Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Army WWII POW Battle Of The Bulge

By Carol Bennett


When it comes to World War Two, most people have read or studied Hitler and the Holocaust in Germany. What many are unaware of is that there were over 350 active GIs taken hostage and held prisoner over the course of the war. One of the most well known of these is an Army WWII POW Battle Of The Bulge.

During the battle for the Belgian city of Bastogone, Bob would endure combat, captivity and slave labor before being liberated from the POW camp at the end of the war. The young GI, while sustaining minimal injuries compared to a number of other soldiers, came home fifty pounds lighter than when first joining the armed forces. At which time, Bob began a public speaking career about experiences including time as a POW which occurred during the war, inspiring future soldiers yet unborn.

Bob Max's story began in 1922 on the East Coast in the seaport state of New Jersey. Born in Newark and raised in Newark and South Orange, Bob won several medals for sprinting. In addition, as a teenager, Bob played in different teenage football leagues, often against local high school teams.

Bob decided to join the army when the war came to America, and on October 26, 1942, became a soldier in the ninth armored infantry battalion, part of the super sixty armored division, under the direction of Major General Robert Grow. While in Normandy, Brittany and Lorraine, the Super 6th also had the honor of fighting under the leadership of General Patton.

Upon the Germans launch of the Battle of the Bulge on December 16, 1944, Bob's division was pulled from the attack of Saar and turned northward to fight in Bastogone. While the 4th armored had relieved most of the city, the battalion was exhausted and down a number of soldiers. As such, the 6th Armored division moved in, taking over the positions of the 4th battalion at the beginning of 1945.

Bob did not realize the fate of becoming a POW at the hands of German soldiers until several months later. The story of Bob's capture is a rather long one but one the elder Bob Max will most likely never forget. For, with attempting to hide with other Americans in a nearby shack only to be rejected, a near escape from black hooded German soldiers with assault rifles, and flaming tanks, how could anyone really ever forget such an experience.

Like so many others, Bob attempted to talk with the German soldiers. When the German asked, why the Americans were fighting in the war, Bob explained it had become an American war. Then, the German soldier reached into his pants for what Bob thought was a gun, only to pull out a wallet and share family pictures. After which, the German told Bob that the family would be living in New York City the following year.

Amazed at the confidence displayed by the German solider that Hitler would succeed in winning not only the war but the world, Bob began to sense an attitude change in the German. At which time, the German instructed that Bob would be housed at a local POW camp rather than face artillery fire. Bob was still anxious through elated to know that there would be a chance to return home to America at the end of the war.




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