Emanuel Peters, Rev.
422nd Infantry Regiment
Company C
106th Infantry Division

I entered active service in October 1943 at Fort Dix, New Jersey.  After Basic at Fort Benning I was sent to join the 106th at Camp Atterbury.  I first joined "B" Co., 422nd Regiment and then was transferred to the Cannon Company of the 422nd. I had earlier training in "Artillery" during ROTC at Ohio State University.

After taking the Aquitania to Scotland, then transporting down to England we soon crossed the Channel and ended up in the Ardennes. I recall reaching the Siegfried Line on 10 December 1944.  We saw German helmets not too far from us and had an occasional spraying by German bullets.

I was on guard when the barrage began on 16 December at 5:30 A. M., with most shells going overhead.  Little did any of us realize that the Battle of the Bulge was underway.  Our Regiment was soon cut off.  Our Cannon Company did it's part by slowing the offensive by shelling oncoming ground forces and horse drawn weapons units.

We tried to break out of the entrapment but at a crossroads we were met by blasts of mortar and artillery shells.  Our commander surrendered by holding a white handkerchief above his jeep.  After our capture we were marched to a small town and put into box cars.  We were on a siding at Gerolstein when we were bombed by Allied planes on 23/24 December.

I believe it was Christmas Day that we were taken to Stalag 9-B, Bad Orb, Germany, where we endured privation, unsanitary conditions and malnutrition.   It was there, for the first time, that I read through the New Testament and attended services, led by our Chaplain.  I was baptized while in Stalag 9-B.

I heard Patton's tanks rumble nearby going towards the East and hope was building up for our release as the German guards took off.  I kept the record of graves of a small cemetery for GIs who had died from malnutrition and wounds of combat.  On Easter Sunday, April 2nd a member of General Patch's 5th Army liberated us on the day of Resurrection when the Savior liberated us from Sin, Death and Hell.

After returning to the United States I was assigned to Camp Drum, NY to guard German prisoners who worked in various farms in upper New York.

Discharged on 14 December 1945 I resumed education under the GI Bill.