Gardner, James 422

[connie]

Gardner, James W. 422 2nd BN HQ, Ammo Pioneer Platoon, POW II A

AUDIO INTERVIEW (43 minutes) Veteran's History Project: memory.loc.gov/diglib/vhp/story/loc.natlib.afc2001001.101494/

POW CAMP II A: 106thdivision.proboards.com/post/3924/thread

PERSONAL ACCOUNT on Indiana Military Site including 106th & POW Experience: www.indianamilitary.org/German%20PW%20Camps/Prisoner%20of%20War/PW%20Camps/Stalag%20II-A%20Neubrandenburg/Gardner/James%20Gardner.htm

[blauchie]

Hello Connie,

Thanks for the link. Mr. Gardner’s story parallels the bits and pieces my Dad had told me over the years. He and his buddy William Millar, only “volunteered” to go to Arbeitskommandos because it was rumored they would receive red cross packages. They found out quickly the rumor was untrue as Mr. Gardner states in his account.

It’s a funny thing, As Mr. Gardner was a teacher, my middle school health teacher was a tank driver during the bulge, he would sometimes spend the whole period telling us stories. I would tell my Dad about some of them, this was a time he would open up and gave me allot of information about his experiences.

Joe

[connie]

Morning, Joe,

Interesting to know that James Gardner's accounts sounded like much of what you had heard from your dad.

The teacher bit is a fun side-note. I wonder what the general experience of our generation when it came to people talking about war experiences. I never ran into a teacher who did this. Informally or as part of the curriculum, in fact, the war never hit my school experience. Well, in grade school we were still doing air raid drills, ducking under our desks. But other than that, nothing...

Connie

[blauchie]

Dec 28, 2014 10:51:44 GMT -5 connie said:

Connie,
I was fortunate to have a teacher who could/would share his experiences with us. His name was Joe Jandrositz who was in the 702nd tank destroyer battalion. I recall him telling us how they “dug in” their tanks. “We would spin them round and round in that mud, you could bury the whole tank in a matter of minutes”. My Dad agreed, mud everywhere, “my weapon is probably still burried in that mud“.
And yes, school was entirely different in that era. If you get the chance to look at a 43-44 high school yearbook, chances are it’s dedicated and filled with reference to the war effort.

Joe