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"Some of the guys preferred a smoke to something to eat." (Video interview)

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   Orville J. Jackson
Image of Orville J. Jackson
Orville Jackson [detail]
War: World War, 1939-1945
Branch: Army
Unit: Company B, 409th Infantry Regiment, 103rd Infantry Division
Service Location: Louisiana; Texas; European Theater
Rank: Sergeant
POW: Yes
Place of Birth: IA
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Infantryman Orville Jackson was in France for barely six weeks before his days as a combatant were ended. Trapped in a village by German forces and wounded by shrapnel, he was captured on December 2, 1944. He bravely endured his wounds for several weeks while being transported to Ulm, Germany, where he was admitted to a hospital for two months. Transportation to a prison camp proved unnerving; he was trapped in a locked boxcar for four days, and a passenger train he was riding was strafed by American planes. In prison this nonsmoker welcomed Red Cross packages with their supply of cigarettes, which he could use to barter for food.

Interview (Video)
»Interview Highlights  (4 clips)
»Complete Interview  (52 min.)
  Photos
»Photo Album (18 photos)
 Memoirs
»Handwritten memoirs.
 Official Documents
»View List (10 items)
 Other Materials
»Map of POW prison camps.
More like this
»POWs in Germany
 Video (Interview Excerpts) (4 items)
Processing after his release. (01:48) Dealing with lice and cold weather. (02:03) Transport to and first days in POW camp. (08:33)
No food for Thanksgiving 1944. (01:45)  
  
 Official Documents (10 items)
Western Union Telegram informing parents that Jackson is a POW of the German Government, April 3rd, 1945. Certificate awarding Jackson the Bronze Star Honorable Discharge certificate, 5 October 1945.
Enlisted record and report of separation. Chronology and "record" of Orville Jackson. Letter of transmittal submitting the Unit History for the 409th Infantry Regiment for the month of December 1944.
Index, 409th Infantry Regiment, December 1944. Includes Casualty Report. From Adjutant General to Orville Jackson's father, 31 December 1944. Telegram from Adjutant general to Orville Jackson's father, reporting Jackson MIA, December 26, 1944.
Letter awarding Jackson the POW medal, May 19, 1988.  
  
 
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  The Library of Congress  >> American Folklife Center
  October 26, 2011
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