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Jim Bard

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After his call up, Jim Bard wound up at Fort McClellan for infantry basic training. To him, it was just an extension of the Boy Scouts and then he was sent to Auburn University, of all places. At the time, it was called Alabama Polytechnic Institute. It was the Army Specialized Training Program, an effort to build up the military's brain trust, but men were needed on the battlefield in Europe and the program was ended. He was sent to the newly formed 106th Division. (4:00)

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His Atlantic crossing was swift. The Queen Elizabeth could outrun any warship and delivered the men of the 106th Division to England in five days. Jim Bard had one furlough in London where he heard the explosions of V2 rockets. Ferried to Le Havre, the unit made it's way through France into Belgium. (5:43)

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To Jim Bard, the orders were confusing. The inexperienced 106th Division was told to move out, then to hold. When his unit finally moved out in the opening days of the Battle of the Bulge, they were quickly pinned down and surrounded. As he tried to dig a foxhole in the rocky ground, the First Sergeant approached with some startling news. (9:05)

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Very soon after Jim Bard was captured by the Germans, he was amazed when an English speaking officer said to speak up about any casualties known to be out in the woods. They were marched off down the road, where he saw the macabre aftermath of a tank battle that didn't go well for the American armor. (5:06)

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The POW's were packed into boxcars and parked outside a prison camp where there was no room for them. When a British bombing raid began, Jim Bard bolted from the rail car and ran blindly in the dark right into a fence. Taken further down the line, he was almost a zombie when he arrived at another camp where British prisoners welcomed him. (7:59)

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After examining the prisoners to see who was healthy enough to work, those deemed usable were formed into work parties for German factories. Jim Bard was sent to a snowbound little town that looked like a Christmas card, where his job was to stack logs for a wood chipping operation. (7:45)

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The POW laborers were roused at night to see the firebombing of Dresden just a few miles away. It wasn't long before they began a road odyssey with their guards that took them around the area without apparent purpose. Then, the guards disappeared. Part 1 of 2. (7:38)

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The war was over and he had been freed when his German guards disappeared on the road, but Jim Bard and his buddies were stuck in Czechoslovakia with no contact. After staying with a German family for a while, they boarded a train that was supposed to take them to the American lines, but it kept getting sidelined. Finally they saw an American jeep with an American officer and they were on their way. Part 2 of 2. (6:46)

Jim Benson

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It was the "Sands of Iwo Jima" with John Wayne that inspired Jim Benson enough to leave a job he loved, coaching high school football, and join the Marines. It was 1968 so it was certain he would go to Vietnam. After the new Lieutenant recovered from the heat when he walked off the plane, he was assigned a platoon. He was surprised at what supplies were being packed for patrol. (4:42)

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It was his first patrol as a platoon leader and they were only a thousand yards out when Jim Benson encountered his first booby trap. He thought, is it this bad here? He found out that his platoon was not very disciplined, not even using flank security when moving. That all changed, but not before he lost a promising young corporal who ignored a basic rule. (5:17)