Early training
Willard and Wilbur Diefenthaler trained at Camp Phillips, Kan., and both were assigned to the 106th Infantry. Willard recalls how mistaken identity almost denied him his first meal at the mess hall. He describes his chemical warfare training and recalls witnessing British ingenuity in Oxford, England.
read transcript  | listen to RealAudio clip (7:21)

The Bulge
Willard Diefenthaler chronicles the early hours of the Battle of the Bulge. Surviving those first hours was the first of many "lucky" moments.
read transcript  | listen to RealAudio clip (8:48)

Surviving Bad Orb
Diefenthaler describes his capture during the Battle of the Bulge. Prisoners marched and dragged each other through the rain and sleet to a railhead, where they were packed into boxcars for prison camps. While waiting outside Lindberg Prison Camp, Diefenthaler narrowly escaped strafing from an Allied plane. He recalls a moment of kindness from a German civilian and describes the grim living conditions at Stalag 9B in Bad Orb, Germany.
read transcript  | listen to RealAudio clip (12:07)

Wilbur
The Germans moved Diefenthaler to Stalag 9A on Jan. 25, 1945. He describes his last memories of his brother, Wilbur, who was too ill to move. Decades later, Diefenthaler received his brother's final letter and met the American medic who took care of Wilbur during his final days.
read transcript  | listen to RealAudio clip (5:34)

Liberation
The Allies liberated Stalag 9A on Good Friday, 1945. Diefenthaler describes how several prisoners exacted revenge against "The Man of Confidence," the sergeant formerly in charge of the camp. The next staging ground was Camp Lucky Strike in LaHavre, France, where some former POWs died from overeating.
read transcript  | listen to RealAudio clip (3:17)

Reunions
Diefenthaler reflects on the importance of attending veterans' reunions. He notes that POWs suffered during and after the war, and he commends supportive POW wives.
read transcript  | listen to RealAudio clip (2:06)

Early training
Willard and Wilbur Diefenthaler trained at Camp Phillips, Kan., and both were assigned to the 106th Infantry. Willard recalls how mistaken identity almost denied him his first meal at the mess hall. He describes his chemical warfare training and recalls witnessing British ingenuity in Oxford, England.
audio clip (7:21)

Willard Diefenthaler: I was drafted. A year after Pearl Harbor.

Mark Van Ells: So, if you would describe the process of going into the military, the steps you took. And in your particular case, you went in with your twin brother. That sounds like an interesting story all by itself.

Diefenthaler: Yeah. He was 20 minutes older than I was, and we were drafted Dec. 7 at Two Rivers. So then we went to Fort Sheridan and we were inducted there. And when we were separated; we were separated at Fort Sheridan and my brother went to Camp Phillips, Kansas, in the 919th Field Artillery, and I went to the 101st Airborne in the glider infantry at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Van Ells: Now, how'd you get into that? Was it just the luck of the draw or were you selected for that for some reason?

Diefenthaler: Well, they do. My serial number was D-5655 and his was [D-56]57. They just took every other person and put us in the Airborne, and the others went someplace else. So I talked to the sergeant and lieutenant that I wanted to stay with my brother, and he says: "Well, it's all fixed up. You better go now where you're assigned and then turn the transfer in at that time." So I did. Three months later I was on my way to Camp Phillips, Kansas, 'cause twin brothers could be together at that time. So I went to Camp Phillips, Kansas, in the 919th Field Artillery. And that was quite an experience, because I had come in on Saturday and my brother had been on KP. So he was taking a shower and I said, "Well, I'll take a shower, too." And just that time the first sergeant called and says, "I want you guys in the day room, in the officer's day room." So I said, "Well, I'll take a shower first." And Will, my brother — his first name was Wilber and mine is Willard — and he said, "Well, when Sergeant Felts says something, we'd better go." He was a big 7/8ths Indian, had been in the Army 18 years, and when he barked everybody jumped. So I went in there and they put — Sergeant Major Bierdon put one of us up on the day room table and Sergeant Felts put the other one up. He was so proud to have twins in the outfit. So the next day was Sunday, and I went in and we stayed in bed in the morning.

But in the afternoon, or at dinnertime — they had a reputation for having the best pancakes in the business. So, we went and Sergeant Hilt was the mess sergeant. I come through, my brother came through first, and about two or three later I came and Sergeant Hilt, the mess sergeant, says, "We don't give seconds" and "move on, soldier."

So I moved on and I had the Screaming Eagle on my shoulder yet, and Will had the 94th. So, I sat down on the table and Sergeant Felts come in and says: "What's the matter, soldier? Isn't my food any good?"

And I says, "Yeah, but that darned mess sergeant wouldn't give me any." So we went over there, and Sergeant Felts is about a foot bigger than Sergeant Hilt, and he starts pulling him over the counter and says, "I want my men fed." So I got fed. …

Van Ells: So you eventually ended up with the 106th before you left?

Diefenthaler: Yeah. We were in the 106th Infantry, and my brother was assistant supply sergeant and full-time armor. So in order for me to stay, I got to be assistant armor and full-time chemical warfare non-com. So I —

Van Ells: What did that entail?

Diefenthaler: Well, I had to teach everybody how to use the gas mask and put it on and go in a gas chamber and go out again and clear the mask and everything else. And then I had the mine-detectors, and we had to recover mines and disarm them. Then we had to decontaminate the uniforms and the equipment we used from mustard and Lucite gas and a lot of tear gas. And I have scars on both arms from chemical — a tenth of one percent and a half a drop of mustard on one arm and Lucite on the other arm, and in about 10 seconds it gets to be as big as your little finger; and then we neutralize that in another spot and showed the difference to all these people. So I had scars on my arms.

Then when we went to England; I studied with the Blitz firemen and out of the London fire fighting. And so we went over to Oxford University, and there were big gliders, bigger than the ones in the 101st, and they were all loaded with chemicals ready to be dropped at a moment's notice. And we couldn't see them. They were all camouflaged in this woods, and we couldn't see them until we were right up there and noted that those were gliders filled with chemicals.

Van Ells: Did someone tell you that they were filled with chemicals? I mean, you didn't go and look at them.

Diefenthaler: No. Major John Livze was our battalion non-com, or battalion gas officer, and he pointed it out. And then we went on the big Oxford drill field and the Blitz firemen gave demonstrations on putting out fires. And I remember the biggest thing they had, they had about a 250-gallon tank of petrol (they call it instead of gasoline), and they had a little pep talk on that, and then a rain pipe going down.

So, they started this gas leak and lit it, and that flamed up to the tank and then they asked for a canteen cup of water. So one of us give him a canteen cup of water, and he shinnies up the ladder on the side of the tank and dumps this water in it. So, water being heavier than the gasoline, it went out first and the fire went out and we shut the pit valve off. And then he had another tank there that they had a crack in it, like a gas tank, and it was leaking — and I used that theory many times when I come home.

I worked in a filling station, and we had trouble with getting gas tanks during the end of the war and during the war. And he asked for a mess kit with some water and a bar of soap. So, I took my bar of Lux soap and smeared it in the mess kit and then you start, you wipe off the crack on this tank and you start swirling around from the outside in. And by the time you get in with this soap, the gasoline will quit because gasoline won't cut soap. So we fixed quite a few gas tanks that way until we could get something new.

Van Ells: Thanks to the U.S. Army, I guess.

Diefenthaler: English Army. We hated those Limeys, but they sure did a good job.