Ed & Ray Hersman in WWII - Robert Marks.org

4.19. BROTHER RAY Ed & Ray Hersman in WWIIwith these prisoners for a while and they said they would help us fight theRussians who they said were barbarians.4.19 Brother RayWe had known for two days that there was a column of prisoners in frontof us, and it was decided that two pincers would be thrown around them sothey could be released.Two other men and I had appropriated a German truck and we no longerstayed with the main advance but goofed around over the country side. Wescouted towns that the army hadn’t taken yet but the Germans never gaveus any trouble. This particular day we found several freight cars full of newGerman motorcycles. We decided that these would be better than the truckand tried to start them. They wouldn’t start so we went back to find thecolumn.We found the column, drove a few miles and found the battalion. Thecolumn of prisoners had been cut off and right away the men in G Companysent me to see my brother Ray. He had been one of the prisoners.4.19.1 Like a KingRay said that when he saw the regiment and battalion number on the firstJeep to come down the prison line he knew it was my outfit. When he toldthe men in G Company they treated him like a king. They instantly loadedhim up with cigarettes and K-rations and sent him to the field kitchen toeat. When I came needless to say we were overjoyed to see each other andsince he had been listed as missing in action until that day I wasn’t sure hewas alive.Ray had been on a starvation diet and only weighed eighty pounds. Hehad been in a prisoner of war camp in the eastern part of Germany, but whenthe Russians advanced were marched almost to the Rhine River. When we81