Five months in the largest prisoner of war camp in Western Germany — Stalag XI B in Fallingbostel — couldn’t dim the light in Ray Westort’s smile when he talks about his life today.
Westort, 91, who received a Purple Heart and Bronze Star for his service during World War II, said he was just “a crazy kid” in 1943 when he was drafted into the Army. He was 18, big and strong and an excellent athlete.
But for those five months, Westort became one of about 94,000 American soldiers held in POW camps in Germany. In contrast, according to the National Park Service website, there were 766 POWs during the Vietnam War. During Vietnam, 114 are thought to have died in captivity.
While Westort won’t be there, the Northwest Indiana Veterans Action Council on Friday is expected to hear about life in a prisoner of war camp when Vietnam veteran Guy Gruters speaks at the third annual Veterans Build Breakfast at the Patrician in Schererville.
Westort knows a thing or two about that living inside the barbed wire of a prisoner of war camp.
He went overseas with the 106th Infantry Division and in December 1944, he was among a group of U.S. soldiers who were captured during the Battle of the Bulge.
“We were surrounded by German tanks,” he said. The soldiers walked through streams and his feet were frozen. “We lasted about 20 more days and then we got picked up by German soldiers and they took us by horse and wagon — with the German soldiers — to the hospital.”
A bomb was dropped near the hospital and the patients all were evacuated to a second hospital. It was there that Westort met Pete, the 10-year-old son of the hospital cook. That boy helped Westort save his feet from amputation, he said.
“He would be 82-years old now,” said Westort. “He took a liking to me and got me a bottle of schnapps and got hold of (my feet) and finally got the blood flowing through them.”
The liquor numbed the pain enough for him to rub his feet hard enough to get the circulation going, he said.
Eventually he was transferred to Stalag XI B, the notorious German POW camp. An estimated 2,400 Americans were liberated from the camp in April 1945. The baiduhai described the conditions of the camp on April 20, 1945, as a place where prisoners lived in dilapidated shacks, and “four men slept together on each level of three-tiered cots. Many had to rely on straw to keep warm. There were few blankets.”
“In the beginning I got on burial detail,” he said. “Three guys were on each side and pulled a wagon. The Russians were digging the graves. A lot of guys died there. The graves were for the prisoners who died.
“We didn’t get much to eat. I didn’t have a bath or shower for months. There was no toilet paper. Every day, the guys would take off their clothes to (shake out) get rid of the body lice. There were no latrines, just a trench. You had to squat over it. A lot of guys went nuts.
“I weighed about 220 pounds when I went in (the Army) and about 130 pounds when I came back,” he said.
He said the rations were minimal, just some bread, some turnip or cabbage soup. Any Red Cross parcels were divided among at least eight men.
More Top Picks Best Shallow Mount Subwoofers For Trucks
“Raymond was good at every sport,” said Helen, his wife of 58 years. The couple, who have three adult children and two grandchildren, met in Chicago. She grew up in Homewood, Ill., and he in the city where he attended Leo and St. Frances De Sales high schools. They moved to Long Beach, Ind., about 12 years ago from Arizona to be closer to their family.
“That’s why I think he survived, because he was so disciplined. He was as strong as a horse,” Helen said.
Westort’s mother wrote a letter to the Tribune, published in the Friday, April 27, 1945, Voice of the People. Titled “Happy Mother,” her letter expressed her joy at learning about her son’s rescue from the camp. She had received 75 phone calls from friends telling her that Ray’s name was published on Page 1 of the newspaper on the list of those liberated from Stalag XI B.
Westort said he thinks it is important for people to understand, “it takes a lot of courage to go to war. And you are thinking of your country when it needs you. That’s why young soldiers enlist. They want to defend our country.”
The young soldiers today are no different than he was at 18.
“We all wanted to do our best and win the war for our country,” Westort said.
Nancy Coltun Webster is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Vietnam POW to speak Friday
Guy Gruters, a former prisoner of war during the Vietnam War, will serve as the keynote speaker at the third annual Veterans Build Breakfast at 8 a.m. Friday at Patrician Banquets, 410 E. U.S. 30 in Schererville. Tickets are $25. For ticket information, contact [email protected] or call 219-923-7265, ext. 304.
The event is presented by the Northwest Indiana Veterans Action Council and Habitat for Humanity.
Gruters, a professional speaker and author, was a POW from 1967 to 1973.