It's a battle that still troubles his mind because he fears gunfire from his tank accidentally killed a civilian who was caught in the crossfire. He and his crew battled their way across France and Belgium and fought to capture the key German city of Cologne. Smoyer was a young man when he enlisted in 1943, a gunner with the Army's 3rd Armored Division. Clarence Smoyer in the tank similar to the one he fought in. We went through many battles with a tank like that, and it saved me," he says. The trick? He thought a cab was picking him up to go to a book signing. The tank picked him up and gave him a ride to the USS Constitution Museum, with a hero's welcome. "That's like my old friend," says Clarence Smoyer as he first sees the Sherman tank parked outside his hotel. Today at age 95, he's one of the last survivors of the tank crews known as the Spearhead Division. He was once called the "Hero of Cologne" for a storied tank duel on the streets of that German city. He was reunited with the type of tank he used in Europe. BOSTON (CBS) - A World War II hero got the surprise, and honor, of his life Wednesday in Charlestown.
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