World War II Honoree

Norman Francis Myers

Branch of Service

U.S. Army

Hometown

Hoosick Falls, Vermont

Honored By

Ellen Anne Myers (Marchese)

Relationship

Daughter

Served in the 52nd Armored Infantry Battalion, 9th Armored Division was captured 18 Dec 1944 during The Battle of the Bulge. Most of the men were captured in the Battle of the Bulge in mid-December, 1944. They were marched in the cold, then packed onto boxcars, then eventually taken to a larger camp called Stalag IV-B in Muhlberg-on-Elbe. From there, the lower ranking Soldiers were sent to labor camps. Of the thousands at IV-B, only 300 or so were sent to Arbeits Kommando 1315 in Oberullersdorf (occupied Poland, modern day Kopaczow, Poland)(this is where my father was sent). The camp they lived in was several miles east of Zittau. Their worksite was another fenced enclosure/industrial area called Hirschefelde which was northeast of Zittau. Think of the three sites as forming the points of a triangle. The men were held there from February until May at which point the Germans marched them out of the camp to avoid the oncoming Russians. They were attacked en route and scattered, then found their own way into Czechoslovakia and eventually into American hands. Those who were sent to the POW hospitals had a different route home. The German army withdrew from his camp on May 7, 1945 and he returned to American jurisdiction on May 12, he was 23 years old. He is, and always will be, my hero!