SSG. Charlie H. Little
US Army Company D. 4th Infantry Regiment
from:Winterville, NC
Charlie Little enlisted on the 5th of Nov. 1941 at Fort Bragg, NC, Became a Staff Sergeant in Company D Fourth Infantry.
He was in the African Middle Eastern theater and then part of the invasion of Italy where he was captured. He told me he and another soldier became separated from his company and hid in a bomb creator. The other soldier fell asleep and began to snore. The noise gave them away and the other soldier refused to be captured and was killed. Dad was put on a train and ended up in Stalag 3b.
According to my Dad, cigarettes and chocolate from the Red Cross packages were used to trade for items to build a crystal radio from the German guards. Each part was kept by a POW for safe keeping during the day. At night they would put it together and listen to the news. The German guard propaganda was that the Allies had lost the war but the POWs knew different. One day the guards just left the camp. While listening to the radio they knew Germany had lost. They were able to locate the nearest US troop location. A small group including my dad chose to leave the camp and found the US troops and were liberated.
He was awarded the Bronze Star and the Good Conduct medals.
