S/Sgt. Armando Loya "Sam" Sambrano
US Army 18th Infantry Regiment
from:El Paso, Texas
Armando Sambrano was drafted after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He became a Staff Sargent in the European Theater after his Lieutenant was shot for the third time and sent home.
My father was 22 years old when he was drafted. He was in the Big Red One in 18th Infantry Regiment. During boot camp, he would iron the uniforms for other soldiers for extra money, and wrote letters for another soldier to his wife because he did not know how to read or write. He felt the brotherhood that was among all the soldiers.
My father was of Mexican descent and the nickname they gave him was Black Boy. Once he became the Staff Sargent, he took the role of the older brother and would tell his men to stay alert and dig their foxholes deep in order to protect themselves from German snipers. He saw horrific scenes and never overcame the loss of two of his men. Eventually he put the horrors in the back of his mind because he had a war to fight, and his men to protect.
While in Aachen, Germany in September of 1944, he and his men were using grenades to bomb the German pill boxes to fulfil their objective known as Crucifix Hill. His men were then sent to the Hurtgen Forrest and were almost out of ammunition. Upon approaching one of the pill boxes, it exploded. He woke up to a German medic taking care of his wounds. His pants were torn and shredded and his shirt had been torn off of his body. His ears were ringing loudly and his ear was bleeding. He became a POW of the Germans and was sent to Stalag 12C on 17th of October 1944.
On 31st of January 1945 the Russians invaded the Stalag and they were free. They had to walk 1,000 miles to reach Odessa, Russia. He was taken by a Russian Ship to Naples, Italy. He arrived back on American soil on 20th of April 1945.
