Two months prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, a young farmer from the rural community of Henley, Missouri received his draft notice and, within the passage of only a few days, was inducted as a soldier in the U.S. Army. Though Norbert Gerling entered the service for a one-year term, Pearl Harbor changed everything, thus compelling him to remain in the service for the duration of the war. This book chronicles Gerling's assignment to Company C, 609th Tank Destroyer Battalion and describes his experiences while traveling 1,200 miles across the battered European landscape as the gunner aboard an M-18 Hellcat tank destroyer. Based upon reflections and interviews with Sergeant Gerling and cross-referenced with scores of historical resources, this book affords the reader the opportunity to follow Sergeant Gerling from the receipt of his draft notice to his landing on Utah Beach in September 1944, through his participation during the Battle of the Bulge, his receipt of a Bronze Star medal for his role in the rescue of stranded tank and concluding with his time spent as a member of the occupational forces of Germany.