Married Shirley.
They called themselves "The Three Musketeers."
Limey. The Greek. And Trixie.
Three soldiers, as close as brothers, surviving some of World War II's most ferocious battles; wounded when they landed on Omaha Beach just days after D-Day, and again during the Battle of the Bulge, and still again when they checked for land mines and blew up bridges under the cover of night, always under attack from the German army.
Without each other, they'd never have survived.
The 23rd Armored Engineers, 3rd Armored Division, U.S. Army was on the front lines of every major campaign in Europe, the first Allied troops to cross into Germany. Casualties were extremely high; their duties always dangerous.
The Three Musketeers watched out for each other, kept each other alive.
When the war was done, the three war veterans — barely out of their teens — promised they would see each other again one day. They shook on it: Clifford "Limey" Guard; Henry "The Greek" Kallas; and Ralph "Trixie" Trinkley.
"We were inordinately close because the situation called for it," Guard says. "Go through what we did, and it made you a friend for life, that's what."
When they said their good-byes, Kallas, who was from Evart, Mich., and Trinkley, who was from coal mining country in Pennsylvania, were being shipped home.
But Guard, who was a Welshman fighting in the U.S. Army, was staying behind, assigned duty in Germany as part of the occupational Army. It was the first time he and the others were split up since before the war.
"The last time I saw The Greek, I told him I'd look him up," Guard says. "I promised I'd see him again."
He never did.
They called themselves "The Three Musketeers."
Limey. The Greek. And Trixie.
Three soldiers, as close as brothers, surviving some of World War II's most ferocious battles; wounded when they landed on Omaha Beach just days after D-Day, and again during the Battle of the Bulge, and still again when they checked for land mines and blew up bridges under the cover of night, always under attack from the German army.
Without each other, they'd never have survived.
The 23rd Armored Engineers, 3rd Armored Division, U.S. Army was on the front lines of every major campaign in Europe, the first Allied troops to cross into Germany. Casualties were extremely high; their duties always dangerous.
The Three Musketeers watched out for each other, kept each other alive.
When the war was done, the three war veterans — barely out of their teens — promised they would see each other again one day. They shook on it: Clifford "Limey" Guard; Henry "The Greek" Kallas; and Ralph "Trixie" Trinkley.
"We were inordinately close because the situation called for it," Guard says. "Go through what we did, and it made you a friend for life, that's what."
When they said their good-byes, Kallas, who was from Evart, Mich., and Trinkley, who was from coal mining country in Pennsylvania, were being shipped home.
But Guard, who was a Welshman fighting in the U.S. Army, was staying behind, assigned duty in Germany as part of the occupational Army. It was the first time he and the others were split up since before the war.
"The last time I saw The Greek, I told him I'd look him up," Guard says. "I promised I'd see him again."
He never did.
Married Shirley.
They called themselves "The Three Musketeers."
Limey. The Greek. And Trixie.
Three soldiers, as close as brothers, surviving some of World War II's most ferocious battles; wounded when they landed on Omaha Beach just days after D-Day, and again during the Battle of the Bulge, and still again when they checked for land mines and blew up bridges under the cover of night, always under attack from the German army.
Without each other, they'd never have survived.
The 23rd Armored Engineers, 3rd Armored Division, U.S. Army was on the front lines of every major campaign in Europe, the first Allied troops to cross into Germany. Casualties were extremely high; their duties always dangerous.
The Three Musketeers watched out for each other, kept each other alive.
When the war was done, the three war veterans — barely out of their teens — promised they would see each other again one day. They shook on it: Clifford "Limey" Guard; Henry "The Greek" Kallas; and Ralph "Trixie" Trinkley.
"We were inordinately close because the situation called for it," Guard says. "Go through what we did, and it made you a friend for life, that's what."
When they said their good-byes, Kallas, who was from Evart, Mich., and Trinkley, who was from coal mining country in Pennsylvania, were being shipped home.
But Guard, who was a Welshman fighting in the U.S. Army, was staying behind, assigned duty in Germany as part of the occupational Army. It was the first time he and the others were split up since before the war.
"The last time I saw The Greek, I told him I'd look him up," Guard says. "I promised I'd see him again."
He never did.
They called themselves "The Three Musketeers."
Limey. The Greek. And Trixie.
Three soldiers, as close as brothers, surviving some of World War II's most ferocious battles; wounded when they landed on Omaha Beach just days after D-Day, and again during the Battle of the Bulge, and still again when they checked for land mines and blew up bridges under the cover of night, always under attack from the German army.
Without each other, they'd never have survived.
The 23rd Armored Engineers, 3rd Armored Division, U.S. Army was on the front lines of every major campaign in Europe, the first Allied troops to cross into Germany. Casualties were extremely high; their duties always dangerous.
The Three Musketeers watched out for each other, kept each other alive.
When the war was done, the three war veterans — barely out of their teens — promised they would see each other again one day. They shook on it: Clifford "Limey" Guard; Henry "The Greek" Kallas; and Ralph "Trixie" Trinkley.
"We were inordinately close because the situation called for it," Guard says. "Go through what we did, and it made you a friend for life, that's what."
When they said their good-byes, Kallas, who was from Evart, Mich., and Trinkley, who was from coal mining country in Pennsylvania, were being shipped home.
But Guard, who was a Welshman fighting in the U.S. Army, was staying behind, assigned duty in Germany as part of the occupational Army. It was the first time he and the others were split up since before the war.
"The last time I saw The Greek, I told him I'd look him up," Guard says. "I promised I'd see him again."
He never did.
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