Medals
Received: PURPLE HEART MEDAL, POW MEDAL, BRONZE STAR MEDAL,
AMERICAN SERVICE MEDAL, WW II VICTORY MEDAL, ETO CAMPAIGN MEDAL,
AMERICAN CAMPAIGN MEDAL, COMBAT INFANTRY BADGE, GOOD CONDUCT MEDAL
Military
Job: SQUAD LEADER
Company:
335 Inf. Co. F
Occupation
after War: FIELD SUPPORT, OIL FIELD SERVICE
Born in Prairie Ronde, Louisiana on August 9, 1922, Wirt was raised
during the depression, the son of a farmer. He joined the CCC (Civilian
Conservation Corp) in 1940 at the age of 18 years. He was discharged
from this Corp in 1942 and inducted into the army the same year on
December 1, 1942.
Camp Howz, Texas was the site of his basic training and Camp Claiborne,
Louisiana, was where he went through further training and Army
maneuvers. In 1944 he was sent to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey where he
boarded an English ship, the H.M.S. Sterling Castle, which was bound for
England. When this ship left the New York harbor, it was hit by a tanker
and had to return to the pier. All GI’s were taken back to Camp Kilmer.
Once the ship was repaired, they began their journey across the sea,
landing in Liverpool, England, October 10, 1944. When Wirt left England
for France, he became part of the personnel that left the 84th and
joined the “Red Ball Express”, a unit that delivered supplies to the
front line. He was a truck driver and because he could speak and
understand French, he became an interpreter for an officer.
Rejoining his outfit in November, he moved through France, Belgium and
Holland to become involved in the “Battle of the Bulge”. He was in
mud and snow and his fingers often stuck to the barrel of his gun. While
in a foxhole in Ruhr Valley, he was captured by German soldiers. He was
taken to a huge building where his picture was taken. He was so cold
that he wouldn’t have cared if they had shot him, which is what he
thought they were going to do. He was marched to a prison camp at
Nienburg, Germany, then transferred by boxcar to Stalag III-B at
Furstenburg, Germany. There were 64 men in this small boxcar-deplorable
conditions and below freezing weather. Later, he was marched to Stalag
III-A at Lukenwalde, Germany. He went through Berlin in one of the
moves. While marching, he saw an SS Trooper shoot an American soldier
when he stopped to tie his shoe.
The Russians liberated him in April 1945. A huge Russian tank came right
through the wall of the camp and the tank was being driven by a Russian
woman. He and two other POW’s found 2 horses and a buggy. Wirt knew
how to hitch the horses to the buggy. They started traveling west and
after 3 days, found the American lines.
After he was cleaned up, deloused, issued clean clothes, given a
physical and food, he was flown in a C-47 to La Harve, France. He
boarded ship there on May 22 to return to the United States and arrived
in the States on June 3. After spending a convalescense furlough at home
and in Florida, he was sent to Camp Lee, Virginia, and then to Camp
Kilmer, New Jersey. He thought he’d have to go to Japan, but the
atomic bomb was dropped and the war with Japan was over. He was
discharged from Fort Dix, New Jersey on November 20, 1945.
Wirt worked for an oil company in south Louisiana for many years as a
construction superintendent. He lived in Bristol, Louisiana with his
wife, Mellie Sibille Fontenot, 3 children, 8 grandchildren and 3
great grandchildren. In his spare time, he raised quarter horses. Wirt
died on March 1, 2003.
