Page 42 - Anthology

The Germans marched us into the town. (Drusenheim, France) I was wounded in the chest, but I was
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able to walk. I was never in a Stalag . My injuries kept me from being able to be force marched. My
entire group was pretty well beat up and we could not move very fast. I was moved from small town to
small town. (We walked and rode wagons into Baden-Baden, Germany where we stayed for fifteen days.
From there we rode ambulances to Gernbach, Germany. We stayed in Gernbach for about twenty days
before being moved further into the Black Forest. We were held in Freudenstadt, Germany for twenty-two
days). The Germans were trying to avoid the allies. I received no medical help while I was a POW. The
Germans hardly had medical treatment for their own soldiers. I had one German soldier come to me; he
rubbed his tummy and said: “I have hunger.” That was their own soldiers, so you know they were not
going to feed the prisoners very much.

My family never did hear from me while I was a POW. No mail ever caught up with me and no mail went
out. I was reported missing in action until I was liberated. My family assumed I was dead. I had a
brother who was in the service. He was older than I and he was in the Battle of the Bulge. He went in in
1942. He also was captured and was a prisoner of war.

In that area of the battle, most people spoke French, I was able to speak pretty good French, so with that
and a little bit of sign language, I was able to communicate pretty well. In fact, I met an older German
soldier who had served on the front and had come back. He and I struck up a conversation. We were
both Christians. I had my Bible, a small New Testament, and the Germans did not take it off me. He had
his Bible. He would point out scriptures and I’d find them in my Bible. I often wonder what ever
happened to that man.

He was a good man. In my hunger that older German guard would help me steal supplies. One time we
passed a place where they had some bread. It was what they called black bread; it had saw dust in it.
He crammed my pockets full of bread. I thought he was going to get me shot. But they never did catch
us.

I was liberated by the French Army in April 1945. (April 17, 1945) I had to find my way to Strausbourg,
France. (Thirty-nine miles) I was taken to a hospital. I had a difficult time rejoining U.S. Army unit. It took
a long time to get home. I was moved through the hospital chain; Strausbourg, France, Nancy, France,
and Paris. We flew back from Paris, and I ended up at Nichols General Hospital in Louisville. I recall
that Nichols hospital was a very crude and crowded place.

So, I was eased into returning home. It was a slow process. Coming home was not a shock to me. But it
was quite a get together coming home. I am from a big family and my brother had already come home.

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I was discharged from Company E, 143rd Infantry Regiment on December 14, 1945. The 143rd
Infantry Regiment was part of the 36 Infantry Division. I had to report to the Fort Sam Houston, Texas
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Separation Center for discharge.

I went into the army a private and came out a private. You might say I didn’t lose any ground, but I also
didn’t gain any. My awards include a little thing called the ruptured duck . It is an interesting one.
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Everyone being discharged with an honorable discharge was given one. We’d wear it to show that we
had served. Many a soldier went into the wrong side of town and got beat up because people knew they
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had mustering out money . It was an invitation for someone to bump you off.

Because I was a POW, I didn’t have much to bring home. Among my memorabilia is the shrapnel that
went through my shoulder and lodged in my breast pocket. I also have the round that went through my
helmet and down into my mess kit. It rattled around in there until I took it out. That was twice they almost
got me. It just wasn’t my time. I don’t know why the Germans didn’t take it off me; I guess it just wasn’t
any good to them. The first thing they did was to take my shoes. I had a brand-new pair and they took
them from me. It was the dead of winter and I had a coat; they took that too. I lost my pants somewhere
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along the line. I managed to pick up a pair of German pants. I also got a pair of German hobnail shoes .
They made an awful racket because of the exposed nails.