Foreign News: Heavings

As the first U.S. armor rumbled into the first German town, Roetgen, Germans froze and stared. Then a German made a tentative V-sign. A woman started to cry. Finally a Hausfrau approached with an offering—a skirtful of green apples. Against orders, the G.I.s passed out chocolate.

It was like that in half a dozen little forest towns along the border, as fear gave way to sullenness and sullenness to little offers of assistance. But in Wallendorf, frenzied civilian snipers picked off the first patrols, shot down rescuing medical corpsmen. Wallendorf was burned to the ground.

Beyond the battle lines, under the hard official...