News-Info-Alerts

Re: Twins Brothers, Both Captured

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Date: September 25, 2002

Posted 20 SEP 02

"On POW-MIA Day, a WWII veteran remembers Diefemthaler, twin brother were captured

By Neil Rhines
Herald Times Reporter

MANITOWOC — Today is POW-MIA Day, one that holds special significance to Willard Diefemthaler.

It’s a day to remember Prisoners of War and those Missing in Action, but Diefemthaler’s memories go back to World War II.

“It was during the (Battle of the) Bulge, on Dec. 19, 1944,” Diefemthaler, known to his friends as Lefty, said from his home near Kiel. “It was colder than heck.”

Diefemthaler was a member of the Army’s 106th Division of Chemical Warfare.

Both Diefemthaler and his twin brother were captured by the Germans, and spent time in POW camps.

Diefemthaler’s brother, Wilbur, was just 20 minutes older than Willard. He died in cell 9B at the age of 22 and is buried in France.

On Dec. 24, 1944, locked inside a 40-and-8 boxcar (40 men or eight horses) with 100 other POWs outside Limberg, Germany, Diefemthaler survived a massive bombing of the city by U.S. planes.

Many died, Diefem-thaler said, but on Christmas Day, the train got through and the POWs received their first meal in six or seven days.

“There were so many that died of malnutrition,” he said.

Diefemthaler was liberated on March 30, 1945.

“It was a hundred-some days; it seemed like years,” he said.

State Sen. Jim Baumgart, a veteran, said he feels POW-MIA Day has special meaning because of the many members of America’s armed forces still missing in action.

“Friday, Sept. 20, is an appropriate day to reflect on the sacrifices that have been made to give us the freedoms we enjoy today,” Baumgart said.

National POW-MIA Day was set up to honor those who served America’s interests in combat, as well as those who did not return.

According to information available on the Department of Defense Web site, of the more than 16 million people who served in WWII, 78,750 are still missing and unaccounted for.

“The Russians lost over 1 million people, both civilian and military,” Manitowoc County Veterans Service Officer William Stiefvater said. “We didn’t appreciate that then because of the Cold War, but they are humans.”

Steifvater said he was stunned by these figures.

“Holy moly,” he said. “I just think of the mothers. How many lost their only son?”

© 2002 Gannett Wisconsin"