208711 John Francis Sulivan United States Army My dad, John Francis Sullivan, was a POW at Stalag 7A. He was captured in a farmhouse near or in Bologna, Italy when he was sent out as a forward observer. I believe he originally operated a Howitzer gun. He served under General Mark Clark. He and about 6 – 8 other soldiers were sent out on Oct 25, 1944 and captured that day. Then on Oct 26 General Clark called off any offensive until the spring because of the weather. At the time the troops were in the Italian Alps.
Dad and the other soldiers were in a farm house and I believe his Lieutenant called in for artillery when they realized they were surrounded and about to be captured by the Germans. After being captured, Dad said the captured soldiers and the Germans walked thru Germany over the Bremen Pass. They finally boarded a train and got off in Mooseburg Station, I believe.
My mother received a telegram that my Dad was MIA from the Government but later she received telegrams from all over the country as people who had heard my Dad give a message to my mother via the radio. I believe it must have been short wave radio or perhaps from the Red Cross that Dad relayed the message. I still have those telegrams too.
Just prior to being liberated on May 1, 1945, Dad remembered that the German guards had the Americans leave the camp and walked the Americans to Regensburg. When the Americans woke up on May 1, 1945, the German guards were gone but a Hawaiian troop of soldiers were coming down a hill, as Dad was by a watering well. He said a soldier gave him a piece of his bread and Dad said it was so good it tasted just like cake.
I also believe that the photo of the 5 men with the heading of Mooseburg in Winter might be a picture of my Dad, John F. Sullivan. He is in the back row, first person on the left. My Dad wore eyeglasses, wire rims but I can't tell from the picture if he has glasses. I know that he lost a lot of his teeth while being a prisoner due to diet. My Dad loved photography and while he was in Italy and not assigned to a troop, he was held in an area with people from Associated Press.
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