Tree gives Iowa City veteran hope during WWII

As America remembers the soldiers fighting for freedom this Memorial Day, an Iowa City man reflects on an unlikely symbol of hope during the Battle of the Bulge in World War Two.

Gordon Zumwalt, 87, says a pine tree inspired American troops he served with to escape the war unscathed.

To most people, his painting depicting that poignant moment of his World War II experience might be mistaken as a dark depiction of some little known forest somewhere in the world.

But to Zumwalt, the black and white painting represents a time in his life that – while being surrounded by fear – he found peace.

“The tree – that was a shrine to us,” explained Zumwalt. “Nobody got hurt while we were there.”

On December 16, 1944 while enjoying his 30-day rest and relaxation rotation, his commanding officer told his unit they had been called up.

“They said we're heading out, that's when the Germans broke through,” remembered Zumwalt.

Zumwalt and his company found themselves fighting on the front lines of World War II.

Pointing to the painting Zumwalt explained what happened: “We got to where we were…dug-in in this timber and down in this little valley there was this little Christmas tree, we called that even though it was a pine tree, and it was the only tree around there that hadn't gotten hit with some artillery.”

So as uncertainty swirled amidst Zumwalt's company about what would become of them as the Germans made their charge, this little pine tree gave a group of grown men hope.

“To us it was protection,” said Zumwalt. “The man upstairs was watchin' us. Of course, we all had our own private guardian angels, but that's what the tree represented. It was just a Savior to us.”

Zumwalt doesn't know what became of this pine tree once his company moved on.

“If I had the money and knew the town I would love today to go back there to see if the tree was there,” he said.

For the days he and his comrades were stationed near it, it gave them the strength to continue fighting for America's freedom.

Zumwalt's grand-daughter in-law Kathy created that painting from a short conversation she had with him about his experience there. She gave it to him as a Christmas present 60 years after he first saw the tree.

Zumwalt is still serving his country by volunteering at the Iowa City Veterans Hospital to help his fellow veterans, and anyone who needs it.