Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 1945 THE NEWMKKkx sum PRISONERS WANT ONLY MAIL' AND FOOD Washington, Ga., Feb. 28-»-X<t. Frank Colley was home today,.. Behind him were two years’-, of filth and hunger in a German" pris on camp. Before him was a good meal and a long rest. Those, he said were the most important things in the world for the present moment. “Pd like to teir everyone who has relatives or friends who are prison ers to send them food, moer food and still mofe food,” he said. “Those Americans are hungry.” Lieutenant Colley was captured in Tunisia on February 17, 1943, after three days of bitter fighting at Faid Pass. Exactly two years later he arrived in Moscow, en route home after the Red army over ran the camp in Poland where he was held prisoner. “Almost all the boys get along. They exist. But in two years there was never a day I wasn’t hungry. I was always cold. Time was like a huge weight on my shoulders. “They fed us all right. You got ersatz coffee for breakfast, without sugar or milk, boiled cauliflower leaves for lunch and a sort of spaghetti stew for dinner—that’s all. You had no cooks, and they tossed the food in si you fixed it as best you could. “You set up a mess. The Amer ican is an ingenious guy and out of cans and wire he improvises stoves and cooking facilities. The Germans didn’t help in our camp and didn’t give us anything to work with. “Your ration—which is worse now —might be a sixth of a loaf of bread a day; three medimum sized potatoes, three tablespoons of sugar a week an a fifth of a pound of oleomar- gerine a week. “The ersrtz coffee is terrible. Hot water is better so you just drink hot water. Sometimes, during the summer, you get some worm-eaten beets or cabbage, and you make stew. “Our enlisted men sometimes fare worse and sometimes better than the officers. They’re pretty - wise. “Food is the most important thing in a prisoner’s life. Every waking hour of the day you think about the next meal. “Once a guy is turned down to the fact that he is a prisoner he sobers up and plods along from day to day. “At first the Germans wouldn’t let us have a church. Then we man aged to meet together and we were our ofrv'chaplains. A guy learns to pray in one of those places. “The average American can stand the daily routine. He learns to keep himself busy. Hardest of all are the little things. The guards come in any time of day or night and make you stand up for count. Every day, two or three times a day there is a formation for counting. They listen all the time, always around. “You might ask, how come you could save food if you were always hungry? Well, you were always hungry? Well, you never know when the German ration may be cut off completely, or the Red Cross parcels stop—-it’s good to have a can of sadines or a piece of bread for emergency. ‘About all the prisoners wanted from home in my camp was food, and mail. Clothes didn’t make much difference. The Germans took them away-because they were better than the German civilians are wearing. “When they send a work detail out, they make the Americans wear their oldest clothes so the German civilians and soldiers won’t be jealous. ) “Being around the Geiman for two years—even as a prisoner of war—gives a guy a pretty fair idea of what kind of man the Nazi is. “They lie, they steal and they treat other men like dogs,” he said. Lieutenant Colley, 29, looks much older. “There is no such thing as a pleasant prisoner of war camp. There’s too much despondency,” he said. WANT ADS TRESSPASS NOTICE—All hunting or otherwise trespassing on the lands of Mrs. Pat Mitchell or Mrs. Claude Summer is expressly for bidden and will be prosecute under the law. 31-3t BUYING PECANS—All sizes, any amount. Market prices. R. Der- •rili Smith, Wholesale Grocer. Ngw- berry, S. C. 2t BUYING - "RABBITS—All sizes, any number. Market prices. R. Der- rill Smith, Wholesale Grocer, New berry, S. C. 2t LOST—War Rationing Book No. 3 issued to C. A. Force. Finder please return to the War Rationing Board or C. A. Force at R. M. Lominack Hardware on Main St. WE WILL BUY—Your burlap sacks or any kind of old rags, also scrap iron and other metals. See W. H. STERUNG. TRESPASS NOTICE — Trespassing any form—hunting, hauling wood, fishing—is strictly forbidden, on the lands of the undersigned and any violation will be prosecuted. Signed: H. O. Long, B. O. Long, J. G. Long, A. P. Werts, T. Blair Boozer, Guy Boozer, J. H. Bow ers, S. L. Porter. tfc Cold Piepaiationa aa^directed, \ You'N w - ■ Sss I ■:.V? IT’S the waiting that gets you down. It’s the long days, and the longer nights, when you lie there thinking... will you ever get home again? ... why don’t they write more often . . . did Dad ever get over that heart trouble ... is your best girl still waiting . . . will you ever get a job again ... Sometimes, when the mail is slow, you get to imagin ing things. Black, terrible things that begin to seem real. And then, something saves you. Like the day the Red Cross field man got a rush cable report from home, telling you your Dad was getting well. And the time some Red Cross girls came up in a jeep, handing out doughnuts and coffee and million-dollar American smiles. And you all started to laugh and kid, the way you used to at home. There was the time you wanted to forget it was Christ mas. And the Red Cross girl at the club made you trim a palm leaf Christmas tree, and you all had presents and sang the old carols, out there in the hot tropic night. Maybe it doesn’t sound like much. The Red Cross does a lot of bigger things ... such as collecting blood plasma for the wounded .. . sending food packages to prisoners of war ... clothes for bombed-out kids. But to us, home seems just a little nearer, because your Red Cross is with us. Americans: To keep at the side Of your fighting men, your Red Cross must have funds. Contributions from you are the only source of income. Millions of our men are still far from home. Ti:c\ need your Red Cross . .. they must have it. Keep your RED CROSS afhissic/e I GIVE MO: GIVE . , ■ -. | V V v5 This Message Made Possible by the Following Firms: J. DAVE CALDWELL Real Estate SQUARE GROCERY STORE Frazier Lominack UPSCOMB MOTOR CO. Stodebaker Sales and Service C D. COLEMAN Pure-Oil Products and Accessories GILDER & WEEKS The Right Drug Store CAROUNA REMNANT CO. FARMERS ICE & FUEL CO. HOME FURNITURE CO. JOHNSON-McCRACKIN CO. W. H. DAVIS & SON NEWBERRY CREAMERY STOKES’ DRUG STORE NEWBERRY INS. & REALTY CO. T. ROY SUMMER REAGIN’S SHOE SHOP WELLS THEATRE G. B. SUMMER & SONS BLEASE & GRIFFITH - COCA COLA BOTTLING CO. BOWERS INSURANCE AGENCY L. A. WILSON RITZ THEATRE W. E. TURNER SEARS ROEBUCK & CO. SOUTH CAROUNA NATIONAL BANK NEWBERRY MONUMENT CO. B. C. MOORE & SONS MAXWELL BROS. & QUINN R. M. LOMINACK HDWE. FENNELL’S JEWELRY STORE T. M. ROGERS & SON THOMAS & HOWARD CARPENTER’S f WHITENER LUMBER CO. V ODORLESS CLEANERS SMITH’S CUT RATE DRUG STORE DAVIS MOTOR CO.