.

Wolf was taken to an emergency hospital, where he was patched up. He eventually was transferred to a bigger hospital in Paris, where he stayed for two months.

"And the day I got released, the war was over, and they were celebrating in the Paris streets," he said.

Then he served as a clerk in the military police. His company guarded materials on trains crossing through Germany. They would go as far as they could, and then come back on another train. 

He had an opportunity to see the country.

Finally, Wolf could return home. He boarded a victory ship and landed in New Jersey.

He said he thought, "oh boy, I'm going to be home again."

He returned to farming in southern York County because that's all he knew. He and his wife had six children.

"It was an experience I'll never forget, but I hope that the next generation don't have to go through that type of war," he said.