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And it would force him to deal with another question that may not be limited to war veterans: How do you atone for a terrible deed when you're not sure you've committed it? It would force him to reach out to an unlikely ally. Smoyer's question would force him to return to Cologne 68 years later. Smoyer's adrenalin turned to horror: Did I just shoot a woman? The car's passenger door swung open and a person with a light-colored sweater embroidered with flowers crumpled to the street. The car crashed into the sidewalk, and then Smoyer saw something that made the pit of his stomach fall out. Bullets and tracers from Smoyer's gun smashed into the car ordnance from another source also flew through the intersection. With orders to shoot anything that moved, Smoyer pressed the trigger. "Staff car!" someone yelled over the radio.Ī black Opel streaked into the intersection. Smoyer searched for it, scanning a hellish urban landscape of rubble, sagging streetcar cables and collapsed buildings. But then the enemy tank ducked behind a building. His M26 Pershing tank had just been engaged in a shootout with a German tank at a sprawling intersection in the town's center. He gained a reputation for deadly accuracy as a tank gunner. Those bastards are going to pay, he vowed.Ĭlarence Smoyer during the war. Before he entered the shattered city, he'd received word that his cousin and his wife's brother had both been killed in the war. "Gentlemen, I give you Cologne," Smoyer's commander announced over the radio. The Germans called it "Endkampf," the final battle for their homeland. The lanky 19-year-old with a mop of curly hair was part of a tank crew that had crawled into the German city of Cologne for what would become the US Army's biggest house-to-house fight in Europe. It was March 6, 1945, and Smoyer was part of the Allies' last push into Nazi Germany. No one in his tank moved or even whispered. Sweat poured down the leather flaps of his helmet. (CNN)Clarence Smoyer's index finger caressed the trigger. Updated 7:27 PM ET, Sat November 10, 2018 The " Word of the Day " exculpate fits in with this story from war torn Cologne Germany 1945.Ī World War II hero returns to Germany to solve a mystery - and meet an enemy