Leaving Germany after WWI, local man returns in WWII as U.S. GI

(Editor’s Note: Richard Staub was a longtime area farmer who now lives in Rochester. Born in Germany his family came to the United States after World War I. As an adult he was in the U.S. Army and was stationed in Germany, not far from where he was born. This week tell Wayne Hendrickson tells the story of Staubs early years and his service in World War II.)

Richard Staub was born near Baden-Baden, Germany in 1923.

His father had been a member of the German army during WWI and it was tough times in Germany after the war. His father was able to come to America to stay with an uncle. They had never seen each other plus they had no photos of each other when they came to the train station.

When they were the last ones still waiting at the station they finally found each other.

Richard’s dad was able to earn $200 so his wife and Richard were then able to join them three-and-a-half years later in Chicago. Richard attended school in Chicago, and while in high school he and his friend decided they wanted to go to Alaska.

They stopped at a farm family near West Concord, who were friends of his buddy and they earned a little money working in the grain field shocking oats. The boys made it as far as Spokane, Wash., when their money ran out so they started back and again stopped at the West Concord farm.

He called his father and said he would just stay and finish school in Minnesota. His dad had different ideas and brought him back home to Chicago.

When Richard finished trade school, it was close to a factory where he started working making 105mm howitzer shells for the war effort. He had bought 80 acres near West Concord and the farm was rented out while he was in the service. The draft board let him continue to work at the plant, but in 1943 Richard ended up going into the army and was sent to Camp Blanding near Jacksonville, Fla. He was there for four months during the hot months of June through September where there were large numbers of Navy and Marines who were also stationed there. He was then sent to Newport News, Va., to be shipped overseas with a large convoy of other ships on their way to Italy.

While on the ocean for 13 days, he had a tough time eating because of being seasick. Richard said he didn’t smoke, but another guy was willing to take his KP duty in the ship’s mess hall if he would give him his ration of cigarettes. At times the guy would bring a sandwich from the mess hall so he had something to eat that he could keep down.

They were stationed at Naples for a short time, and then their unit was sent to Marseilles, France, and later to Belgium with the 12^th Army Infantry Division. This was at the time of the Battle of the Bulge, in the densely forested region, from December 1944 to January 1945.

This battle was one of the largest and deadliest single battles of WWII. The weather was very cold, and Richard said he did not have winter clothing gear as he had been in Italy where the temps were much warmer. They told him to go to the piles of clothing laid out and pick out clothing from GIs that had been killed.

He normally wore a boot size 8-? but the smallest he could find was size 13. He stuffed newspapers in his winter boots so he could wear them. Richard froze his fingers and that affected his fingers ever since.

He was part of a half-track armored personnel carrier with a driver, another soldier in the front cab, and eight GIs riding in the back with a mounted machine gun. They would follow the tanks into their battle location.

One time a German citizen came riding out of the woods on a bicycle carrying a brick of butter and some eggs. He gave the man some cigarettes for the butter and put it inside of his shirt, Later when they were being attacked he dove to the ground, and then realized the butter was now smashed and stuck to his shirt. His duffle bag with his gear was laying on the ground but was chewed up by shrapnel so he had to wear the same greasy shirt for the next three weeks.

Since Richard spoke German, other GIs would ask Richard to go into the town to buy things for them, and they would give him soap and cigarettes. If they had American money that was valuable as the German money was almost worthless. He was told he needed to wear his helmet and carry an M1 rifle on his trip. He did not do this but he did carry a pistol.

While he was in town his platoon sergeant saw him not wearing his proper gear and yelled that he wanted him to report to him after he got back to camp. When he reported to the sergeant’s office he told Richard he was going to make him dig a 6?6 hole as punishment. Richard told him if he did that the sergeant would end up being at the bottom of it. When he got back to his barracks there were two MP’s waiting for him, and they told him to pack his duffle bag and that he was going to be reassigned to another unit. He was sent to a mortar unit instead of the rifle company, and he ended up with many dirty jobs.

While he was in one of the convoy units, he was struck on his knee and that caused him much pain. When he reported to sick call they told him there was nothing they could do for him so sent him to another medical unit for treatment. They also could do nothing for him so he was loaded on an airplane, being the only passenger, and sent to Dijon, France (about 190 miles SE of Paris) to a hospital. Since they couldn’t help him he then went to Paris where they told him they could assign him to a light-duty job so he would not on his feet very much.

He could work in the motor pool or drive a truck for the USO entertainers who were there to entertain the troops. He took that job and while there, Hollywood film stars Mickey Rooney and Celeste Holm, as well as the Radio City Rockettes dance team, were part of this tour. Richard said Rooney was so short his army coat nearly hung down to his feet.

Richard was assigned to this duty for six months. They were in France for a month at a huge replacement company with GI’s waiting to return back to the USA and then they spent the next five months in Germany.

Next week the story concludes as Staub finds himself near the German town where he was born where he visits his grandmother and later meets a German woman who will become his wife.