Meanwhile, back in Germany, the prisoners were marched the next morning further back into Germany. They were guarded by a young man and an older soldier. The older soldier told dad that he had fought in World War I and had been a prisoner of the United States. He told dad he didn’t harbor any ill feelings against America. They had treated him well. They marched all that day and the next without any food. Later, on the fourth or fifth day they came to a barn and they were ordered into the hay loft to rest. After they had been there a short time, a farmer with a yoke of oxen came by and was talking to the older guard. One of dad’s fellow prisoners stole some honey from the farmer’s cart without being seen. They hid the honey in the hayloft. They were all so hungry they couldn’t wait to eat. Trying to be quiet, the prisoners dug into the honey with both hands. Some of them hadn’t eaten for several days. Well, you can imagine what was going to happen. Most of the boys who had devoured the honey like there was no tomorrow became sick at both ends. The guards had little sympathy but they did get to spend the night in the barn.
The next day they continued their march until they reached a German prison camp. The camp was full of prisoners from England, Italy, America and all over Europe. The first thing the guards had them do was take off their clothes and take showers. They all thought that was unusual until they came out of the showers and their clothes and shoes had been taken. They were given old German uniforms to put on and wooden shoes to wear. Dad had fared well because his shoes were still where he left them. Dad had small feet for a man and no one was able to fit into them. They were given very little to eat and what they were given was mostly molded and unfit to eat. They were in that camp just a short time before they were ordered to evacuate. Some of the newer prisoners that had just arrived said the U.S. and her allies had crossed the Rhine River and General Patton was liberating camps as he came. The Germans planned to move the prisoners deeper into the German interior. This time they were marched to a rail line and loaded onto rail cars. It was a slow march as many of the prisoners were sick, weak and really unable to travel. Once loaded into the rail cars their circumstances grew much worse. Besides not having any clean water or food, the air was foul with smell of human waste. They were let out of the cattle cars once each day. A few days later the sound of planes could be heard flying over. The planes strafed the cars and several POW’s and guards were killed. The German guards ran and someone (dad said they never knew who) unlocked the doors to the cars. The men ran into the woods and out into a field. They quickly formed the letters POW with their bodies by removing their shirts and baring their backs. When the U.S. planes came back, they rocked their wings in acknowledgment. The men gave a cheer and began to slowly march back, stopping to drink water from a nearby creek. Dad hung back and helped those who were having a difficult time walking. They were soon met by the 9th American Armored Division. The POW’s who had on the German uniforms began to run toward the American soldiers. Dad yelled, “Talk to them. Tell them who you are.” Very quickly, they realized they were American POW’s and there was great relief and thanksgiving on all sides. Dad always cried as he related this reunion. I have never been so happy to see Americans in my whole life! Most of the prisoners were sick, weak and looked like skeletons, but they were FREE!
They were placed in trucks to be taken back to hospitals. The trucks nor the POWs were equipped with any weapons. One of the truck drivers took the wrong road and ran into a bunch of German soldiers. The driver was so scared he initially froze but then began to turn the truck around as fast as possible. All the Germans really wanted to do was surrender but the driver was so scared he high tailed it out of there leaving the Germans in the dust. Dad and the rest of the prisoners were sent back to hospitals in France and England until they were well enough to be sent home.
While at the hospital recuperating, dad developed a fever of 104 degrees. He was ordered not to eat but he was so hungry. From his hospital window he could see they were serving pancakes out on the front steps of the hospital. He grabbed a mess kit from the guy in the bed next to him and headed out the doors of his ward and down the steps full speed. He said the doctors and nurses were so busy nobody even noticed he was gone. He got all the pancakes he could eat but later became very sick from his little adventure. He said, “I did get sick, but those were the best pancakes I ever ate.” Next week we will finish our story with what life was like for the boys after the war when they returned home.
