Paul E. Grindrod, an Oconomowoc, Wisconsin native, discusses his experiences in the 423rd Infantry Regiment, Company I during World War II, including being taken prisoner during the Battle of the Bulge. Grindrod talks about being drafted directly out of high school in 1943, anti-aircraft training at Camp Hahn (California), infantry training with the 106th Division in Colorado Springs, and being shipped to England. Sent to the Siegfried Line in France, he portrays the bunkers, stealing cheese from his captain, and observing Germans from an artillery observation post. Grindrod mentions he was busted to private in the States because he lost his clothing in a train crash and upset his superiors by wearing the wrong uniform. He reflects on the chaos and lack of information during his time on the Siegfried Line and questions why the 106th did not send out frequent patrols. Grindrod details the German attack during the Battle of the Bulge, including having his unit's artillery destroyed, three days of chaos and movement without engaging the enemy, being ordered to destroy his weapons and surrender, and stocking up on K-rations and a sleeping bag. He speaks of the Germans confiscating watches and boots, prisoners' having problems with diarrhea and dysentery while on the march, and receiving bread from a couple of German civilians. Grindrod states he weighed 170 pounds when he was captured and weighed only 80 when he was freed. He describes occasionally being moved by trains that were strafed by Allied planes and, after arriving in Koblenz, listening to nearby building get destroyed during Allied air raids. Registered as a prisoner at Stalag 4B near Mühlberg, he talks about being allowed to write home and getting moved to Stalag 4F in Zeitz. Grindrod relates being put to work in a synthetic gasoline plant, taking cover during air raids, living conditions in an unheated dance hall, food rations, and sharing a kitchen with British prisoners. He describes the other slave laborers and conversations he had with a Dutch Jew and a Russian. Grindrod talks about living in debilitating cold, receiving few Red Cross parcels, and trading Red Cross items like soap to civilians for food. He discusses having hot coffee spilled on his foot, which swelled up after a day of work. He explains a British medic, who looked at his foot, fed him something that turned his urine green so that Grindrod was sent to a prisoner of war hospital. He recalls receiving medical treatment and fearing his leg would have to be amputated. Grindrod mentions not having toilet paper and saving crusts of bread in a little box for emergencies. He tells of being liberated from a prisoner of war recuperation center, eating so much he got sick, and his impressions after being airlifted to a hospital in Paris. He states, "It was as if the world was black and white; from that point, Paris, all of a sudden, everything erupted in color." Eventually flown to New York, he talks about going to a party hosted by wealthy civilians. Sent to Gardiner General Hospital in Chicago, he details being treated with penicillin, eating high-fat foods, plastic surgery at O'Reilly General Hospital (Missouri), and getting married while on leave. After being discharged, Grindrod talks about attending college on the GI Bill and receiving ten-percent disability compensation.
