Veteran Spotlight: Brad Holmes

Brad Holmes is a proud member of The Greatest Generation, still possessing a strong handshake and an amazing memory. The (96) year old served his country in the United States Army as a private and was also spent over a year in a German Prisoner of War Camp after being captured at The Battle of The Bulge. He was initially sent to Fort Devens, then to a variety of other camps; Croft in South Carolina, Shelby in Mississippi, Atterbury in Indiana, Myles Standish in Taunton, MA, finally ending up in New York where he and hundreds of other soldiers boarded The Queen Elizabeth II to head to Torrington, England. “They shipped us through The English Channel into Belgium and France….snow was on the ground and it was pretty tough to dig a foxhole” he continued. “We were up on the front lines near the Ardennes Forest….been up there for about two weeks and it’s quiet….then, there was gunfire…..bullets flying everywhere…..dove right by a dead cow for cover…..never forget those “Screaming Mimi’s” (88’s). The damn Germans didn’t stick to the rules…..around Christmas time and New Year’s we got captured….we were in a wooded area…..told us to unload our guns, then break’em…..they searched us for anything valuable and lined us up on the road…..they were quite rough with us…..made us march about ten miles to a boxcar, which they put us in….the RAF came over at night and bombed, not knowing we were inside……told the guys we’d be fine as long as we don’t get a direct hit…..some guys couldn’t take it and ran out at night” he said as his voice trailed off and got quiet. Private Holmes continued. “The Germans went out and took clothes & stuff, whatever they thought was of value, from our dead soldiers…..took us to a prison camp……thousands of prisoners from different nationalities were there. They were looking for volunteers for a work detail….figured it was better than staying at the camp……marched us (15) miles and gave us burlap bags and told us to fill them with straw…..that’s what we were sleeping on” he remembered.

As one can expect, the work of a POW was exceptionally grueling. “The Germans put us to work in a furniture factory….worked all day in the woods carrying logs…..it was a damn killer……never fed us anything but turnip and carrot soup and it was terrible….locked us up in the 2nd floor of the factory and took our shoes so we wouldn’t try to escape….sometimes you were so weak that you had to crawl up the stairs on your hands and knees” he recalled. I asked Private Holmes if it was worse as a POW as far of the holidays were concerned and I received a painful reply of, “Oh yeah…..non-existent.” When the Germans heard to Russians were moving swiftly, Private Holmes and other POW’s were moved closer to the Czech border. Then the day finally came. “We could hear planes….I went outside and saw one of our planes swoop down….he was so close I waved to him and he actually waved back….he then went to a line of trucks and strafed them….BOOM! They were gone….all the German guards just kind of melted away and disappeared….they knew the jig was up” he said seriously.

After all Private Holmes had been through, he still felt the need to act as a decent human being. “The German people were taking to the streets with their belongings in carts….you could see people for miles and miles…there was a German woman pulling her cart…..I saw that she was struggling….she had a little baby…..I helped her pull her cart…..she wanted to give me some of the baby’s milk…..told her I didn’t want her baby’s milk….saw a jeep coming at me….big sign on the front that said “Press Corps” I said to myself, the Americans aren’t too far behind.”

Private Holmes’ exit from Germany was quick and succinct. “They put us in an A C-47….kind of plane they carried paratroopers in…..took us to Camp Lucky Strike in St. Valery, France….gave us new clothes and burned our old ones……we had been wearing the same one’s for months and months….gave us big canisters of egg nog….came home on a navy ship and slept on a hammock” he remembered. His final thoughts on service? “I did the best job I could and what I was assigned to do. I was proud to serve my country” he said. Private Brad Holmes, thank you for your service to our great country.