ride over was the first "sight ofwar" Cottrell experienced. Hisship's cargo was ammunition beingcarried to an island five miles wideand ten miles long. The Germanscould see everything. includingCottrell's ship which could havebeen bombed in the ocean. Heremembered giving a sigh of reliefwhen he touched land. While onAnzio, Beachhead, German planesbombed the Americans everynight. Cottrell felt a "continuousscare" with bombing occurring thenight before his company made themain push into Rome. One of hisworst experiences at Anzio wasseeing one of his best friends die.Cottrell met H.F. Curtis, a manfrom Tennessee, after beingdrafted. Curtis told Cottrell he wasgoing to be killed soon and askedCottrell to take his tags to hisfamily in Tennessee. Cottrell didnot give it much thought. The nextnight, as they were lying on theground, Cottrell looked up and sawa huge shell flying towards them.Cottrell passed out, and when hewoke up, he saw Curtis had been"blown to pieces." Cottrell stilldoes not know how he survived.

Soon after Cottrell's first near-death experience, his company

•.•• •• made the push into Rome. Thiswas the first real battle for Cottrell.His company's instructions were totake over a hill but not to crossover the ridge. Somehow, Cottrelldid cross over the ridge. FourGerman machine guns werepointed at his company. Cottrellquickly rolled over to ''play dead."He wiggled his pack off and lay asstill as he could. His squadwithdrew and Cottrell coveredhimself with dirt as the Germans

It is difficult to comprehendthe horror that soldiers in WorldWar II must have encountered.Waking up each morning with themission of war and its charge tokill or be killed can only beunderstood by someone who hasexperienced it. My grandfather,Glen Cottrell, recounted what itwas like going from a high schoolgraduate to a Prisoner of War inless than two years.

Glen Cottrell was born inBoone, North Carolina, onSeptember 28, 1924. Along withhis brother and sister, he helped hisfather on the farm until he wasdrafted on August 27, 1943.Selected into the First ArmyDivision, Cottrell left his family forthe first time to go to Alabama forbasic training. As he left for basictraining, Cottrell's mother gave

him a Bible with a steel cover to"protect his heart." Heremembered, "There was no reasonto be scared; everyone was goingto war." His basic training lasted17 weeks. After basic training,Cottrell began the ship ride that ledto experiences he never could haveimagined.

Cottrell, packed in with 6,000other soldiers, traveled on a ship toAnzio Beachhead, Italy. The ship

Glen Cottrellby

Ashley Johnson

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blew everything around him awaywith their guns. He lay there allday without moving. Finally, that

Glen Cottrell-World War IIPrisoner of War

night he got out of the dirt andfound his squad.

As Cottrell was recovering fromhis second near-death experience,he was also preparing for the attackin Poe Valley. His company hadbeen told this battle would be easybecause there were not manyGermans. The night before theattack, Cottrell had a bad feelingsomething would happen. Thenext morning his company attackedthe hill in Poe Valley and were"blown apart," Cottrell said. Asthey withdrew, he went to helpsome of the wounded. Cottrellbent down to pick up a man with agunshot wound in his leg. After hepicked the wounded man up, heheard, "Come, Come." Cottrell didnot have his gun with him, becausewhen a soldier wore a First AidBadge, he was not allowed to carryhis gun. Cottrell looked up and

right beside the area where theywere taken was bombed-soon afterthey arrived. Marching back intoGermany, Cottrell knew theAmericans were close to winningthe war. "At this time," Cottrellsaid "the United States wasbombing- everything," as Cottrellmarched, fOUTmen- carried threeblankets with P-Q-W painted onthem so that the American fighterplanes would not shoot. _ Finally,one day he saw a plane flying-overhim for -observation. The planecaused Cottrell to realize that he wasgoing.to be liberated soon. Finally,on May I, 1945, Cottrell wasofficially liberated - from being aPrisoner of War_ The war was overin Europe.

After- returning home, Cottrelland the- other P.O.W.'sreceived

,. Iclean clothes. Cottrell's weight hadplummeted from 160pounds to 112pounds in the eight months he was aPrisoner of War. During his returnhome, Cottrell first traveled toFrance, then sailed on a boat toNorth Carolina. He arrived at FortBragg on June 17, 1945, and cameto Lenoir, by train. Cottrell's lastmethod of travel was hitchhiking toBoone in the middle of the night.His parents had not heard from himin a year and a half. At 3:00 AM.,his parents jumped out of bed, first

realized he was only twenty feetaway from the voice of a Germansoldier. The Germans took Cottrellback to their Command Post. Theypushed Cottrell-around the. side ofthe building, and -he thought- theywere going to shoot him as he wasshoved up against the wall. Instead,the Germans made Cottrell assisttheir wounded. -

After caring for their wounded,Cottrell traveled in a boxcar with 50other Prisoners of War to Germany.No one was allowed to sit down,and the windows were nailed shut

Everyone had-to use the bathroom

on the floor, in that area. Finally,Cottrell arrived in Munich. Whilecarrying homemade P.O.W. signs sothe Americans. would not shootthem, Cottrell headed to Mooseburgwith 100,000 other P.O.W.'s. Atypical day's rations for Cottrellincluded a cup of tea or coffee in themorning, a small boiled potato inthe evening, a loaf of bread splitbetween eight men, and if he waslucky, a piece of pure beef-bloodsausage. Cottrell had stayed in thesame clothes he had on when he wascaptured, and now it was winter. Hewas given an overcoat and woodenshoes. The P.O.W.'s stayed in theworst part of the barracks and couldnot take a bath. Cottrellremembered, "Everyone had at leastone hundred huge lice crawling onthem, so big you could see them."The prisoners were forced to cleanup Mooseburg everyday after it wasbombed. The British bombed in theday, and the Americans bombed atnight. After being there for three orfour months, Cottrell was told the P.O.W.'s were being taken to anothertown.

The prisoners were taken awayto build a small railroad. The town

out of fright, then from joy, becausetheir son was alive and home. OnJanuary 1, 1946, Cottrell wasdischarged from the Army.

Cottrell said, "It has taken a longtime not to feel hatred towards theGermans-especially because theykilled one of my buddies." Now, helives happily with his wife Jean,whom he met after the war. Theyhave four children (two boys andtwo girls) and nine grandchildren.

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As Cottrell looked back,"he said,"The Americans do not haveanything to feel bad about." - Whenhe thought of all the things heexperienced, he-knew God kept himalive, and he thanked.God that hegot to rear a family. He said, "Lhope that no one else in-the futurehas to go through war."