Misbehavior Before the Enemy and Unlawful Command Influence in World War Ⅱ: The Strange Case of Albert C. Homcy

摘要

On 27 August 1944, LTC William A. Bird, the commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division, was in his battalion's command post, located near Concourdia, France. Bird and his staff were under fire from German tanks or self-propelled artillery, and something had to be done to stop the murderous fire. Lieutenant Colonel Bird assigned the mission to seek out and destroy these German guns to 28-year-old Second Lieutenant (2LT) Albert C. Homcy, an antitank platoon leader in his battalion. Homey was to accompany a hastily assembled unit of cooks, bakers and orderlies on a "strong patrol" to "destroy, with bazookas or grenades, those guns or whatever they were, as soon as possible."