251561 Pte. Charles Edward Nutter United States Army from:Bradford, AR My father, Charles Nutter didn't talk much about his interment in Stalag 9b in Bad Orb Prussia. But his closet was a treasure trove of information to me. I remember the blue box that held that beautiful Purple Heart medal. There were more but either I never asked or he never spoke about them.
He also had a bayonet and a cup that he said had been made from the wing of a German plane. Being a boy from the hills of Arkansas, he didn't care for Germany because he said it was too flat not a hill or even a rise.
I have a post card he sent home to my Mother. He had had surgery on his elbow, for what I don't know, but he had the part they took off in a little brown jar. As a young child, I thought that was cool. He also had some playing cards. One set, I remember, that had jokes on them. I remember the pride I took in seeing that black and white POW license plate on our car.
My daughter recently received a scholarship from our local VFW, in part because of her father's service in the Air Force in the 70s. But mostly because of my dad's service and sacrifice. One of the veterans came and spoke to us before the presentation of her scholarship, he told me that they may have to close this VFW, and when he said that I couldn't help but tear up. I was so saddened by that fact. I thought about what those men & their families went through. I remember my dad saying that he had been sent out on a death march, but was liberated. I don't think I understood the gravity of that until I was much older. According to the Red Cross he was imprisoned on 21st of December 1944 and the last report was made on 15th of May 1945. He was imprisoned for 145 days.
I have always been so drawn to any thing WW2, especially books on the subject. I guess that interest was passed down to my youngest daughter. She has read so many books and articles on WW2, so many in fact that her senior English teacher actually called her out of class and asked if everything was ok. "We need to remember our past, or we're doomed to repeat it" I think about this often, and hope that generations to come will also have an interest in why we are a strong country, why our military personnel are risking their lives still today defending this great country.
I want to thank all those who served, serve, and even will serve, for what they do for our country and its people. We are blessed and we need to remain One Nation Under God!
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