Grimball, Harry M., 1920-

Born in Charleston, S.C., Harry M. Grimball, Jr., enlisted in the U.S. Army on 11 Aug. 1941 shortly after graduating from high school. In Aug. 1943, Grimball joined the Army Air Forces upon graduation from the AAF bombardier school in Big Springs, Tex. In Nov. 1943, Grimball was sent overseas to serve with the 381st Bombardment Group, the 8th Airborne out of Ridgewell, England. On 31 Dec. 1943, on his third mission, Grimball's plane was badly damaged by enemy fire. Injured, Grimball and the rest of the crew were forced to bail out over France. Captured, he was taken to a German Air Force hospital in Clichy, Paris, where he remained hospitalized for five months. In June 1944 he was shipped in cattle cars to Sagan, Germany (now Zagan, Poland), where he was held in the south compound of the infamous prison camp Stalag Luft III. He remained here until Jan. 1945, when the Red Cross cleared the way for his repatriation. During his thirteen-month ordeal, Grimball not only had to survive the rigors of prison camp life, but also suffered from blood poisoning and often inferior medical care. He left active military duty in May 1946.