One of my brothers was a combat engineer went ashore shortly after DDay, my other brother was a bombardier on a B17 and spent time in Stalag III. Our sister was a WAC serving stateside, one BiL was a combat engineer building airfields for P47s from Omaha Beach into Germany. Other BiL was the Sailor in the Pacific and they all came home to live productive lives except the Alky and he died in 1962. They are all gone now with a Sister and Brother passing away this year...
" on March 17, 1945, the seriously damaged Ludendorff Bridge collapsed into the Rhine River, killing twenty-eight engineers who had been trying to strengthen the bridge"