Seven Months and Nine Days: The Story of a Young Prisoner of War

By Tamela D. Hamrick

My grandfather, William C. Hull, a retired Staff Sergeant with the United States Army during World War II. His lengthy military journey certainly was not lacking adventure nor turmoil after first being drafted in 1943 when he was only eighteen years old. From Normandy to Vietnam, from Kitchen Duty to Paratrooper, and from the brig to a Bronze Star, he experienced it all, to include the brutal humiliation of being captured as a Prisoner of War and placed in a German stalag, escaping briefly for three days, only to be recaptured and finally set free by the Russian troops. Despite the turmoil and through several reenlistments, he only wanted to serve his country more, even after returning home. The Army life was all he seemed to know. He loved recounting his stories, and I loved hearing them. My grandfather. My hero.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Mar 7, 2024
• ISBN: 9781532089909

Tamela D. Hamrick

The granddaughter of a very proud veteran who served his country until he retired. Hearing all his stories while growing up, she felt that they all were worth telling again. Helping him with his project, leaving a legacy for the ones that have yet to hear.

Book preview

Copyright © 2024 Tamela D. Hamrick.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

iUniverse

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.iuniverse.com

844-349-9409

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-5320-8989-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6632-5937-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-8990-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023924597

iUniverse rev. date: 02/29/2024

CONTENTS

Dedication

Chapter 1     The Early Days

Chapter 2     The Draft

Chapter 3     The Prisoner of War

Chapter 4     The First Stalag

Chapter 5     The Great Escape

Chapter 6     The Second Stalag

Chapter 7     The Final Liberation

Chapter 8     The Journey Back

Chapter 9     The Returning Days

Chapter 10   The Trouble Lands

Chapter 11   The Determination

DEDICATION

In loving memory of and in dedication to my grandfather, William C. Hull, a retired Staff Sergeant with the United States Army and former Prisoner of War during World War II.

I have heard so many of my grandfather’s stories, but this is the story that he wanted to tell even after he was gone. At the age of ninety, with a clear mind, he and I started putting this project together. Passing at the age of ninety-two, he left me to pursue the project, feeling that he had given me all that I needed for his last mission to be complete.

CHAPTER 1

27568.png

The Early Days

My name is William Clyde Hull, born August 21st, 1925 in a small town called Terra Alta, West Virginia. I was born and raised in this small town, and I now live on the same seventy-one acres of land that was owned by my parents.

I did not come from much. As the verse goes in the ol’ song, We Went Out On the Old Buckboard. They came back in a model T Ford, but my family came back in a wheelbarrow. I’ve learned to find some humor in life. Once I wanted a BB gun when I was young, so my mom took two pieces of broom handle and wrapped them up like it was a gun. She got a big laugh out of it, and I did too. We both knew I wasn’t gonna get the gun. It was really funny, and I never forgot that.

I remember the old house that was originally built down below the one I’m in now. Back then, when my mom and my aunt Libby, who was my dad’s sister, were washing clothes, they would put scalding hot water in a big tub. Then, they’d get the clothes that they wanted and put it in that ol’ warsh tub. Once, when I must have still been in diapers, I fell in that tub of scalding water. My aunt jerked me out of there so quick that it didn’t even burn me. I remember that as plain as it was yesterday. She just happen to be there, my aunt. I remember a lot of things from when I was young, some not worth talking about.

My mom, Ida May Hull (Haught), had six boys and two girls: Arlie, Pansy, David, Oscar, Elmer, William, and Pauline, but lost one infant son. We all respected my mom. When she told any of us to do something, we’d do it. She was gentle but strong, and she wasn’t one you wanted to get perturbed. There was a barn across the road from where the house is now, back in the woods a bit. One time, my other brother, Oscar, and