Mission Zeitgewölbe was a piggyback mission. We worked under the guise of Operation Harborage which was to capture German atomic energy program scientists, materiel and facilities in southwestern Germany in the waning days of World War II. We had intelligence that this facility was the home of project: Spear of Destiny.

Much of our work was done after Operation Harborage was completed. We found a secret laboratory underneath the main laboratory. Clever folks these Germans. Also very secretive, suspecting, and shrouded in evil. We were just secretive, for now.

Upon entering the lab, we swept the place for any enemy combatants. The place was filled with dead bodies. Uniformed guards, scientists, and some were in uniforms we’ve never seen before. When we looked closer, we found the eeriness of the situation, there were no bodies, just the clothes. As if the bodies were taken, leaving behind the clothes they were in. 

 

We proceeded to take all the intel we could find and box  up all artifacts in the room. We spent hours going through all the technology that we never seen before. I noticed that all the jewelry was left behind. Rings, necklaces, gold and silver tooth fillings laid with the clothes. I was going over one the uniforms that I have never seen before when I found a pocket watch in one of the front pockets. Bells began ringing and shouting rang out, orders to leave the lab immediately. Someone set off a boobytrap I guess. I was running to the ladder when a strange sound filled the room, and everything stopped. Men were stopped in motion. Paperwork that was falling to the ground had stopped midair. Everything had stopped except me. I’ve seen many a strange thing during these ops. This one, was eerie. I had thought that this is what had happened to everyone in here. I was waiting for people to disappear, but they didn’t. As I went to reach for one of the guys, I noticed I had the pocket watch in my hand with my thumb depressed on the top dial. 

I quickly climbed the ladder up and out of the lab, still holding my thumb down. When I let go, time resumed. Few of the men made it out before the bomb went off, killing two, Scientists Brad Adams and Sarah Stein. The rest of the men were quickly ordered to load all the contents we took from the lab onto the truck. We had to leave before anyone knew we were there. I kept that pocket watch, not telling anyone about it. Today it serves as a memory to those two scientists that were left behind in the name of secrecy and the greater good. Sometimes “leave no man behind” becomes “take one for the team.”