Forums → Art, Music, and Writing → The Death March (A story by 2014631)

I wrote this story a while ago, and I thought it was pretty good. After lots of editing, and revising, I finally think it's good enough for this forum. This is a story about my great uncle named Melvin. It's a true story. Here goes nothing:

Melvin felt like a target, as his platoon crossed the meadow. The silence was suddenly shattered by loud machine gun fire. Soldiers were falling dead all around him. A sharp burning pain went through his leg. He knew instantly what happened. A bullet had pierced his leg. Behind him a massive explosion blew the remaining five soldiers to the ground. Immediately, German soldiers surrounded them, took away their weapons and captured them.
They were nearing the forest, when American soldiers from the other side of the meadow, spotted the Germans and began firing mortars in their direction. 'Boom!!' Two of the G.I.s were lifted off the ground and smashed into Melvin's back. It was almost a direct hit and the two American soldiers were gravely injured. The remaining soldiers, Melvin, Riff and Herb were marched through the woods to a concrete bunker. The Germans loaded the two badly wounded soldiers into an ambulance.
Inside the bunker the Germans bandaged Melvin's leg and began to question the three soldiers. The Americans wouldn't tell them anything, so they were taken to an old, abandoned building. The first night they were beaten with pistols and were left to sleep in the mud. Melvin, Riff and Herb talked among themselves and thought the Germans would kill them. They were searched and given only bread and water. After a week they were loaded into boxcars on a small train with other prisoners.
The boxcars were packed with 48 prisoners in each car. There was barely room to lie down, except for the wounded that were unable to stand. The train traveled for five days, many of the men froze their feet and hands. The guards gave each man a quarter of a loaf of bread each day. Melvin's leg was becoming infected. It was red and hot and smelled funny. Lice and fleas crawled all over the prisoners.
Finally they arrived at Stalag XIII, where they were unloaded and de-loused. Every two men were given a Red Cross parcel to share. The parcels contained many valuable items like food, shampoo, soap, cigarettes and candy. Some of the prisoners were captured doctors and they treated the soldiers' wounds. Melvin spent his first two weeks in the camp hospital that was run by the prisoners. Riff would come by often and visit with Melvin, and tell him all about the camp. He told him there were many nationalities of prisoners. There were Russians, Serbs, French, English and Americans. The prisoners entertained each other by playing cards and giving classes in Math, foreign languages and other subjects. The camp had been established for quite some time and the American Red Cross had donated many items like clothes, musical instruments and books for the prisoners' enjoyment.
Melvin joined Riff and Herb in the same barrack. The Germans had a roll call twice a day and for breakfast they were given bread and hot water. The prisoners made coffee from the hot water thanks to the Red Cross. Lunch consisted of turnip soup or boiled potatoes. Dinner was part of a loaf of bread and sometimes they were given margarine or jam. Prisoners were allowed to take a shower once a week.
Christmas was coming up and the Red Cross sent in special packages. Each prisoner received a parcel, it consisted of:
1 can of turkey, 2 pieces of candy, 2 fruit bars, 4 packs of gum, some cheese, honey, cherries, nuts, a wash cloth, a can of Vienna sausages, 1 lb. of plum pudding, a package of tobacco and a pipe, 3 packs of cigarettes, a box of tea, a can of ham, a deck of cards and a cribbage game.
Herb made some Christmas tree decorations, Melvin picked some branches off a tree in the camp and they made a Christmas tree. The camp held a Church service and the prisoners sang Christmas carols.
Early in January Melvin's leg became infected again. His body just couldn't heal itself and he was taken back to the camp hospital. His buddy Riff, would come and visit every day. They would sit and talk about their families and what they would do when they got home. Riff was from Virginia and was married. Melvin was from Washington and Herb was from Kansas. Sometimes all three would be in the hospital joking and telling stories and laughing until the Germans would send them back to their barracks.
Riff came in one day with a rumor; the Germans were evacuating the nearby town of Hammerstein. Wagons loaded with people were passing in front of the Stalag for hours at a time. Herb bet Melvin two packs of cigarettes that the war would end in two weeks or less.
Two weeks later, Melvin was two more packs richer, the war wasn't over yet. It seemed every day there was a new rumor. The one that excited them most was on January 24th when the camp was saying Hitler was dead and the Germans were trying to form a new government. The next rumor was the Germans were going to evacuate the whole camp on foot. The prisoners thought that was impossible.
The next day Melvin was transferred to his barracks from the hospital.
There were more rumors flying around the camp than anyone could keep track of. Most of the prisoners were making sleds or backpacks for the evacuation. Riff and Herb were building a sled, and Melvin was making a backpack out of a cardboard suitcase with 2 belts for shoulder straps, it was sturdy and light.
On January 29th, the Germans ordered all prisoners to march out of the camp the next morning at 8:00, except for the sick and wounded. Riff, Herb and Melvin ate all of the food that wouldn't fit on the sled. They were full for the first time in months.
The next morning, Melvin had to say goodbye to his two friends. His leg was not ready for the march.
There were 600 prisoners too sick to march, left in camp. Melvin and those not confined to beds went through the barracks rounding up any food or useful items left behind. The Russian artillery is getting closer every day and Melvin was worried that they might hit the German ammo dump behind the camp. It that was to happen it would be Goodbye Stalag XIII and everyone in it. One day a Russian airplane was shooting up the road in front of the camp and killed some of the guards. The Germans rounded up 350 of the sick prisoners and started marching north out of the camp. Melvin was one of these prisoners.
They marched about seven miles the first day and slept in a barn. Eight men escaped in the night. Melvin was too weak to go with them.
The next day, many of the men started getting dysentery from drinking bad water. Two men were sent ahead with some of the very sick in a wagon to try and find some food and boil some water for drinking. Each day a few men would escape and others die from sickness.
Melvin tried to escape on the fourth night with two others, but was caught while trying to sneak out of the barn they were sleeping in. The guard took away their cigarettes and gave them a long lecture.
On the eighth day, a group of Canadian and Australian prisoners came in, bringing their group back up to 339 men. The men are all weak from hunger and the cold rains have turned the road into freezing mud.
After a month of marching 13 to 19 miles a day, through all types of weather and with very little food, tempers were running very short. A German guard shot an Englishman one day for trying to get some extra food. A couple nights later some of the English prisoners escaped, and the guard that did the shooting had disappeared.
Melvin and most of the men had dysentery and were very sick, and to make matters worse, the roads were now full of German refugees, fleeing from the Russians and Americans. The smell of rotting flesh was sickening. There were many dead horses and German bodies littering the sides of the road. Through all of this, Melvin never lost hope. He felt sorry for the horses, but not the Germans.
In March, there was a blinding snowstorm. Melvin and many others, had frostbite. They were forced to walk through the storm until they became too sick to go on. The Germans found an enormous barn, where they rested for a day. The rumor came in that Berlin was surrounded. Melvin and the other soldiers began talking about going home.
On March 28th, they heard that the German army was in full retreat, and Americans and Russians were surrounding them. The Germans didn't know what to do with the prisoners, so they stopped marching and stayed where they were so they could get food and supplies. Altogether, the prisoners had walked almost 400 miles. Canadian Red Cross parcels began arriving on a supply truck.
On April 10th, The Nazis began burning their emblems and flags to avoid being shot when they were captured by the Americans or Russians. Melvin and the other prisoners cheered as the Nazi flags burned. The Germans were becoming desperate, and shot one of the American prisoners through the chest, because they thought that he was going to escape. The guards started marching the prisoners again to avoid artillery fire. On the road, an airplane began firing on them. The Germans ran away like scared rabbits. The prisoners scattered in all directions. Melvin and two Canadians ran as fast as they could, toward a small town. Just before they got there, four British planes began firing at the town. One of the bombs landed about fifteen feet from them. They jumped over a brick wall, just in time. They found a few more soldiers, and hid in an empty house. They found meat and potatoes, in the house. Everybody ate until they were full. One of their German guards found them in the house and told them some of the guards had been shot for deserting the prisoners, when the airplane fired on them. He offered to take any of them back as prisoners but they all declined.
They decided to try and make a run for the Americans the next morning. Rumor had it they had occupied the next town. Melvin and the other soldiers ran around the edge of town, and across fields, to avoid the main road, where there were Germans. They kept moving until 10:20 at night, when they found American cavalry.
Melvin ate his first meal as a free man. It consisted of 15-20 eggs & ham, bread, sausage and jam. It sure tasted good! Melvin's mother received a telegram on May 7th, 1945, it was from the United States military, it said: The secretary of war desires me to inform you that your son PFC Melvin Daniel returned to military control April 14, 1945. The whole family celebrated when they received the information.
Melvin never saw Riff again, but Herb came to visit him in Washington ten months after the war ended.
Over fifty years later, my great uncle Melvin died in a plane crash on a fishing trip to Alaska. He jumped from the plane at the last second, but didn't survive. The plane burned up with all of the other people on-board.
My name is Daniel Parks. I was named after my great uncle; Melvin Daniel.