World War II

of the Greater Quad City Area

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BARTON,  William

BUCKMEYER, Arnold

CLEVE, Carl R.

CORBIN, Ricard S.

HALPERN, Paul

HARTZ, Henry

HUGGINS, Harold H.

JENS, Wayne

JOHNSON, Pershing

LEWIS, Wilbur C.

McCORMICK, Harold E. (Pete)

PHLEGER, John V.

RUDDY, Douglas

WEINDRUCH, Archie

WELTY, Roger

WOLFE, Warren

 

John V. Phleger, Geneseo, Illinois

Mr. Phleger was with the 71st Infantry Division, 66th Regiment.   He found himself in Austria during the final stages of the war.  His troops were the farthest east division in the European theatre and captured more German troops than any other because the Germans were surrendering at that time.  He assisted in the liberation of a concentration camp at Gunskirchen, near Lambach, Austria, which imprisoned thousands of Hungarian Jews.  During the five days he was there before his division pushed on, he remembers the foul odor, the dying,  and the thin, gaunt, unsmiling inmates who didn't have the strength to walk to the food lines.  He made trips in his jeep and carried food in his munitions box.  He gave it away as quickly as he could even before orderly distribution was arranged.  He says that he and his fellow soldiers had been trained to fight but they quickly became like Red Cross workers, doing what they could to relieve the suffering.  Mr. Phleger, your compassionate efforts will always be remembered. 

Read more from Mr. Phleger's eyewitness account:
Interview & Full Text