Re: A POW Medal 61 Years Later

Date: June 25, 2004

"Vets honored for POW status 61 years later

By SCOTT HANKINS Register Correspondent

When Norman Williams jumped from his crippled B-17 in 1943, he had no idea he would ever get an honor for it. In fact, he didn't even know he would survive.

"The plane was less than 1,000 feet up," Williams said. "The (parachute) landing was very hard."

On Thursday Williams received the Prisoner of War Medal for Europe at a California Veterans Home ceremony in Yountville. Williams' honor was hard-earned. After jumping in freezing conditions to an uncertain fate, he was captured by Nazis and sent to a stalag near Poland, where he spent 22 months before being freed by Gen. Patton's forces.

"We're here to honor one of the home members who went through hell," said Tom Montague, vice chair for the Allied Council, which advocates for residents of the Vets Home. Montague was also emcee for the event.

Dennis Laivo, deputy of Annex II at the Vets Home, praised Williams for his harrowing experience during his tenth mission as a bombardier.

"I'm not familiar with the situation leading to your departure from the crippled aircraft," he said. "But it takes guts to jump from the frying pan and into the fire."

Laivo said Williams was just one of many people who were willing to make the sacrifice.

"Norman, you truly are a product of the greatest generation and deserving of this belated award," he said. "God bless you and God bless America.

David Salopek, who also sang Williams' praises, said Congress authorized the Prisoner of War Medal in 1985 to recognize those who served during World War II.

"Fortunately Norman, you are with us as many are not," he said. "The individuals who were held prisoner in this stalag had a terrible stress. ... Their experiences were unspoken and unexposed until recently."

There was a reason that prisoners' experiences were unexposed, according to Williams' daughter, Michelle Lingerfelt.

"They all had to sign a oath of silence not to talk about their experiences for 50 years," she said. "As a child, I knew he was a POW, but that's about all I knew. We were shocked at what he went through. We don't know half of what he went through. We know that food was scarce."

Lingerfelt remembers watching "Hogan's Heroes" on television.

"We asked him if it was anything like that," she said. "He just said, 'No.' I didn't really know what he had gone through until my daughter did a term paper about it and he shared his experiences with her."

Lingerfelt said that her father saved all of his papers, including a German document of his POW status.

"It's a part of history that we all need to know about," she said. "I've always been proud of him."

Salopek said Williams had more important things on his mind than telling war stories.

"People like Norman don't speak about their experiences," he said. "Instead, they concentrated on building their lives."

Salopek said there are hundreds of stories that the Veterans Home that go untold.

"I would be very surprised if their families fully understood what many veterans here at the Veterans Home have experienced," he said. "The experiences of leaving a mortally wounded aircraft in frostbite conditions; landing in horrible, horrible circumstances without adequate heating or adequate clothing. It may not be healthy to dwell on these circumstances."

John Haretty, director of finances for the California Veterans Affairs Office, read a proclamation from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The Vets Home Administrator, Commander Marcella McCormack, presented Williams with his medal.

"Truly being a POW is a special thing," she said. "When they come home, we know they've endured more than the rest of us."

McCormack said 55 percent of the planes that flew over Germany were lost.

"Miracles of survival were numerous," she said. "The stalag that Norman was in was 100 miles southeast of Berlin near Poland. It's very cold in that area."

When Williams walked to the lectern, using a cane, McCormack pinned the medal on his chest, stepped back to salute and then gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you for coming and enjoy the rest of the day," was all Williams could muster in the way of a speech.

Williams, who wore a Veterans of Foreign Wars cap, took his seat -- a seat that had a POW/MIA flag draped across the back.

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