This week is the second installment of numismatists portrayed in movies. Jules Reiver's exploits during the Battle of the Bulge were grosslyexaggerated in the movie, but he was a legitimate American hero.

Julius Reiver got his name in the newspaper during his service in World War II. He came to theattention of combat reporter Ernie Pyle who reported several times on Reiver's exploits. Pyledevoted a chapter in his book Brave Men to antiaircraft batteries and to

During the Normandy invasion, Captain Reiver was in command of Battery , 110thAntiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion. As reported in the Wilmington Morning News on August 25,1944, Reiver told his story of the Normandy landing in a letter.

We didn't know it then, but we were the only battery to get ashore and set up. and on D plus onenight, we were the only AA protection against high flying planes. We got two that first night -the first crashed in flames and was the first plane shot down by AA guns in France. All in all,we've been very lucky. I just hope it keeps up. Reiver received a certificate of merit for actionon the second day of the invasion.

Ernie Pyle spent two days and two nights with the unit and bunked with Reiver. The first nightthere was little action but the second night they had greater success, guided by radar and firing atplanes they could not see. Reiver commented, Reiver said of Pyle,

The Morning News related another letter written to his wife.

In December of 1944, the Germans launched a counteroffensive now known as the Battle of theBulge. They broke through American lines and pushed west against little resistance. TheGermans knew they did not have enough fuel to complete their assault but counted on capturingfuel from the Americans. An advance German column pushed north out of La Glieze toward theFirst Army headquarters at Spa.

The Americans had a fuel depot with 2.5 million gallons of gasoline in five-gallon Jerry cans.Reiver's battery was split into two groups and pressed into service to protect the fuel and delaythe German advance until reinforcements could be brought up.

As Reiver was moving into position, one of the guns was mired in the mud and the tractorattempting to pull it out also got stuck. Time and effort were spent getting the gun free and thetractors pulling revved up their engines and made a terrible noise.

Reiver commented on their mistakes and how that may have been an advantage. The Germanshearing the noise may have assumed it was a much larger and more threatening tank force.

His story was told in The News Journal of April 28, 1945.

They got to within 75 yards of the gasoline dump, but not a drop of that gas did they get. Acannon shell killed one GI, but all of our men were okeh. We're really lucky. Reiver received abronze star for the battle.

The story was told in the 1965 movie, The Battle of the Bulge. Some reports suggest that Reiverwas portrayed by Henry Fonda. This isn't quite correct.

The November 17, 2002, issue of The E-Sylum had this report.

The article further stated, Other reports state that the guns were on a hill and the barrelswould not depress beyond horizontal and were useless in the fight.

Getting your name and address in the paper can have a downside. While he was deployed,someone broke in to burglarize and ransack his house on December 12, 1944.

I had the opportunity to ask Reiver about his role and the historical accuracy of the movie. Heconfirmed that he was there defending the gasoline dump but it was not like the scene in themovie.

In a memorable scene from the movie, Americans roll drums of burning gasoline downhilltoward the advancing German column. This scene is total fiction. Jerry cans don't roll well.Reiver said that his description of a firefight may have been misinterpreted by an overly creativewriter.

I got to know Jules through the Early American Coppers Club. Others knew him through theJohn Reich Collectors Society. His contributions to both could be a topic for another article.

Footnote:

Sometimes sources give inconsistent information. When the Reiver wedding was announced, thelocation was Temple Beth Shalom. When they celebrated fifty years of marriage, the locationwas given as St. Matthews Cathedral.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
JULES REIVER'S WARTIME EXPERIENCES(https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v05n46a18.html)