Some of us were repatriated before the end of the war. We were more of a bother to the Germans than we were worth. We were shot up so badly they knew we could not be of any help as fighting men to our country. We were exchanged for German prisoners… They were glad to get rid of us. This was one time that Doctor Harry helped me out, as I was placed on the list to go home.
I passed the check for repatriation by some Swiss doctors. I was told that I had to have a plate put in my head and that they would do it there in Germany. I said no as I though I might be on the operating table and the German doctor may have had his family bombed by Americans. It would have been oops, Sorry, the knife slipped... one less American. I was moved out of the barracks to another one outside of the compound. There we were waiting to be sent home. The Germans went around taking pictures of us and giving them to us to show the folks back home it was not so bad in prison. I refused to have my picture taken or to even keep one that was taken. This is the only time I could say we were treated like humans as the Germans knew we were going to go home before the war would be over. We had good food and were feed regular, I guess to fatten us up before we went back to the USA..
Doctor Harry
DOCTOR HARRY
Now Dr. Harry was a card. The Germans asked if there were a doctor in the bunch now this was when we arrived at STALAG XVII-B and this guy spoke up and said “I am a Doctor”. Now we all knew that a tail gunner on a B-17 could not be a doctor so it was voted on to keep an eye on him. The main reason was he spoke German as well as our enemy. I was one and Sgt. Tyre C. Weaver from Alabama was the other one. Tyer had his left arm shot off while on a mission over Germany and his crew had to strap a chute to him and throw him out as he would have bled to death before reaching England. Sgt Weaver stayed with Doctor Harry most of the time and I would go and talk to Dr. Harry and he helped me out a lot. One thing was that Dr. Harry could speak five languages that was German, French, Russian, Spanish and our language. This proved to us that he was not what he said he was and when the Swiss Doctor board came to check us for Reparation he was carried before them by two guards on a stretcher. Said he could not walk as his back was fractured. He was passed and the guards took him back to the little Hospital outside of the camp where he got up and went about his business. Smart fellow you can see by reading the following.
Historian notes
I received the following note on April 9, 1999 POW day in the USA.
Most 17B'ers know the story of Dr. Ruben Rabinowitz, alias S/Sgt. Harry Vozie ( I stated in the above paragraph my dealings with him). It was fifty four years ago when he and I were repatriated, sailing on the Swedish motor ship, Gripsholm. Ralph Lavoie and Luther Smith, who lost an arm during the war was also on board. "Smitty" has a list of all the exchangees, all being awarded the Purple Heart.
Whose name is at the bottom of page ten of this ancient general order? S/Sgt Harry Vozie with an impressive army serial number and even a shot down date: 29th. May 1943 (it was told to me that he was dropped in Germany to perform a special job, to which he did I am sure). With "Kurt’s" help (I knew this Krigie by the name of Joe) Dr. Harry pulled off one of the wildest identity switches in history. We don't know if he really qualified for the Purple Heart, but he surely earned the US Medal of Freedom awarded to him by President Eisenhower several years later. At the 1998 reunion you would have heard Dr. Albert Rabinowitz, son of the late "Harry Vozie" and "Kurt" discuss his father’s escape as an American POW. I received a note today April 16. 1999 that Kurt passed away. Kenneth "Joe" Kurtenbach passed away on April 9, 1999 in Tucson, AZ., POW day in the USA.
Trip to Vienna Austria
Doctor Harry helped me out a lot, I felt a little sad as I was checking on him. He sent me to see a doctor in Vienna Austria. I had to go with a German guard...I wondered if I would return. And if so would it be in a glass jar, just a few ashes. We set out and it took us two days to reach our destination. At one place we stopped to eat and sat down at a table. I had brought along some chocolate bars and other food. I just spread it all out on the table and the guard and I had a feast. On one night my guard wanted to put me in jail so he could go and party. I told him if he did I would not be there the next morning. The police did not want to take me any way so he had to stay with me. He went partying all right and I sat in the back of the large room where all the Germans were dancing and having a great time. I did not mind it at all. Afterward we went to the station and laid down on the hard floor of the station and went to sleep. Early in the morning I awoke with a hurting in my chest then I noticed a large German had his head on me using my chest as a pillow. I slid out and let his head hit the floor it made a loud thump but the German did not wake at all. I stayed up the rest of the night and in the morning we left for our appointment. The doctor’s office was not much to talk about and he could not speak English. My guard had to translate for the both of us. The German Doctor could not help me so we came back to Stalag XVII-B. No I did not try to escape as I knew it would be of no value. I already had my ticket back to the states, so the Germans told me. And I still was not able to do any traveling on my own. While walking down the street in Vienna we approached another solder coming from the other way, I could see he was an officer. My guard gave a salute and said "hile Hitler" and me I said "to hell with Hitler". The officer made a couple of steps and looked at me and said "who do you think I am" (his English was better than mine!). He gave me raking over and I felt the hair on the back of my neck just freeze. Gee, they could have shot me and no one would be the wiser. They could say I tried to escape or some other thing. This time for sure I would be sent back in a glass jar. I sure did learn a lesson that day. I never said another word as most of the people did speak English. Yes, this was after I had passed the Swiss doctors and had a ticket back home..
Trip through Germany
This was after I got a pass to come home on the first reparation trip.
We were called out one night September 6,1944 and taken to a place in a railroad station. That is, the POWs who had a pass to be repatriated. The boys at the camp had made me a suitcase out of wood with handle and all. I placed in this some of my wealth, candy and gum. The rest of my stuff I left behind and I do mean I had a lot of loot. As I said before or if I had not said it I backed a dice table with the cigarettes that I did not use. And in a few weeks we had all the Red Cross packages and most of all the cigarettes in the camp. I placed my wooden suitcase on the table so the guards could check it. When they were through I jumped up to get my case. At this time a guard turned me around and looked at the tag I had around my neck. This was the pass I talked about. It said, Kronken in the Knobbin so he just backed away from me. As this meant crazy man. That guard did not have anything to do with me.
I missed out on the great lockout of XVII-B or some called it the three-day picnic. I had my own three-day picnic I believe I told about it a while back. This was another as they ( the Germans ) were looking for another escaped POW. Frank Grey was his name and they called him the Grey Ghost. This time he hid out in a tunnel along with three Russian prisoners. This happened September the 5th one day before I left for my trip home. I guess I was lucky as the Germans confiscated all the food and other personal items that the POWs had. It had been considered as a war crime.
We were loaded on a train and this time we had a seat in one of the main coaches. It was not like the forty by eight-foot boxcars we were cramped in when we were transferred to Stalag XVII-B. We had windows to look out at the country just like the train I was in when I was shipped from Holland to my first interrogating camp. As we passed over the river "Blue Danube" the guard told me to look upon the Blue Danube. Hell, it was not blue it was as muddy as the old Mississippi River back home. But it is said one had to be in love for the river to turn blue and I sure was not in love with that place.
The country sure was tore up, the part we saw anyway. The train took us up through Germany and along the way we would gather more wounded POW boys who were badly wounded. Yes, we are going to be repatriated and the closer we came to the northern part of Germany the better we felt. Oh, one could change their mind and just ship us to another camp. But we came to the coast and took a ferry across to Sweden. While on the ferry it was stopped in the middle of the trip and some SS troops checking us all over again. My heart just jumped in my mouth when the boat came along side and the SS troops jumped on the ferry. They did take one of the boys back though, but it was not long before we found out it was just to scare us. I knew that we were going to be returned but we could not help wondering if they would return us to Germany, or worse, pushed off the ship into the sea. After everything we’ve seen over the past 16 months, you can not help but think the worst. It’s just you’re always thinking…it’s almost over, we’re going home…but what if… after getting this close… But we went on to Sweden. Once there we were free we were placed on the Swedish motor ship the Gripsholm. While on this ship there was a girl who was in our cabin and tried to stow away. She said she was an American who got caught there and could not get a passage to the USA. Some of the boys wanted her to stay and a few of us said no. We had been through too much to mess it up now. So we reported her to one of the crew and they took her off the ship. We sure did have some good food on that ship. It docked in England first not to let off any English but to let off Doctor Harry. Or that is what we the POWs called him. There was another POW, Harold Sheahan, who was taken off and flown back to the USA as he had some information to report. He wrote to me a few years later and sent me a picture of some of the POWs. He said I might be in the picture, I looked but could not fine myself. I did not write back to him as at this time I could not bring myself to even think about those days. Since I have been on my medication I feel a lot better and can talk and write about those times.
Aboard the Swedish motor ship Gripsholm
On this ship there were two hundred and forty POWs. The exchange was seventy German soldiers for one American.
Gee it was great to be aboard this ship. We had good food and we just keep going back for more. We got to send a wire to our love ones. I sent a wire to my mother telling her I was ok and would see her in a few days. I also asked her not to come to New York to see us land as I would be coming home soon. Yes, they told us that and I did believe our country. No not now but what did I know then. There was a swimming pool in the bottom of the ship and we went there and to swim. No I did not have a suit but we went in the nude. There were not any ladies down there. There was also a masseur who gave us a good rub down and I took advantage of all of this. I only weighed one hundred pounds. I made a promise that I would not go hungry again. And I have kept that promise. I now weigh two hundred and twenty pounds, which I do know is too darn much. I won't say I am going on a hunger buster as I have been there before and it is not any fun.
Here we are in New York U.S.A.
We all ran over to the side to view the statue of liberty. I did not know it at the time, but our picture was taken and published in the D.A.V. magazine fifty-five years later. While I was reading the magazine I called out to my wife. Come here and see a picture of me when we arrived in New York.
We were put on shore and sent to a hospital in New York City. I had called Mrs Garvin to tell her about Peter who was in the same camp as I. In fact we were bunk mates. She made an appoint with me for about five O'Clock and that morning the Goverment called me to ask what I wanted to tell them. I have said what I though of that time in some other story. As I say "that is another story" But I sure did get mad at the way I was treated. One would think that they was intergating an enemy the way they went about trying to find out what I wanted to tell them. As it turned out I did not want to say a Dam thing after they held me for a half of a day and I was afraid I would miss the meeting with Mrs. Garvin. But I did make the meeting with her as she came with her lawyer a Mr King. One would think that it was some kind of a seceret but I just wanted to tell her that Peter was OK. And was not hurt in one piece so forth an on.
I will try and add more to this in another note known as free at last. I am going to take up here and go through my return to the states.
Free at Last
I was sent to the Northan General Hospital for the plate to be installed in my head. This was at Tuslacoola Ala. A nice Hospital and I had a fine time there. There were girls that came to help the boys out and I got to know a few. Did not keep their names but we talked and they would bring candy and things like that.Before the operation I was given a thirty day leave and I went to Columbia Mississippi which was my home. When I arrived on the buss there was Mother and Dad. Also two girls from our comunity who came to see the fly boy who came from the war and was a POW. Their last names was Hancock but for the life of me I can't remember their first names.
Gee did I enjoy the stay at home as we lived in the country and it was so quiet. I just walked around and enjoyed the leave. I did not go out as there were no place I could go as the gasoline was short and Dad's car had bad tires. But I got those fixed in a hurry as the county gave me a writ for a set of new tires. That was something that was hard to get while the war was still on. I also got a letter from the draft board stating that The FBI would be looking for me if I did not report. HEY I went around and told them that I had done my time and there was nothing else they could do to me that has not all ready been done or tried. I was let go to go back to the Hospital for the work to be done on my head.
When I returned to the Hospital in Tuscoola I went to my bunk and as you would have it there was another patient in the next bunk. He was a Negro and it seem to make him mad that I had not slept in my bunk for thirty days. He started to make waves and it was not long before some of the other patients came to my aid and told him that the reason I had not slept in the bunk was not because I did not want to sleep next to a Negro but that I had a long furlow. This seem to keep him a litle quiet but for a time I though he was going to make me mess up my face with his fist. Gee he was a large fellow.
It was not too long before they operated on me and installed a plate in my head. It did not feel too good but it did do a better job. I could not let the wind blow on me as it would just give me some of the worse pains. But I took it any way. It was a lot better than when I was in the POW camps where each time some one struck me on that spot I would pass out. I would find myself awaking on the ground and the guard would be over me demanding for me to get up.I guess that is one thing that helped me to get my ticket for repatration. As the Swiss doctor pushed a pencil in the place where the hole was and it made me pass out. When I awoke I remember them telling me that a plate would have to be put in that place for my protection.
T/Sgt Clyde Dan Willis ex Krigie of WWII