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Show Page 10 NORTH COUNTY NEWSPAPERS Food is scarce for POWs Editor's note This is the 12th part in a series uhout Lindon resident Rax Matheny. whose play was shot down over Germany Ger-many durum World War 11 Life in a German POW camp was veterans not at all pleasunt. though the Stulugluft (camps for airmen) were more tolerable than the camps for the infantry both Allied Al-lied Hint German jlxers viewed one another with a kind of fraternal respect. Prisoners typically lost Irani .'('(to rl pounds of weight over a year's in urcerution. Eighteen-year-old Matheny certutnlx doesn't look like a happy camper in these prison photos Thursday, February 23, 2006 - m- . . -,, t f : v v (Ik V . 5 ) III I y i here was a tug sign arched over the gate to the MAV am "Slalaji 17B " The camp coininander had organized a reception committee for us As we were processed, our dog tags were taken from us my identification! identifica-tion! and we were issued new tags with a ( ierman army serial numlier. I hated that We were issued a ceramic Ixtwl and cup. a ewter spoon and fork, and a hlanket Mv filanket was yellow and pink, remnants of two blankets sewn together, very thin Though it was wool, it was worn out salvaged Then our heads were shaved down to stubble "Now I'm really going to ! cold." I thought. "My heavy hair would have been a good insulator " Mv barrack was lfiA. where I was assigned to a three-tiered bunk The barracks were divided in the middle, where there was a washroom with ust faucets and sinks There were 75 men to each end of a barrack, and sometimes we became be-came crowded when new men were brought in l.ach bunk had pailliasses. and on each level, two men slept together Sometimes in emergencies, there would ! 13 men on the three tiers. There was no heat in the barracks, only a small stove with a brick chimney , which we used only to cook food. We were issued a bucket of coal every three days or so. We were supposed to be issued is-sued every Friday a parcel of food from the International Red Cross, based in Switzerland, Switzer-land, but this hapjiened only a few times The (iermans cooked large quantities of soups and on occasion other things, but we were responsible respon-sible to take care of our own food The (ierman fixnJ was low in protein and vitamins. We were short of fresh vegetables, and there was no fruit. . , rr- .,M ... - - - - . - riJ - ' Jtt'kvm rids 'it . -iSnl Wf -ir- i- Single Level Luxury! STARTING These exquisite communities offers single level homes with wide open floor plans and open space. From the minimal maintenance yard to the oversized garages, each home has been carefully designed with you in mind. At Spanish Fields you'll find walking trails and community park within walking distance. Come fall in love with the convenience and luxury of a Desert Point Builders home. t ivn' tin )r-ii - mi Smwmm , ... - i i i m. i Sgt. Ray Matheny (Ret.) My first winter, it snowed 63 consecutive days, a very cold winter' There was snow in March, and flurries in April. IVisoners combined all their food stores into a common pool of two or three men. When a food parcel was issued, we combined it. Food items became trade items "We want to buy something." some-thing." A cardboard parcel usually usu-ally contained a can of Spam, a can of bully beef (corned beef), a small can of orange paste, a few crackers, a can of powdered pow-dered "klim" ("milk" spelled backwards), half packs of cigarettes, ciga-rettes, and maybe some toilet paper. The German guards would puncture every can with a bayonet, to keep the prisoners prison-ers from storing food. But we would try to seal the punctures with the white, stringy (ierman margarine. I once received a small can of salmon, punctured. I sealed it over and was eating on it seven days later! After you've been in camp a year, your gut becomes conditioned to the bacteria in food. I once opened a can of Argentine beef (probably (prob-ably from WW I) and found that the top part was rotten. I just cut that off and ate the Life $250's IN THE JL I' rest. My second year in camp, the winter of '44-'45, we ran short of food. The American P-51's were strafing the German rail-cars, rail-cars, delaying our food parcel deliveries. When I checked out of the camp in the spring of 1945, 1 weighed only 1 13 pounds. A common food commodity provided by the Germans was "black bread." Here's the official of-ficial recipe, from the top-secret German Food Providing Ministry: 50 percent bruised rye grain; 20 percent sliced sugar beets; 20 percent "tree flour" (sawdust), 10 percent minced leaves and straw. These excerpts from local veterans are courtesy of the Orem Heritage Committee. Complete stories of the veterans will eventually be put on the Orem City Web site, www.orem.org. Readers aware of any veterans who have written about their military service are asked to arrange to have these archives in the Veterans History Project, Library of Congress. Phone Don Norton (225-8050) on how to do this. is better when you're in f "1 I '".3 Yfl & f A Tucker Fraughton Elder Tucker Lee Fraughton, son of Travis and Sheri Fraughton, of American Fork, has been called to serve in the Mexico, Mexico City South LDS Mission. He will speak in a sacrament service on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2006 at 9 a.m. in the American Fork 3rd Ward. 165 North 350 West, American Ameri-can Fork. Elder Fraughton will enter the Missionary Training Center on Mar. 8. Herbert Elizabeth Christensen Herbert and Elizabeth Christensen Chris-tensen of Alpine, have been called to serve in the Armenia. Yerevan LDS Mission. Their 6 children and 17 grandchildren are proud that they have chosen to serve. They will speak in a sacrament service Sunday, February 26 at 9.00am in the Alpine Cove ward, 1125 E. Alpine Blvd., Alpine. They will enter the Missionary Training Center on March 6. gNDALWGDD 2164 West 410 South PROVO.UT .nisA! SPANISmiflELDS M 1 S ' o it , di 632 S. Spanish Fields Drive SPANISH FORK, UT Kyle Heaton Elder Kyle Tanner Heaton. son of Charlie and Paula Heaton of Lehi. has been called to serve in the Alaska Alas-ka Anchorage LDS Mission. He will speak in the Saratoga Springs North Stake Sunrise Meadows Mead-ows Ward, 2256 North Providence Drive, Saratoga Springs on Sunday. Feb. 26, 2006 at 7 p.m. Elder Heaton will enter the Missionary' Mis-sionary' Training Center on Mar. 1. Casey Strasburg Elder Casey J. Strasburg, son of Tim and Michelle Strasburg, of Lehi, has recently returned from serving in the Arizona Tucson LDS Mission. He will speak in a sacrament service ser-vice Sundav. Feb. 26. 2006 at 10:30 a.m. in the Lehi 15th Ward. 1920 North 500 West. Lehi. Dustin Fuller Elder Dustin Robert Fuller, son of Glen and Sara Ann Fuller, of Highland, High-land, has been called to serve in the Korea Busan LDS Mission. He will speak in a sacrament service Sunday, Feb. 26, 2006 at 1:30 p.m. in the Highland 25th Ward. 5335 W. 11200 North, Highland. Elder Fuller will enter the Missionary Mis-sionary Training Center March 1. Jeff Tucker Elder Jeff Tucker, son of Larry and Diane Tucker, of Orem. has recently re-cently returned from serving in the England Manchester LDS Mission. He will speak in a sacrament service ser-vice Sunday, Feb. 26, 2006 at 9 a.m. in the Cascade 4th Ward. 1051 East 200 North, Orem. No two f' 11 "IWI-HWli I 4 J j " - Y :S 15 great floorplans. Main floor master suites. Just 48 homes in a prime location. Private fenced yards. H0A maintained. Close to everything, far from ordinary. Heirloom Cottages puu r.ast yu 5outh American rork. Ken, Reta Greenwood Elder Ken Greenwood and Sister! Reta Greenwood of Lehi have been! called to serve in the Kenya Nairobi; Mission ot tne lus uiurcn. Thev will speak in the Lehi 19fh' Ward. 1500 North 150 East, Lehibri Sunday. Feb. 26. 2006 at 11 a.m. " Thev will enter the Missionary - f. 1 Training Center on March 6. "' Steven Morley Elder Steven David Morley, , son of David and Janie Morley, of Orem has been called to serve injhe Mexico Merida Mission of the LD$ Church. ' ' He will speak in the Vermont lt Ward. 400 East 400 North, Orem1 on Sunday. Feb. 26. 2006 at 1 p.m. 1 '' Elder Morley will enter the M&-' sionary Training Center on Mar .'8. Michael Orton Elder Michael Orton, son of Sterling Ster-ling and Connie Orton of Pleasant, Grove, has been called to serve in ', the Rochester, New York LDS Mission. Mis-sion. ' ' Elder Orton will enter the Missionary Mis-sionary Training Center on Mar.'& 2006. -I Derek Lowry! : Elder Derek Jay Lowry, son-o?" Walt and Julie Lowry, of Highland, has been called to serve in the California Cali-fornia Anaheim LDS Mission. I " He spoke in a sacrament servk$ Sundav, Feb. 19, 2006 in the HigftA land 17th Ward. ; Elder Lowry entered the Missionary Mission-ary Training Center on Feb. 22. - homes alike! 801-369-0428 Brett SZZ2235G2SZTB ink GF.ORGE'l OWN POOR |