Happy 100th birthday, Robert

On November 29, 1944, thousands of American and British soldiers were near Lindern, a tiny German village situated near the border with the Netherlands. They were cold, soaked and exhausted by days and nights of fierce fighting. Facing them were German soldiers in bunkers and trenches, who had placed barbed wire and landmines everywhere. Every single Allied soldier knew that attacking the fortified German positions would come at a heavy cost, but they also knew the attack was inevitable. Capturing Lindern was one of the main targets of Operation Clipper, which would then enable Allied troops to gain control of the Roer valley. Among the young men waiting for the attack was Sgt Robert A. Mestjian, a 20-year-old Armenian American soldier from Illinois. Sitting there, covered in mud and scared to death, Mestjian recalled wonderful memories shared with his parents, his brother Charles and his sister Ruth. He loved his family more than anything and couldn’t bear the thought of never seeing them again.