News-Info-Alerts

Re: The Pride, the Horror

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Date: April 04, 2002

"WWII VETERANS
Sharing the pride, horror of war

Local World War II vets shared their experiences with Bucks County tech school students.

By JO CIAVAGLIA - Courier Times

World War II veteran and POW Len Feinberg was with group of WWII veterans that visited sophs and juniors at Bucks County Technical H.S. He proudly shows his Combat Medic helmet to student Gary Gassman.
(Photos: Jay Crawford/Courier Times)Len Feinberg wasn't much older than the kids sitting in front of him when he quit college to join the Army.

He was 19 and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor nearly wiped out the Pacific fleet, leaving the nation vulnerable to foreign attack. Like thousands of guys his age, he begged his parents to let him volunteer.

"I couldn't wait to get into something," he said. "I wanted to go and fight for my country."

Less than three years after becoming a combat medic, Feinberg would find himself wounded twice and a Nazi prisoner, his captors threatening to "cut off the Jew's nose."

Six decades later, he was showing off his Army-issued helmet with its two bullet holes at Bucks County Technical High School, during what educators said was one of the largest educational gatherings of local World War II vets. Bob Harvie, the school's social studies department chairman, came up with the idea for yesterday's living history lesson at the Bristol Township school.

"The ideas these kid have of World War II is totally from movies and TV, and it's almost all combat because that is what is exciting ... but it's only a small piece of the puzzle," he said. "It wasn't just people with guns."

Forty-four people who lived through World War II shared their experiences with 10th- and 11th-graders.

The speakers represented each branch of the military. Some saw action overseas, while others were stationed at home. There were two POWs, a nurse stationed in North Africa, a tank driver who was at the Battle of the Bulge, a sailor whose ship was sunk at the Battle of Midway, and people who waited at home, like the two men who were children during the war years.

"It's a crazy concept, this thing called war," Feinberg told the kids.

World War II Navy veteran Beryl Price recalls wartime memories for students at the Bucks County Technical School.His Army unit missed D-Day but fought in Normandy, France. The countryside was made up of little fields surrounded by hedgerows of bushes, dirt and rock tough enough to withstand bombs and tanks.

"Little forts" was how Feinberg described them.

During one fight, a bullet ripped through his helmet and whizzed across his head, but left him unharmed. Then he was shot in the back, though not badly hurt.

On Jan. 5, 1945, his company was on the move again, but he was separated behind enemy lines. The next thing he knew, the Germans were firing behind him.

The platoon dug into the snowy woods, but when it became clear that they would be captured, Feinberg refused to surrender. He ran. He spent the night wandering in the woods. There was a barrage of mortar fire.

"I hope they will do it again. The stories they told were vivid and got your mind going."

Jim Lalley
17, Bristol Township"That is where hole No. 2 came from," he said, referring to the second bullet in his helmet. Again the helmet saved him, but he was hit in the leg.

He tried running, only to face a machine-gun-toting German. During the war, soldiers from both sides surrendered the same way: hands raised and yelling "comrade."

Feinberg couldn't bring himself to say it. So the solider began firing. Luckily he wasn't a good shot, Feinberg said. Hands raised, Feinberg yelled the German word for "medic," thinking the soldier might let him go.

"The things I heard today could help with my learning. In books it just tells you generally what happened and when you talk to the veterans you find out more than the general."

Amanda McElhare
16, MorrisvilleRather than being immediately taken to a work camp, Feinberg went to a German hospital where prisoners were kept in an attic. Next he was moved to a mountain factory, where prisoners fixed the destroyed railroads and unloaded railroad cars.

"It was the worst place you could imagine," he said.

Though he never hid that he was Jewish, he said his captors didn't single him out from the 150 other POWs. "I was treated as an American," he said. "It's hard to explain. I never denied being Jewish. That would mean I was afraid of them."

For the most part, the guards left him alone - except the one time a Nazi pulled out a knife and threatened to "cut off the Jew's nose." Feinberg stood his ground. The guard backed off.

His two years of German in college came in handy. Feinberg could understand the guards and read the crates he was unloading to tell which ones contained sardines and biscuits, which he stole. At the time, POWs got a slice of bread and a thermos full of "so-called soup" each day. He lost 40 pounds in three months, "which is faster than Weight Watchers," he joked.

Eventually, on a forced march, Feinberg managed to escape. He hid in what he later learned was a town air raid shelter.

Looking back, there were different rules about combat and war, he said. Soldiers on both sides avoided hurting civilians. "Nowadays," he said, "these terrorists target civilians."

Looking back, there were different rules about combat and war, he said. Soldiers on both sides avoided hurting civilians. "Nowadays," Len Feinberg said, "these terrorists target civilians." "