Valentine Zurawski was born in Chicago, IL on February 14, 1921. He
enlisted in the US. Army on the 24th of September, 1942. Received his
basic training in Camp Livingston, LA, also in Camp Pichet, VA under
commanding officer Major General Brown. After training, he was shipped
overseas and served as a Truck Driver in Co. B, 103rd Regt. 28th Div. in
Normandy, Northern France. He was captured on the 17th of December, 1944
in Belgium. As a POW the Germans took his good shoes and he walked in
stocking feet until he got a pair of shoes that did not fit and were
full of nails and holes. They walked for two nights and days, no food,
drink, or sleep. After that he rested and was given two slices of stale
brand and then was marched into boxcars and kept there for eight days.
The R.A.F. bombed the boxcars and killed 40 Americans. The ninth day
they pulled out and rode in the boxcars for three days heading for
Germany and arriving at Stalag IV. That night he was taken into a barn
and slept without covers in the cold. Then he got a shot in the chest
that made him sick and weak for a month. He stayed in the barn for 1-1/2
months and then walked again for two months averaging 25 miles a day
with only raw potatoes and some stale bread to eat. While sleeping in
barns, he picked up lice and was not treated for them. On April 12, 1945
the Americans liberated him but before he was released he was kicked and
hit with the butt of a rifle. He weighted 160 lbs. when captured and 95
lbs. when he was liberated. Mr. Zurawski passed away on December 14,
1998. He leaves behind a wife, Irene, and a daughter, Christine.
