246848 Sgt. Chalmer Edwin "Pork" Bonnicksen United States Army Co L. 168th Infantry Regiment from:Ringsted, Iowa My uncle, Chalmer Bonnicksen, was a POW at Stalag 3B. He was captured in Tunisia on 17th of Feb 1943. The date of capture happened to be his 30th birthday. I believe he spent his entire time as a POW at Stalag 3B and was liberated on 26th of May 1945.
Uncle Pork was a sergeant with the 34th Infantry Division, 168th Infantry Regiment, Co L. I know very little about his time as a POW. What I do remember is my father telling me that letters back and forth were semi-regular and the Red Cross was getting at least some care packages through. The conditions did seem to have damaged his vision which proved a hardship for a man who liked to read as much as he did. Upon his return, my father told me he looked like a scarecrow, he stood 6'4" and certainly wasn't carrying any extra weight after two years in a camp.
He came back to Iowa and spent the rest of his life drilling and repairing wells around NW Iowa. He died of a heart attack at the young age of 54 in 1967.
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