Army veteran Bernard “Barney” Mayrsohn receives a replacement for the jacket he lost 80 years ago

At 101, Army veteran Bernard “Barney” Mayrsohn considers himself a lucky man. He has his health, his 77-year-old son, Mark, living nearby, and a comfortable home overlooking Miami's Bay of Biscayne.

At 101, Army veteran Bernard “Barney” Mayrsohn considers himself a lucky man.

He has his health, his 77-year-old son, Mark, living nearby, and a comfortable home overlooking Miami’s Bay of Biscayne.

However, he was never luckier than in December 1944 when German troops overran the 106th Infantry Division (106th ID) at the start of the Battle of the Bulge. He would survive those first few days of terrible fighting and, five months later, walk out of a German POW camp.

While forever grateful for having survived, Mayrsohn was always bothered by losing his brown, wool “Eisenhower” or “Ike” jacket to the enemy. Poorly clothed German soldiers, without sufficient cold-weather gear themselves, stripped American POWs of their clothing, including Mayrsohn’s Ike jacket.

With a smile and watery eyes, the centenarian accepted a replacement for the jacket he lost 80 years ago from Lt. Gen. Donna Martin, the Army’s 67th Inspector General, on his 101st birthday. To show her appreciation, Martin flew to Miami for the birthday celebration and to honor Mayrsohn for his service after his son Mark sent an invitation to Army senior leadership. Martin jumped at the opportunity to share in this momentous occasion.

“We are so grateful to you and the Soldiers of the 106th for the fierce resolve you showed in that first week of the battle,” Martin said, “and we know you always regretted losing your jacket.”

With that, Martin presented him with the new version of the Ike jacket, which is part of the current Army Green Service Uniform. Mayrsohn was deeply touched as Martin draped the jacket across him.

“You’ll see that the new version is cut and tailored like the original,” said Martin. “It’s got the medals you earned back then, your two Purple Hearts, the Bronze Star and the Combat Infantryman Badge. It’ll look very handsome on you.”

After champagne and cake, Mayrsohn and Martin sang a duet of the Army Song, with the lyrics from his era, and the veteran’s voice boomed every time they sang “… the caissons go rolling along!” A quieter rendition of God Bless America followed. Martin also brought him three congratulatory letters and coins from Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, and Director of the Army Staff Lt. Gen. Laura Potter.

Mayrsohn’s life story was captured in a 2018 biography, “From Brooklyn to the Battle of the Bulge and on to Building an International Business: The Incredible Story of Bernard (Barney) Mayrsohn.” The book recounted the heroism of the 106th ID, known as “The Golden Lions,” at the tip of the Bulge from Dec. 16, 1944, the day the battle started, until two regiments of the division were forced to surrender on Dec. 19.

As Mayrsohn described in a 2014 video interview shot for the 70th anniversary of the battle, the 106th ID was inauspiciously positioned.

“My 106th Division was put on the very tip… of the bulge,” he said, referring to the large pocket the Germans created in the Allied lines.

He belonged to Cannon Company, 423rd Infantry Regiment, made up mostly of Soldiers with little or no combat experience. The company took up its position on Dec. 12 seven miles from the Siegfried line in a sector known to be so quiet that GIs called it the “Ghost Front.” As Cannon Company took up their position, the outgoing troops they relieved assured them it was a chance to calmly acclimate to a position close to the enemy. Because of a “bum shoulder,” as Mayrsohn put it, he was originally rejected for service, “but I sneaked in anyway.” Due to his shoulder, his job was to run communication lines to the company’s outposts, rather than take up a rifle position.

“We were told by them [the troops they relieved], ‘Quiet front, no activity, you’re gonna get comfortable being in the front lines,’ and this was about three or four days before the Germans attacked,” he said. “We hardly got comfortable where we were set up. … On the very first morning of December 16th, we all heard heavy shelling, and they all said, ‘Barney, what the hell’s happening?’ and I said ‘Well, you heard, it’s our own artillery playing games.’”

“Well, when the shelling stopped at daybreak, we saw German troops coming over to our area … and we started shooting at them,” he continued. “I think I got a couple, we shot a couple, we captured a couple. This is December 1