The Bazooka Trick That Turned American Soldiers Into Panzer Killers
WW2 POW Stories
143,086 views
On the morning of December 21, 1944, in a shattered factory window in the Belgian town of Malmedy, a nineteen-year-old American boy from upstate New York raised a bazooka to his shoulder. The tube was empty. Sixty yards down the street a German Panther was rolling toward him — and nothing an American infantryman carried was supposed to be able to stop it.
His name was Francis Sherman Currey. He was an orphan. He had lost both parents by the age of twelve and grown up quiet and useful in a foster home in the Catskills. When he enlisted, it was not for glory. It was because the Army offered him the first place where his name was expected at meals and where someone would notice if he did not come back. On that December morning he crossed a street under German machine-gun fire three separate times. He knocked out one tank with a single shot to the turret ring. He forced the crews of four more armored vehicles to abandon their tanks and run. He saved five American lives. And when the sun rose over the Warche River bridge, one of the largest German offensives of the war had one fewer road to travel. Most Americans still have never heard his name.
00:00 – The empty bazooka in the factory window
08:00 – The orphan from Sullivan County
16:00 – Learning the weapon that was never supposed to work
24:00 – Crossing the street under fire
32:00 – The tanks that turned around and ran
If your father or grandfather fought in the Ardennes, or if someone in your family ever sat across a desk from a quiet man at the Veterans Administration who never mentioned what he had done, leave his name in the comments. These men deserve to be remembered.
🎖️ WW2 POW Stories is a documentary-style channel dedicated to the true stories of World War II prisoners of war.
📜 We tell real accounts of American and Allied soldiers who endured captivity, hardship, and survival during WWII.
🕊️ These stories are carefully researched and respectfully narrated to preserve history and honor those who lived it.
🇺🇸 This channel exists to remember the sacrifices, resilience, and quiet courage of a generation that must never be forgotten.
📺 New long-form WW2 POW stories released regularly for viewers who value truth, history, and remembrance. @ww2powstories-yt
#FrancisCurrey #MedalOfHonor #BattleOfTheBulge #Malmedy #WW2History #MilitaryHistory #AmericanHero #Bazooka #Ardennes #TrueHistory #GreatestGeneration #Veterans #NeverForget #HistoryMatters #OldHickory #USArmy #RememberThem #WWIIHeroes #BelgianWinter #QuietCourage
20 Comments
IIRC, this soldier got the Medal of Honor.
The American machine was designed to penetrate earlier German panzers.
It would've done in Mk III & IV panzers.
For the big machines... the US should've revisited their design.
As it was, Bazookas turned out be mighty effective personal artillery against everything else, pretty much.
The Bazooka Trick That Turned American Soldiers Into Panzer Killers
WW2 POW Stories
143,086 views
On the morning of December 21, 1944, in a shattered factory window in the Belgian town of Malmedy, a nineteen-year-old American boy from upstate New York raised a bazooka to his shoulder. The tube was empty. Sixty yards down the street a German Panther was rolling toward him — and nothing an American infantryman carried was supposed to be able to stop it.
His name was Francis Sherman Currey. He was an orphan. He had lost both parents by the age of twelve and grown up quiet and useful in a foster home in the Catskills. When he enlisted, it was not for glory. It was because the Army offered him the first place where his name was expected at meals and where someone would notice if he did not come back. On that December morning he crossed a street under German machine-gun fire three separate times. He knocked out one tank with a single shot to the turret ring. He forced the crews of four more armored vehicles to abandon their tanks and run. He saved five American lives. And when the sun rose over the Warche River bridge, one of the largest German offensives of the war had one fewer road to travel. Most Americans still have never heard his name.
00:00 – The empty bazooka in the factory window
08:00 – The orphan from Sullivan County
16:00 – Learning the weapon that was never supposed to work
24:00 – Crossing the street under fire
32:00 – The tanks that turned around and ran
If your father or grandfather fought in the Ardennes, or if someone in your family ever sat across a desk from a quiet man at the Veterans Administration who never mentioned what he had done, leave his name in the comments. These men deserve to be remembered.
🎖️ WW2 POW Stories is a documentary-style channel dedicated to the true stories of World War II prisoners of war.
📜 We tell real accounts of American and Allied soldiers who endured captivity, hardship, and survival during WWII.
🕊️ These stories are carefully researched and respectfully narrated to preserve history and honor those who lived it.
🇺🇸 This channel exists to remember the sacrifices, resilience, and quiet courage of a generation that must never be forgotten.
📺 New long-form WW2 POW stories released regularly for viewers who value truth, history, and remembrance. @ww2powstories-yt
#FrancisCurrey #MedalOfHonor #BattleOfTheBulge #Malmedy #WW2History #MilitaryHistory #AmericanHero #Bazooka #Ardennes #TrueHistory #GreatestGeneration #Veterans #NeverForget #HistoryMatters #OldHickory #USArmy #RememberThem #WWIIHeroes #BelgianWinter #QuietCourage
These are the role models for our children. May GOD bless our GREATEST GENERATION, our military, veterans and their families.