World War II Memoirs of A German P.O.W.
My Friend For Life
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| Eugene J. Hamlett World War II Memoirs of A German P.O.W. |
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| William Taylor My Friend For Life |
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| William, or Bill, Taylor and I met for the first time right after we were taken prisoner at Anzio Beach, Italy, 56 years ago. It wasn't until we were taken to the farm at Prellwitz in Poland, that we became friends. I lived with 28 men in an old house on the farm. Soon after we reached the P.O.W. farm, 6 of us were moved into the basement of the main farm house by the German captors. It was Bill Taylor, Willard "Red" Burton, Roy Larson, Lamar Day, Joe Donato, and myself. The six of us learned very quickly that the key to our survival would be to trust in each other and to become "friends to the end." For the most part, Bill and I are the only two who continue to keep contact now. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bill Taylor first decided to look me up in 1986. He had been thumbing through his most recent copy of the P.O.W. Membership book, and stumbled upon my name. When he first called, I couldn't remember who he was exactly. You see, I had tried for 42 years to forget my experiences as a P.O.W., so when he first told me what his name was, I found out that not only had I blocked my experiences, but also, the people I had met while imprisoned. Bill told me that he had been trying to get in touch with me for a long time. He had written my name in his bible and where I lived, which at the time was Hurt, VA. When he called the operator, they told him that there weren't ANY Hamletts' in Hurt, VA, which was untrue. All of my family lived in Hurt, except for me. After I had completed my service, I moved across the Staunton River into Altavista. At first I was speechless. As soon as Bill mentioned that he had spent 16 months in P.O.W. camps with me, I remembered him instantly. We spoke for a long time that night, drudging up things that both of us had tried long and hard to forget. It was very good to hear from my old buddy Bill Taylor. Not too long after the phone call, my wife and I were visited by Bill and his wife Dorothy. We had planned a visit to go see our other friend, Willard "Red" Burton in October of 1988, but sadly he passed away in September of that year. I spoke to Red one time on the phone before we were scheduled to go visit him. Bill and his wife had visited Red before he passed away. Red wouldn't let Bill in the door at first. When Bill told Red who he was, Red said "You old s.o.b.! You're the last person I thought I'd see again!" The four of us, Bill, Dorothy, my wife Betty Lou, and myself attended Red's funeral in Norton, VA. He had a military funeral. It sure was a sad ending to what I thought might have been a happy reunion. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Bill and Dorothy have visited us several times since 1986. He has been the P.O.W. historian, so to speak. Whenever there is a face I can remember but not a name, Bill fills in the blanks. He is dedicated to the preservation of memories so that our descendants will know just what happened. He has been the subject of many newspaper articles in his hometown. Dorothy was his inspiration for finding all of his war buddies. She has encouraged him to keep up the ties with the people that he spent 16 months of his life with. I would like to thank both of them for their continued friendship and support. Thank you Bill & Dorothy for looking up an old friend. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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