Cook- September 10, 1943 While on the visits with the unit, I wrote you about last week, we went over to see a winery in operation. They had quite a few Italian prisoners working on the farm. They seemed to be quite a good bunch of fellows, very friendly and polite. Most of them saluted when the other officer and I went thru the winery. One who spoke French showed us thru and explained how they make the wine and the various steps. It was a large place. The storage vats for aging were very large, almost as large as your bedroom and there were a hundred of them. Hahn- March 8, 1944 Saw some German prisoners, the first I’ve ever seen so far. They didn’t look like any supermen to me. McGinnis- January 15, 1945 He came in from North Africa and brought prisoners back. He said they will load their ship with supplies and leave right away. I got a beautiful certificate for Jack. Triesler- April 1945 Well, we made it. I’m sitting on Highway 9 north of Bologna which hasn’t been taken yet. But we’re in the valley and out of the mountains at least for the time being. The Krauts are on the run and we’re chasing them. We’re capturing them right and left - the regiment alone took over 600 POW’s yesterday. And now everything is pouring into the valley - troops, guns, and vehicles by the thousands. It has not been a rout - the enemy fought stubbornly. The 85 DIV and the 10 Mountain DIV were first to break into the valley. Now we are headed for the PO River. Gerhard Seuthe- May 5, 1945 All your friends from Baberg send you much love. Today I can once again write a letter to you. God be thanked it still goes well, for us all. All war in Germany has virtually ended. I hope you are still fine and that you will return to us forever. We didn’t get any post from you and also from Gustav. And we couldn’t write you for so long. Gerhard Seuthe- May 13, 1945 Today I can once [again] write a letter to you. God be thanked it still goes fine for us all. All the war still has ended in Germany. We will be together before very long. It isn’t good, that we didn’t get any post from you and Gustav. You wrote the last one on October 26, 1944 and it reached us last March. Gustav wrote his last letter on February 15, 1945 and it also reached us in March. Del Bordner Interview I told them to keep their weapons in case some stupid fanatic German comes by. It was a quiet night. In the morning at daybreak, I said, “Leave your weapons here.” I and the two guys that were with me marched 120 prisoners up to the place where they took them to the prisoner work camp. I said, “That went smoothly, it could have been a disaster.” Well that’s why they have young people fight wars; they don’t have old people fight them. Russell Byers Interview When the war was over I the most interesting job I ever had we didn’t have anything for our trucks to do, and we hauled Hitler’s misplaced people that he had working for him and took ‘em home. And we would go to a place and load of a couple, a truckload, of people that needed to go back to a certain country in Europe and the first question that they asked was, ‘Where you going to take us to work at now?’ We would tell them we were going to take them home and they were the happiest people you would ever talk to. Frank Giaimo Interview When the Geneva Convention was held to discuss the rules of war, the Japs either didn’t come or just never abided by the Geneva Convention’s decisions as far as treatment of prisoners was concerned. Harry Marek Interview They somehow played a trick on the German Navy and slipped out of the port, which had been guarded by anti-submarine cable, and got away. The Captain and his family had been living on the ship and because of the trick the played on the German Navy arrived in New York, and turned the ship over to the United States to carry troops. The Captain and crew were considered Prisoners of War. Dee Paris Interview When I got there I found out that they were Hungarians. I had to figure from their language. So they naturally surrendered immediately. We couldn’t take prisoners as a tank outfit. So we just said, “Put your hands up and go back that way.” So they all quickly did. I had some thermite grenades, which I put in the gun tubes, which melted the inside of the gun barrels. Rose Young Interview The German prisoners had used to do that, cause there was a time prior to that when our patient load was heavy that we had German prisoners undoing the plasma boxes for us because it took too long to rip open the plasma and use it, you know, to give it. And here’s another thing: we used German prisoners. They stood there with a guard, one soldier guard at a group of them and they tore open those wax boxes that caped the plasma – it’s a big job. You had to cut the boxes open ‘cause they’re sealed in wax!

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