Cpl. Carl William "Buckwheat" Bailey
US Army 124th Armoured Engineers Battalion
from:Port Matilda, Pennsylvania
Carl Bailey was a decorated disabled WWII Veteran Bronze Star, Purple Heart and POW Medal. He served with 125th Armored Engineers Battalion, 14th Armored Division. He was captured in Alsace, France on the 1st of January 1945 and held as a POW at Stalag IVb, Mulenburg, Germany.
Carl as part of the 14th Armored Division landed along the cost of Southern France in August 1944 and joined the 7th Army's advance up the Rhone Valley in pursuit of the German 19th Army. They continued to push through the Vosge Mountains into Alsace. In January 1945, The 7th Army fended off the last organized German offensive (Operation Nordwind) in the west. On January 1st 1945 Carl Bailey was captured when the 125th Armored Engineers as part of Task Force Middleson tried to defend a crossroad near the town of Bannstein, Alsace, France. He was liberated by forces of the Soviet Union on April 23rd 1945. He left the service with a 30% disability classification which was later increased to 100% in 1960 retroactive to 1943.
