World War II Honoree

Newton 'Mickey' Grasso

Branch of Service

U.S. Army

Hometown

Newark, New Jersey

Honored By

Joe Arsena

Relationship

Baseball Fan

MAJOR LEAGUER WHO ENTERED MILITARY SERVICE WITH THE ARMY AT FORT DIX, NEW JERSEY ON JANUARY 20, 1942. SERVED WITH THE 34TH INFANTRY DIVISION AS A TECHNICAL SERGEANT AND WAS IN NORTH AFRICA IN EARLY 1943, WHERE HE WAS TAKEN PRISONER BY GERMAN FORCES ON FEBRUARY 17. SURROUNDED BY ROMMEL’S AFRIKA KORPS TROOPS AT A LOCATION KNOWN ONLY AS HILL 609 IN TUNISIA, HE WAS AMONG 6,000 ALLIED PRISONERS TAKEN BY THE RETREATING GERMANS WHO WERE BEING PURSUED BY BRITAIN’S GENERAL MONTGOMERY. A THREE-DAY HIKE FOLLOWED TO AN AIRFIELD, WHERE THE PRISONERS WERE FLOWN TO ITALY. THEY WERE THEN LOADED INTO BOX CARS FOR A FIVE-DAY RAIL JOURNEY TO THEIR HOME FOR THE NEXT TWO YEARS, PRISONER OF WAR CAMP STALAG IIIB IN FURSTENBERG, SIXTY MILES SOUTHEAST OF BERLIN, GERMANY. IN THE FINAL DAYS OF THE WAR AGAINST GERMANY, HE DEVISED AN ESCAPE WITH NINE OTHER PRISONERS.