Freedman, Henry "Hank"
Early Life Becoming a Soldier Battle of the Bulge Combat in the Ardennes Chaotic Combat Prisoner of War Liberation Postwar Life and Reflections
European Theater of Operations (ETO)
Great Depression\"" Personal/family relationships Experience with death Reaction to Pearl Harbor Education \"The draft Ethnic/racial identity
The draft\"",Military training and instruction" Interactions with superiors Education \"Overseas deployment
Weather conditions terrain Military intelligence Interactions with superiors Experiencing enemy fire Experiencing combat Fear Combat decisions Feelings toward enemies Tank warfare Performance of equipment Performance of troops Being captured Prisoner of war experience
terrain Weather conditions Military intelligence Performance of equipment Performance of troops Fear Being captured Feelings toward enemies Experience behind enemy lines Experiencing enemy fire Experiencing friendly fire Prisoner of war experience
Military training and instruction Interactions with superiors terrain Performance of equipment Performance of troops Combat decisions Experiencing combat Experiencing enemy fire Feelings toward enemies Food/mess
Food/mess\" Prisoner of war experience Liberation of prisoner of war camps Ethnic/racial identity Feelings toward enemies Experiencing enemy fire Experiencing friendly fire \"Interactions with Allied troops Red Cross
Returning home Service discharge Personal/family relationships Clothing and equipment Food/mess Liberty and Leave Liberation of prisoner of war camps Prisoner of war experience
USO activities\" Reflections Postwar career Personal/family relationships \"Friendships
Combat in the Ardennes
Chaotic Combat
Postwar Life and Reflections
Henry Freedman was born into a poor family in Boston, Massachusetts in September 1921. His father was a World War 1 veteran who had been gassed in the trenches in France. He was not a well man as a result. Freedman was the oldest of the three kids in his family. His mother died early in life and her death brought great grief to the family. Since his father would have difficulty raising the children, the maternal grandparents raised his brother and him while an aunt and uncle adopted his sister. The family was on welfare at the time. Freedman was a good student in school. The family raised the children in Orthodox Judaism. For five years, he and his grandfather would attend synagogue on Friday and Saturday. His grandparents had already raised their four children, including his deceased mother. His grandfather passed at the age of 60. Freedman completed school and decided to study pharmacy. After doing so for about a year, he elected to find work in other areas. He did so until the tragedy of 7 December 1941 when Pearl Harbor was attacked. President Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: President Franklin D. Roosevelt] got on the radio and war was declared. The people in the country were very patriotic. There was a very positive reaction and a proud moment in his life. The young people could not wait to find a way to help the country. Many volunteered but Freedman was working and his salary was needed to support the family. Each day he checked to see if his draft number had been selected in the draft system. Finally, in October 1942, his number was selected.
Henry Freedman reported to Fort Devens, Massachusetts after receiving his draft notice. He was then sent to Camp Blanding, Florida where he joined Company K, 313th Regiment, 79th Infantry Division. Assigned to a weapons platoon as machine gunner, Freedman's commanding officer told him that he qualified for Officer Candidate School. The officer recommended that he continue his training and participate in the upcoming maneuvers in Tennessee. He did so for months and then in the Spring of 1943, Freedman, along with others, was given an examination for entry into a new Army program called the ASTP, Army Specialized Training Program. After successfully passing the exam, he was assigned to the University of Alabama as a prospective officer in the Corps of Engineers. After attending instruction there for six months, he was transferred to Auburn University for an additional six months of training. At that point, the conflict in Europe had been such that more replacements and divisions were quickly required there. Freedman was reassigned to the 106th Infantry Division at Camp Atterbury, Indiana. Freedman could not rejoin the 79th Division because it had already deployed to Europe at that point. He trained in the Headquarters Company, 422nd Infantry Regiment in Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon until October 1944 when he shipped over to England.
Henry Freedman received an additional month of training in England prior to shipping out to France. He moved across France mainly by truck but not without some walking. There was sporadic enemy resistance encountered along the way. The main intent was for Freedman and his division to relieve the 2nd Infantry Division. [Annotator's Note: Freedman was a member of the Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon, Headquarters Company, 422nd Infantry Regiment, 106th Infantry Division]. The Americans held a 90 mile front that extended between Belgium, France, Germany and Luxembourg. Freedman ended up in an area of the Ardennes Forest. It was referred to as the Schne Eifel and was a mountainous and heavily wooden area. His assignment was to infiltrate behind German lines and gather information to pass up the chain of command. Freedman saw and heard enemy equipment, tanks, and infantry movement. Thousands of German troops had moved into the area from the Russian front. The reconnaissance troops could tell that the Germans were planning some type of action. Hitler's [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler] plan was to attack toward Antwerp and split the Allied forces so as to bring about some type of settlement between Germany and her opposition. The response that the American intelligence headquarters provided was dismissive of the idea that the Germans could attack through such tough terrain. The reaction by intelligence command was faulty. On 16 December 1944, the Germans unleashed guns all up and down the front. Freedman's 106th Infantry Division had been spread along a 24 mile length. It was holding the eastern most portion of the 90 mile battlefront. It was chaos because it was so unexpected. The enemy used antipersonnel shells which exploded in the trees. Being in a foxhole or behind a tree was useless for protection. The 106th had a battle on its hands. The first 24 hours were tough, but the men kept their wits and slowed the Germans. The timetable for the enemy's advance was ruined. One of the foremost objectives for the Americans was to maintain their resupply routes. The weather was extremely cold. Supplies and ammunition were running low. Allied air support was nonexistent due to the bad cloud cover. The largest problem facing the American defenders was the German armor including Tiger tanks [Annotator's Note: German Mark VI main battle tank, also known as the Tiger]. There was no available defense against the huge tanks. The Germans had infiltrated the American lines and determined where the antitank guns were located. One of the first things the enemy did in the attack was to knock out the American big guns. As a result, the infantry was fighting tanks with small arms. The tanks were barely bothered by the defenders as a result. The Americans were almost defenseless and, worse, they were isolated into small groups. Freedman was in a group of 25 or 30 men who were trying to hold a small town of Bleialf, Germany which was part of the supply route to St. Vith. St. Vith was where the 106th headquarters was located. The small cadre of defenders at Bleialf found themselves surrounded by enemy tanks. Their position became hopeless. The American officers were requesting help from division, but none was forthcoming. The Germans were arrogant and waited for the Americans to make a move on them. The word came from 106th headquarters that the separated groups would have to make their own decisions concerning their future. They would have to look at their conditions and situation and determine the best way of dealing with their status. The word came down that reinforcements were being requested and that attempts at resupply would be made. Freedman was grateful that he had trained as a rifleman and knew how to handle a rifle and a machine gun. Despite being trained in intelligence and reconnaissance, he still remembered how to be an infantryman. He kept his wits about himself. The small group of defenders encouraged one another. They watched each other's back but the shells, tanks and Germans kept coming. Some Germans dressed in American uniforms and did their best to create confusion and misdirection by changing signs and giving confusing orders. Freedman was captured on 19 December. The Germans started to search their captives. An argument ensued between a German officer and a sergeant. Being raised in a Jewish family, Freedman understood Yiddish very well. Some of the German being spoken had its roots in Yiddish so that Freedman was able to translate enough to understand the nature of the disagreement. The German sergeant wanted to execute the Americans, but the enemy lieutenant forbid it. The men had already heard that the Malmedy massacre had occurred. Freedman and his fellow prisoners were concerned that the same thing would happen to them. About that time, the German officer came up to Freedman who had a book in his pocket. [Annotator's Note: Freedman pulled his book from his pocket.] Freedman had wanted to keep a diary of his wartime experiences. The German officer asked his prisoner about the nature of the book. Freedman revealed that, if allowed to keep the book, he would maintain a daily log of his experiences. The German sergeant was persistent in his argument on disposing of the prisoners. The officer looked about and then looked at Freedman and handed him the book. The German officer then addressed the sergeant and told him to march the prisoners out. It was a very emotional moment. It could only be best appreciated later when Freedman reflected on it. God was on his side. The men marched several days until they reached a location near a town called Gerolstein, Germany. There, they were loaded into boxcars.
Henry Freedman was a member of an intelligence and reconnaissance unit [Annotator's Note: Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon, Headquarters Company, 422nd Infantry Regiment, 106th Infantry Division]. He was tasked with infiltration behind enemy lines for observation of their strength and position locations. He determined enemy troop and equipment strength behind their lines. His findings had to be streamlined to pass up the chain of command for them to make accurate decisions. He was trained to look for equipment types and locations. He also observed troop strengths and locations. At the time, there was an instrument called an M209 Converter. Freedman used this small typewriter machine to code intelligence messages to be sent to various outfits for decoding. Communications were not sophisticated during those years, but it was important that various levels of command could talk to each other. After landing in France, the signs of war were everywhere. The invasion of France was not just from Normandy but from Southern France also. There was a pincer movement that pushed the Germans back to their homeland. Hitler's [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler] strategy to save his country was the counterattack through the Ardennes Forest. This was to be his last stand against the steady advance of the Allies on the western front. This was to be called the Battle of the Bulge. During the battle, Freedman felt he would either be killed or wounded. If wounded, he hoped it would not be too serious. He saw others being injured and hoped it would not happen to him. He had a limited time to think about anything other than devising a means to escape the horrendous German firepower. When he was captured, the war ended for him. The future was an unknown to him at that time. The captives were hungry, thirsty, cold and tired. As they progressed through Germany, the inhabitants were angry at them. When they reached Gerolstein, Germany, they were loaded onto boxcars that were made for 40 men or eight horses. They were jammed into the cars. There was no food, sanitation or even places to lie down. That night, they were bombed and strafed by the RAF [Annotator's Note: British Royal Air Force] because there was no notification on the cars that there were Allied prisoners inside. The RAF was there to bomb German freight cars and marshalling areas. They did not know prisoners of war were inside. A car close by the one occupied by Freedman was hit and 60 GIs inside were killed. The morning following his capture, Freedman began his walk and saw numerous dead bodies around. His reaction was somewhat numbing. He was upset largely due to not having sufficient defensive weapons to fight the tanks. That bothered him the most at the time. He ran into a brick wall when he surrendered. The war had ended for him. His reaction was not to show anger because of his family upbringing. Being from a poor family, he had nothing while he grew up. Being a captive, he had nothing again. It was not new to him. When the 106th relieved the 2nd Infantry Division, the decision was made between high ranking officers in each division that the artillery that was already in place would be left behind. There would be no need to dig new emplacements or move the artillery around. In retrospect, the Germans knew where the American artillery was located prior to the start of the battle. The 589th Field Artillery was the battalion for the 106th Infantry Division. Leaving the artillery in existing locations was a mistake. Most of the guns were destroyed. The 106th was new to combat, but they were well prepared. Unlike some of the men who assaulted Normandy, they got to fire their guns. They had a chance to see their enemy or at least detect a flash or a movement to unload on an area. The 106th was pushed aside because of the surprise and the destruction of their big guns. There was no air support for the division initially. The Germans put a big effort into the Ardennes offensive. Considering that the Battle of the Bulge ended about a month after it started, the men of the 106th, as well as those others holding the line, have nothing to be ashamed of. Freedman wrote a poem entitled We Answered that depicts the Greatest Generation and its response to the enemy aggression. He wrote the poem having been inspired by a visit to the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. Fighting in the Ardennes and the Schne Eifel was complicated by the density of the forests and the complexity of fighting in the mountainous region. That was part of the rationale that high command based their confidence on that no offensive by the Germans could occur in that area.
Henry Freedman, along with the rest of the troops in his division [Annotator's Note: Freedman was a member of the Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon, Headquarters Company, 422nd Infantry Regiment, 106th Infantry Division] in the Ardennes, experienced a heavy bombardment on the first day of the Battle of the Bulge [Annotator's Note: the battle started on 16 December 1944]. Prior to that point, his sector had been quiet and organized. The men knew when they were supposed to eat, where they were supposed to be, and what locations they were to guard. They knew what their duties were. When the battle erupted, the situation devolved into chaos. It was a matter of survival at that point. It was not until the second day that the men became more organized and knew their jobs better. The leadership in the groups and within the company began to manifest. The enemy artillery began to subside significantly. Freedman did not fire his rifle until the second day of the battle. Although no targets were closer than 25 or 30 yards away, he does not know if he hit the enemy. The approaching enemy hid behind mounds and valleys as well as trees. The Americans knew that the Germans were advancing. They prepared their positions and themselves. Unlike the men Freedman met earlier in his training while he was with the 79th Infantry Division in the United States, there were no "goldbricks" in the Ardennes. No one was trying to shirk their duties or be deemed as crazy to acquire a Section 8. In training, those shirkers would drop out of training exercises. The officers during maneuvers would continually drum into the trainees that they were doing serious business. When they crawled with their rifles under barbed wire and live machine gun fire, they were told not to raise their heads or they would be killed. Occasionally, some joker would raised his head and be shot and killed. A general addressed the men and told them that the stove was hot and remember not to reach out and touch it or they would be burned. It was another way of stressing the seriousness of the training. When Freedman joined the 106th at Camp Atterbury, he recognized that there was no fooling around. He found out that his fellow trainees from the 79th had landed on D+1 in Normandy. Many were killed. Freedman learned of what happened to the 79th from a buddy in that division who survived the war and recounted the events for him. A former commanding officer for Freedman in the 79th was killed. He was Captain Bowling [Annotator's Note: no given name was provided]. As a consequence of all of this, during the Ardennes combat the men knew why they were there and what they had to do. They knew that they had to do things they never thought about doing before. That attitude was similar to the men and women who performed unfamiliar work efforts back at the homefront.
Henry Freedman and his fellow POWs [Annotator's Note: prisoners of war] were loaded in "40 and 8" boxcars and were in a freight yard for a couple of days. While in the freight yard awaiting movement, the RAF [Annotator's Note: British Royal Air Force] bombed the marshalling yards and some American casualties inadvertently resulted. The following morning was Christmas Day of 1944. The German guards had returned to let their captives out of the boxcars. The guards had evacuated the previous night when the bombing started. During the bombing, the POWs had shouted for their captors to let them out of the boxcars, but the guards had sought shelter elsewhere. The boxcars were able to be moved and later that day, the POWs arrived at their first camp, Stalag IX-B in Bad Orb. The POWs remained there for a month. One of the first things the Germans did at that Stalag was to endeavor to separate the Jewish POWs from the rest of the personnel. The Germans attempted to get the men of Jewish background to identify themselves. When the captors did that, all the POWs stepped forward. The next attempt involved the POWs being required to fill out detailed forms about their family history and lineage. This was all intended to serve their goal of cleaning the world as they saw it. The men were put outside in harsh weather and told to strip to the waist. The Germans were impatient but eventually they told the men to go back into the barracks. The Jewish POWs were segregated in a separate barracks. Freedman still remembers the barracks and POW number he had. He was a non-com [Annotator's Note: non-commissioned officer] at this time. The Germans were attempting to develop an atomic bomb at this time. With the extensive Allied bombing of their heavy water and other experimental facilities, work had to be performed underground. There was a shortage of manpower to build the mines necessary to house these facilities. Most able body people in Germany were serving in the armed forces. As a result, Jewish POWs and others were pulled from the camps to do this work. About 200 to 250 Jewish men were removed from Bad Orb for this purpose. Those men were relocated to a slave labor camp named Berga. It was run by the same men who ran the Holocaust. The men dug and filled cars with the material excavated and then emptied them. They worked for ten hours or more and suffered 50 percent casualties as a result. Freedman lost a buddy who was in the camp with him. He had gotten sick and was removed from the camp and relocated by train elsewhere for treatment. Freedman's sick friend died on the way. The train stopped, and the dead POW was buried along the tracks. Freedman would later tell the man's parents what had happened to their son. It was not a good experience. Anyone who was at Berga had a horrendous time. Due to the fact that he survived, Freedman was much more fortunate than many who were at Berga. He learned after the war that his diet consisted of about 500 calories a day. Normal subsistence requires a minimum of 2000 calories per day. No one can survive for an extended time on 500 calories per day. The POWs survived on a can of soup and a slice of bread each day. They were supposed to get a Red Cross package for each man once a week. That never happened. The Germans took and used those Red Cross packages for themselves. There were several visits by the International Red Cross to the camp. That was when the packages were distributed to the POWs. At first, each package was designated to be shared by four men. Several weeks later, the same Red Cross package was required to be shared by eight men. After that, when the Red Cross visited, the Germans demanded that a package be shared by 12 men. All of this was documented in Freedman's diary. Some of the items in the Red Cross package were difficult to split up. Sardines were in the packages. Freedman liked sardines, but it was difficult to split a can between 12 men. Some men would attempt to save a bit of their bread ration to eat later. That was dangerous because while that person slept, another POW might steal his bread out of his pocket. POWs slept on three tier wooden bunks with hardly anything for a pad. Because the bunks were so narrow, the men could only sleep on their sides. When a person wanted to move during the night, he would have to wake his buddy and tell him it was time to move. They would shift positions together. There were no real sanitary facilities in the camp. The men simply went outside to relieve themselves. The barracks were loaded with lice. Freedman kept his uniform on the whole time except when he was deloused. Several times during captivity, the POWs were given a shower and deloused. Afterward, they would put their uniform back on and carry on. Within the barracks, the bunks were on one side and U shaped benches for the men to be seated were on the opposite side. Most conversation revolved around food. Freedman's diary is loaded with references to food. There was also a list of cities he wished to visit. One of them was New Orleans. He did finally visit New Orleans [Annotator's Note: Freedman was in New Orleans at The National WWII Museum for this interview]. There were a few books for the POWs to read. They were initially not allowed to go outside until the weather was milder. When the men did go outside, they were so weak that they could do very little in the way of physical exercise. When they were given a ball to play with, all they could do was roll the ball between them. They could not even play catch because of their condition. They had neither the strength nor the motivation to play catch. The American POWs observed the Russian POWs dig through the snow to get grass in order to boil it and make a soup. During the war's end, Freedman maintained a hand drawn map of Germany against which he plotted the advances of the Allied and Russian forces. He would hear the announcements to the German guards concerning to progress of their enemies. Freedman could understand much of what they were saying. [Annotator's Note: Freedman spoke Yiddish which is similar to German.] After overhearing the updates given to the German guards, Freedman would make notes on the back of his map. The notes told of what units were pressing ahead in which locations. [Annotator's Note: Freedman reads specific notes to that affect that were in his journal.] That information was provided over the German public address system. That was the only way of knowing the status of the war until the end of March [Annotator's Note: the camp was liberated on 30 March 1945]. It was then that the artillery shells began falling on the nearby town. The camp was on a rise so they could observe the shelling. They knew it had to be Allied shells. As this came about, a medical officer named Captain Morgan suspected that the Germans might try to move the POWs out of the camp. Morgan told the POWs that when the Germans next demanded a roll call of their captives, half the men should say they were sick and the other half indicate that they would take care of their sick buddy. That was exactly what the POWs did. The Germans grew impatient with this, but that action resulted in the American POWs not being taken on a forced march out of the camp. Meanwhile, the British and French POWs were marched out of the camp. [Annotator's Note: Freedman reads a detailed recounting of the event from the journal that he maintained while a POW.] The feigning of sickness and coverage by the well men was a successful ruse. Half the men collapsed and the other half carried them into the barracks where they were treated. The result was beyond their expectations. The Germans told the men that they would take 150 of the Jewish POWs with them at first but changed their minds and did not take any of them. The captives remained in the camp and had a very thick barley soup with French bread. By evening, all the Germans had left the camp or given themselves up. The camp belonged to the POWs at that point. The next day, 30 March, the camp was liberated by American troops. White flags were displayed throughout the town. The first vehicle in the camp was a 6th Armored jeep. It was exciting. The POWs had their fill of chow. Although told they would leave at any time, it took nine or ten days to get out of the camp. The few Russians, English and French POWs were overwhelmed at their good fortune. They could not praise the Americans enough. Freedman wrote in his diary at the time that he would never forget that day. He was anxious to return to the United States. [Annotator's Note: Freedman chokes up a bit in reading this segment of his journal.]
Henry Freedman and his fellow POWs [Annotator's Note: prisoners of war] were anxiously awaiting their American liberators. They were hanging on the barbed wire surrounding the camp. The men saw the first vehicles and were yelling and screaming and even crying at the thought of their reprieve. A large American tank rolled up to the 20 foot high entrance gate and knocked it down. It was quite a sight as the barbed wire came down. The men were all cut and scratched but were ecstatic. The feeling was almost indescribable. After a month in a hospital in France, he was released from treatment and offered to go through Camp Lucky Strike and get a new uniform and weapon or and fly back to the United States. He elected to fly home. Leaving Le Bourget Airport in Paris, his return flight took him over Boston. The pilot inquired if any of his passengers lived in Boston. Freedman confirmed that it was his home. The pilot offered him a view of his city from 20,000 feet. Freedman observed the city that he thought he would never see again. He cried like a baby. [Annotator's Note: Freedman becomes emotional at the recollection of this event.] Landing in the United States was unbelievable. It was unlike being liberated from the Stalag in Germany. He was finally in his own land, the United States. [Annotator's Note: Freedman wipes a tear from his eye.] Upon his homecoming, he was given 60 days of rest and recuperation at a resort area at Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina. His responsibility there was to relax and eat. The intention was for him to regain his strength and weight. He weighed about 130 pounds at the time. [Annotator's Note: Freedman searches his war diary to see what his first real meal was.] His diary includes multiple entrée meals, recipes, and exciting cities to visit. Freedman recounts his fantasy breakfast from his wartime diary. The single dream meal included enough food to feed a grown man for several mornings. Freedman wanted to get out of the Army so bad after his return home. He had no one to advise him except his grandmother. Having gone through the traumatic experience of being a POW, Freedman did not want to keep anything related to his service, not even his uniform. That is a regret that he had concerning his end of service. [Annotator's Note: The wartime diary that Freedman retained after the war contains his specific day to day recollections of events.]
After his homecoming, Henry Freedman met a man at Auburn who was from Atlanta. The two men would hitchhike to Atlanta because of the very active USO [Annotator's Note: United Service Organizations] there. Freedman left the service in November [Annotator's Note: November 1945] and by January he was ready to make a trip to Atlanta to find work. Freedman sat and talked with his friend in Atlanta. Freedman's friend offered him a job. At 24 years old, Freedman was ready for a new opportunity. The job was in retail merchandise. Having no advisor, Freedman took a job with a firm where he was selling major appliances and electronics. He met his wife there and stayed there for seven years. At that point, he decided to really get into merchandising. An offer arose for a position as an assistant buyer. He rose to the position of merchandising manager and stayed there over 33 years. His specialty was consumer electronics. It was before the amazing progress in electronics witnessed in recent years. He was anxious to succeed and willing to take advice. He learned quite a bit along the years. Some of the education came the hard way. His service in the military taught Freedman what discipline was all about. The military experience had a definite part in his success. It taught him to maintain his focus on the priorities in life and business. Later in life, he learned more and more things. His wife of over 51 years was unbelievable. He has been blessed with children and grandchildren. He accepted Jesus as his Savior. His life is almost complete. World War 2 gave Freedman direction. He gave so much credit to his grandparents because they created order out of what could have been a disastrous life. [Annotator's Note: Freedman was adopted by his maternal grandparents after his mother died at an early age.] Freedman was in the service over three years. He had horrendous experiences but because of them, he has been able to pass on lessons to people of all ages. Hopefully, that has helped others to get their life better organized. This is inclusive of getting their spiritual attitude straight. In public schools, he does not get into spiritual matters. In parochial or church schools, he feels free to talk to young people about his spiritual experiences and why he has reached the decisions that he has. The National WWII Museum is important because this country needs to know its roots and what has happened in its past. It is just like a family needs to know the same information for itself. It is unfortunate that many people do not worry about that. Instead, people are too worried about the financial side and how much vacation they will get. Too many people are looking for hand outs. Freedman belongs to an organization called the American Ex-Prisoners of War. It has the goal of helping those who cannot help themselves. As a final thought on his feelings, he would like people to realize that this country is the finest country in the world. We do the best job in any field of endeavor. Each individual must do everything he or she can to assure the best for the country. That includes loving the country, respecting the flag, and if called upon serving the country in the military. The interview experience for Freedman was an emotional time. He desired that his message be heard and understood by everybody.