Alexander A. Drabik

Sgt. Alexander A. Drabik (1910 - September 28, 1993) was the first American soldier to cross the Rhine River into Germany.Obituary, " [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE4DC103BF931A35753C1A965958260&scp=1&sq=Alexander+Drabik&st=nyt Alexander Drabik, 82, First G.I. To Cross Remagen Bridge in 1945] ", New York Times, 1993-10-02.] Under heavy machine-gun fire, Drabik dashed across the Ludendorff Bridge near Remagen on March 7, 1945, while Germans tried desperately to detonate it. Hitler had ordered his troops to destroy the bridge, but his Polish conscripts had cut some of the fuses,pl icon cite journal |author =Jan Nowak-Jeziorański |year =1993 |month = |title =Małe państwo i wielkie zwycięstwo (Small state and a great victory) |journal =Gazeta Wyborcza |date=1993-08-13 |issue =188 |pages =13 |id = |url =http://szukaj.gazeta.pl/archiwum/1,0,131279.html?kdl=19930813GW&wyr=Nowak-Jeziora%25F1ski%2B |format = |accessdate =] allowing time for Drabik and other members of Company A, 27th Armored Infantry Battalion, 9th Armored Division, to take it. For his heroism, Drabik was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. [ [http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/media_ph.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10006180&MediaId=3917. Remagen | photography ] ] U.S. Representative Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) has repeatedly sponsored legislation to award him the Medal of Honor.Ryan E. Smith, "Dash over Rhine bridge sealed the Nazis' defeat", Toledo Blade, 2005-03-06.]

Drabik later said: [Howard Langer, "World War II: An Encyclopedia of Quotations," 206 (1999) ISBN 0313300186.]

We ran down the middle of the bridge, shouting as we went. I didn't stop because I knew that if I kept moving they couldn't hit me. My men were in squad column and not one of them was hit. We took cover in some bomb craters. Then we just sat and waited for others to come. That's the way it was.

Drabik was the son of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Drabik, Polish immigrants who raised thirteen children on a farm near Holland and Toledo, Ohio. ["First GI to Cross Rhine Unterrified By Lorelei Maiden", Stars & Stripes London Edition, 1945-03-12 at 1.] Prior to his enlistment, he worked as a butcher in Holland, Ohio. [ [http://www.utoledo.edu/library/canaday/VetHistAudio/Drabik.mp3#$146931 University of Toledo Veterans History Project audio file] .] Early in his military career, he distinguished himself by rescuing 120 recruits who had become lost on the California desert. [ [http://www.utoledo.edu/library/canaday/VetHistAudio/Drabik.mp3#$146931 Toledo Veterans History Project audio file] at 4:20.] Drabik was seriously wounded during the Battle of the Bulge. [ [http://www.utoledo.edu/library/canaday/VetHistAudio/Drabik.mp3#$146931 Toledo Veterans History Project audio file] at 5:00.] On August 18, 1945, Toledo honored him and his commanding officer, Maj. Gen. John W. Leonard, with a parade..

Drabik was killed in an auto accident in 1993, en route to a reunion of his unit.

An alternate opinion by Travis Smith (a contributor):

"Alexander A. Drabik was not the first American soldier to cross the Rhine River into Germany. There were really several other Americans that crossed the bridge all at the same time. Sergeant Alexander A. Drabik was actually several people behind the front line of men crossing the bridge. Sergeant Alexander A. Drabik was the first person to speak to the press and to take the glory. As quoted in this section by Drabik as he stated in an interview, "WE ran down the middle of the bridge, shouting as WE went." In a war you don't run in a single file line while being shot at, everyone runs as fast as possible to get to the other side to take cover."

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