Col. William F. Roos, Springfield, Virginia: an interview by Professor Daniel McCool: Saving the legacy oral history

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OL. WILLIAM F. ROO o emb r 11 2004 would pick them up and take them down there to the Rhine River. That wa befor th y could get out of Germany. They would have to get the MP's to take them down to where our bridg were. DAN: Oh, okay. BILL: Because they were in that area; between Mannheim and Frankfort, and it wouldn't do them any good to go down there to the river unless they were going to swim across. DAN: Okay. BILL: So, we had the job in the 11th Engineer Group itself to put in four bridges across the Rhine River, floating bridges. And these (pause while looking at pictures). DAN: That's the Rhine River? BILL: That's the Rhine River back there. DAN: I always think of the Rhine as having lots of hills and steep banks. BILL: Oh, there are places further north. DAN: Further north. That looks totally flat. BILL: Further north. Yeah, right around there, that's exactly the way it is. That's the Rhine River. And that's about a thousand feet across. And, so, the MP's would bring them down there to this bridge. But can you imagine a pregnant young woman with four or five kids in the back seat-cold, wet, hungry, scared-trying to drive across this thing. You know, it goes up and down-as you get across there it goes down-and drive across this at night with no lights. DAN: With no lights. That's a recipe for ... BILL: That would be-l used to say, if we ever have to do that it will be a great big Chinese 48