An M18 Hellcat tank photograph sits on the table of Army Veteran Richard Mossner at his home.

Seated at his kitchen table, Mossner points to a nearby framed photo of the M18 he drove during the war.In an effort to commemorate her grandfather's service, one of Mossner's granddaughters took a wartime photo of the tank and enlarged it, adding "Grandpa's home" to the bottom of the image. Despite the interest from multiple family members, Mossner said he's never really talked about the war.
"When they asked, I only told them I was in the Army," Mossner admitted.

Standing more than 8 ft. tall and 9 ft. wide, the enormous General Motors-built behemoth Mossner drove during the war weighed about 19 tons before crew members took their seats. . Propelled forward by a Continental radial plane engine with upwards of 400+ horsepower, Mossner said the tank could reach speeds as high as 55 mph or by 76 km.Reaching across the table, Mossner point to large white star emblazoned on the side of the tank, covered in bags. While the star would later become synonymous with U.S. armor, soldiers deployed across Europe hastened to camouflage it.turns out German artillery as well as tank crews would use the star as a target.Venturing through once-picturesque Belgian villages, American forces continued to force the German army to backpedal. Eventually, with winter settling into the region and neither army able to win outright, The Battle of the Bulge began. Wrapping his feet in straw for warmth when he could, Mossner was constantly exposed to the elements as he surveyed the field of battle.My face was like leather by the end," Mossner chuckled. The inside of the Hellcat was perpetually cold, with Mossner and the crew desperate for warmth.Mossner was hesitant to delve too deeply into the bloody details of his time within the belly of his tank destroyer. Instead, the 89-year-old chose to talk about the American medics who risked their lives to bring relief and aid to their compatriots.

Those guys were never given enough credit," Mossner said. "Seeing what they did, I think they must have taken the fear out of them during training."

During one of the many German mortar attacks in early 1945, Mossner witnessed medic after medic sprint out to treat injured American soldiers. For 10 days, Mossner remembers mortar fire raining down on them as well as members of the 101st Airborne, who were pinned down nearby.

Eventually, after days of shelling, Mossner and the rest of the American forces finally broke through the German lines, allowing for the 101 st to leave the nearby village of Foy.