263122 PFC. Donald L. Huffman US Army 310th Infantry Regiment from:Springfield, USA Donald L. Huffma was captured on 16th of December 1944 at Kesternich, Germany. His unit had been ordered to stay in a ditch during a tank attack and wait there until more troops arrived. They waited for hours, but no troops arrived. Finding an empty house nearby, he and some others moved at dusk into the house and waited for dawn in hopes that American troops would arrive and take out the Germans. During the night they could hear equipment being moved and when they looked out they could see the road was full of German troops. The next morning, three German officers who spoke English told them that they could surrender or be burned out with flame throwers. So they surrendered.
Donald and his fellow POWs were taken by truck to a collection point at Duisberg. They were loaded into cattle cars and for 2 days and 3 nights, without food or water, were transported to Stalag III-A in Luckenwalde. There, he volunteered for a work detail and was transported through Berlin to a satellite camp in Perleberg. His main diet consisted of rutabaga soup. In his almost 6 months in captivity, he lost 50 pounds. He and his comrades were rescued by US Army as the POWs were being marched to Lubeck, 100 miles away from Perleberg.
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