I was only a punk kid

. . . arrived at Arras, France and stopped for 5 or 10 minutes when we saw, noticed a bunch of German prisoners heaving rails onto a flat car to be used at some other point. In our battalion was a man by the name of Frank LeMark, a professional wrestler by trade but a linguist also. Spoke perfect German, English, French, and Italian. He asked four of these German prisoners to step aside. He stood in the center of this rail, measured it off, gripped it by both hands, raised it suddenly to a pushing position then heaved it onto the box car. And also, because I was in the boxing business and he the wrestling business, we often discussed things together and he taught me. I was only about 140 pounds at the time, and he taught me how to lift a rail 133 pounds and raise it above my head . . . once . . . twice . . . three times and then drop it. And this went on, and all through our first actions I remember him, and somehow or other, why he came to me, God only knows, I don’t know, but everytime he had a problem he came to me, and I was only a punk kid.