Bigalke, Vernon (1917-2007)

https://reflections.mndigital.org/catalog/stc:8633#/kaltura_audio

Biographical Information: Vernon A. Bigalke was born in Little Falls, Minnesota, on February 18, 1917. Before the war, he served in the Minnesota National Guard and then was drafted into the Army in 1941. For the first years of the war, Bigalke was part of an anti-aircraft artillery unit that guarded American shores. He was reassigned to the 259th Infantry in Mississippi and sent to Le Harve, France in December 1944 as part of the 65th Infantry Division. While at the Seigfried Line, he was captured by the Germans in January 1945 and held as a prisoner until the end of the war. After the war, Mr. Bigalke became a farmer and raised a family. He died in Little Falls, Minnesota, on November 22, 2007.

Transcript Summary: Vernon A. Bigalke was born in Little Falls, Minnesota, on February 18, 1917. Before the war, he served in the Minnesota National Guard and then was drafted into the Army in 1941. For the first years of the war, Bigalke was part of an anti-aircraft artillery unit that guarded American shores. He was reassigned to the 259th Infantry in Mississippi and sent to Le Harve, France in December of 1944 as part of the 65th Infantry Division. He described the defensive nature of his European service and the circumstances of his capture near the southern portion of the Seigfried Line in January 1945. Instead of being taken to a prison camp, Bigalke and twenty other Americans were marched across southern German from the Siegfried Line to Frankfurt to Munich. He described his treatment by the Germans, his survival mechanisms, and his experiences as a POW until liberation, which included a brief stop at Dachau concentration camp. He also discussed postwar medical treatment by the military and his impressions of the area on a return visit 45 years later.

Interview by David Overy

Includes archival material