A Tale of Buchenwald — The Stench Still Lingers

The first thing I noticed was the odor. It reminded me of the Kuhner Packing Company’s waste being burned in my hometown of Muncie, Indiana. It was a warm morning in April, 1945 — calm and peaceful — unlike the grueling conditions we had recently left behind in Belgium and Luxembourg.

Call Him Lucky

Tears well up in his eyes and his voice breaks as Wayne Luedke recalls events of nearly 60 years ago. Luedke, a big man who anyone would think was tough as they come, spent 154 days in combat during World War II. His division fought in three major battles – Central Europe, Rhineland and Battle of the Bulge – and liberated prisoners at the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany.

The Dash Across Germany

The Dash Across Germany

The events from March to May went quickly as we mounted trucks and other vehicles to streak across Germany and end the war. I can recall watching from a hill as our canon companies bombarded a small town to reduce their resistance for our entry. In another town we...