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forLt. Harold Blacker doesn't have anv doubt that the 1945 Fathers’ftDay will go down as one of the happiest he will ever know.Jt was only a short time agothat Lieutenant Brickor, having fought with his rifle platoon 10 miles past the Elbe River, was a prisoner of the Germans, only !vaguely sure that he would ever i celebrate another father’s day.! much le^s the next one with hiswife and two daughter?. IHe arrived hack in Wichita Falls | •Tune 0. Seven-year-old Billie; i Marie was overjoyed to see her; : father, but her four-year-old sis- i ter, Pattie June, wasn’t quite sure j she remembered this tall, thin, ! khakiclad man who left this coun- ; try a year ago to fight the Germans.Bricker became a lieutenant the hard way, by proving his worth on the battlefield. He was first | sergeant for his infantry rifle com-j panv up to March 23 when the i company lost a platoon leader. He : was assigned to take over the pla-; toon and a few days later, the reg-i imcntal commander pinned a gold ; bar on his collar.! Bitter (told WeatherOne of the worst things about, the fighting that Lieutenant Bricker ; experienced was the bitter cold I weather. His company made its ' way from the Siegfried Line past ' the Elbe by marching or clinging to the back of tanks and there’s no colder way to ride thancrouched against cold metal, wilhthe wind, rain and snow sweeping over one.! His company didn’t stop at the .Elbe, but plunged on to meet the I Russians. The men met an un-! yielding line, were surrounded ! and pinned down by fire. Surrender of the company was dur-. ing the last days nf April whmi the Germans sent Tiger tankscharging into the company. WhatOut of Bricker's platoon of 40 men, only 25 remained alive.“The Germans took everything that we had. watches, money and souvenir?. For some reason t hey’ lett me a German cigaret lighter. .They weren’t any rougher on us than they were on their own troops. We didn't have any food.but the Germans didn’t either.” ’Lieutenant Bricker recalled.Li be rated May 2May 2, the German guards evacuated the prison ramp and liberation forces moved in.The first thing LieutenantBricker did was write his wife a V-mail letter saying that if she had received notice that he wasmissing or a prisoner, to disregard it. for he was freed.The V-mail letter was received in Wichita Falls by Mrs. Bricker May IB. The next day, she received a telegram from the war department saying her husband was missing in action.Lieutenant Bricker is a regular army man and after If) years in the infantry thinks there is no finer branch of the service.During her husband’s absence, Mrs. Bricker and the two children have made their home with her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Sam Bal- ' lard, 802 Houston.
Newspaper Details
Wichita Daily Times
Wichita Falls, Texas, US
Sun, Jun 17, 1945
Page 20
Full Page
Clipped by
Wichita F.
TX, USA 07 Aug 2018
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