June 23, 1945A four page letter written to Rudy Menchl from Ralph Kramer on June 23, 1945. Ralph [along with Harry Cunningham and Willie Jones] was captured and taken as POW.
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Hello Rudy -
Finally managed to get back home again. It’s like coming back into a new life once again, but I’m gradually catching up to time. Being out of circulation for awhile doesn’t improve your up to the date facts any, I’ll say that much. I know you’d like to hear a little bit of my story for there are plenty of things I’d like to ask you, well here goes - Very few minutes after landing on the ground the Jerries had me. My back and legs were sort of numb from the explosion in the bomb bay & radio room so I couldn’t walk, add this o being knocked out upon hitting the ground and you can see why I was taken. Bill & Harry were both in the same fix. Harry from some 20MMs in the knees, leg, arm and head. He was the hardest hit; Bill was also shot up a bit, he also hit the horizontal fin for we had to jump from the waist window. Some 20’s had jammed the waist door shut, so Tex [Carlton Alderson] and I got rid of the right waist gun so we could get out. They had us together in a hospital in Verona for a couple of days and then put us on a train to Germany. The sweat box at Frankfurt was our destination, Dulag Luft, you may have heard of it. There Harry was taken out and sent to the hospital but Bill & myself stayed together. From there we were shipped to Krems, Austria {Stalag XVII B) where it seemed as tho we spent a lifetime. |
Myrtlewood
July 1, 1945 Dear Rudy, I received a letter from Alderson the other day. He sent me your address so I decided to write you. I was happy to hear that you and the others got to Switz. We worried a lot about what happened to all of you. We received the cards you wrote us in February 1945. I wrote you back but you were in the States by that time. We were happy to get the cards. It told us something about I was sorry to hear about ‘Dick’. [Victor Dickerson] I guess the rest of us were lucky. P.O.W. life wasn’t too good but we got out alive and back to the states and that is what counts. Ralph and Harry are O.K. I got a letter from Ralph yesterday. He and I was together all the time. Harry went to the hospital and came in camp later. |
July 6, 1945Dear Rudy,
I hope this letter reaches you before you transfer. I just returned from the city where I spent a week with my relations, seeing if New York City had changed any. Sure glad to hear you’re O.K. and made it in good shape. We never did know what had happened to all you boys until we received those cards you sent from Switzerland, when we tried to figure out what they meant. |