Fred was convinced that, with the Buchenwald airmen supporting one another, the VA would be more reasonable. So he filed two appeals in 1983, focusing on seven problems his physicians felt were directly related to his service experiences. The first appeal was denied immediately, primarily because previous appeals had been denied. The second appeal was denied in 1984. The accompanying letter, signed by Earlie Walker, Jr, Adjudication Officer, made several interesting points: (1) the evidence of record did not warrant any change in his service-connected nervous condition, (2) service connection for hypertension, neuritis, appendicitis, renal failure, heart condition, and stroke had already been denied, and (3) perhaps most amazing of all: “Your head injury condition and shell fragment wound conditions were not incurred or aggravated during your service.”
The reviewing doctor’s notes revealed that he thought Fred’s story was a complete fabrication. The notes included:
Alleges POW. . . . claims to have suffered from intimidation, beatings, physical torture, and inadequate diet while in prison. He also claims to have suffered a flack wound to the head. Wounds to leg and head could be from other sources, no evidence to support SC [service connection]. Malnutrition was not found on last examination.
Fred had grown used to having his problems discounted, but now they were questioning his military service and the injuries for which he had been awarded the Purple Heart. He wrote to Loren Jackson, the pilot of his air crew, who wrote a letter testifying to the fact that Fred was a veteran who had been wounded when his plane was shot down. He also contacted LtC. Millikan, who had seen the condition Fred was in when he arrived at Stalag Luft III, and obtained a letter testifying to the fact that the arriving sergeants were in terrible shape, and that Fred had an appendicitis attack while at the camp.
Throughout this period, the OSI continued to investigate, and Nazi war crimes continued to be in the news. OSI investigators confronted Arthur Rudolph with the war crimes evidence they had accumulated, which included material from statements he had voluntarily given in previous interviews. Rudolph faced trial and probable imprisonment for his activities as production manager at the Mittelwerk, his sign-off on sabotage reports that resulted in hangings, his control over the hours worked by the slave laborers, and other related offenses. Rather than face trial, he renounced his US citizenship and returned to Germany. Because he had left voluntarily, without trial and conviction, he was able to keep his sizable federal pension. The lead investigator of the OSI, which had been created two years after Wernher’s death, noted that if von Braun were still alive, he would be near the top of their list. Fred just shook his head in amazement when he heard about it.
What was going on with OSI seemed to have little to do with his physical problems or advancing his appeals with the VA. Fred and many other WWII veterans were interviewed in May 1984 as part of a Memorial Day article in his local paper. Although his friends at the POW society and the VFW encouraged him to try an appeal one more time, Fred wasn’t sure he had it in him after so many defeats.
Rather than tackling the VA again, Fred became involved with the KLB Club’s campaign to get congressional recognition of their service and correction of the official US position as published by Congress in 1945. This involved writing letters to congressmen and senators, announcement in POW and other veteran’s magazines, and newspaper coverage. A flurry of news articles about the Buchenwald airmen resulted. The first appeared in the Sarasota Herald Tribune, after Fred, Ed Carter-Edwards, and John Chalot reconnected through the KLB Club. The headline read, “It took almost 42 years, but three who survived World War II POW camp are reunited.” In late January 1987, the News-Press in Tampa, Florida, ran, “Ex-Fliers Recall Concentration Camp at Reunion” after 12 of the Buchenwald airmen met at a reunion in Fort Myers, Florida. In mid-February, the Lee Constitution in Ft. Myers ran, “GI Ghosts of Buchenwald.”
This was followed by two articles in the Bradenton Herald. “The Nazis Made Them Suffer” appeared at the end of February, 1987, and “Kept at Buchenwald, POWs Want Their Imprisonment Recognized” appeared in April 1988, with interviews and photos of Fred, Ed Carter-Edwards, and John Chalot. Fred and John were also featured in “Pilots Captured During WW II Feel for Allied POWs in Iraq.” All of these articles made a point of saying that the airmen wanted the government to acknowledge that they had been in Buchenwald.
Ed Ritter, his old friend from Buchenwald, found Fred’s address from the KLB Club, and they started corresponding. In 1987, Ed sent Fred two documents that he had obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request submitted to the US National Archives. The first was the list of arriving prisoners at Buchenwald on 20 August 1944, noting the amounts of money confiscated, and the second was the appendix on Buchenwald taken from an MIS-X174 report on Stalag VIIA. That report described conditions at Buchenwald and listed the names of several airmen, including Fred. The documents were declassified in 1981, but nobody had asked for them, because nobody knew they even existed. Fred now had proof that he had been telling the truth.
Although Fred was now in and out of the hospital, each time emerging thinner and weaker, he continued corresponding with the KLB Club and writing letters to pressure Florida legislators to take steps to correct the official record. Finally in 1993, the efforts paid off with H Con. R 88, introduced on 27 April 1993 by Congressman Gillespie V. Montgomery from the state of Mississippi. It acknowledged and commended their service and authorized a proclamation by the President to honor their bravery. No financial compensation was proposed, simply public recognition of the Buchenwald airmen.
The resolution was approved by the 103rd Congress and was forwarded to the Senate for approval, where Senator John McCain had agreed to coordinate its passage. Letters of support were written by 21 of the surviving Buchenwald airmen. Once in the Senate, it was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. That committee either never got around to it or killed it for unknown reasons. It was a major blow to the airmen who had invested so much time and effort in the campaign. Fred was notified that the bill was dead in a letter that arrived on 30 November, which said that they would try again in 1995.175
Fred was deeply disappointed. How could this keep happening? How could an SS officer deserve presidential awards and buildings in his name, while the sufferings of American veterans were officially denied and bureaucratically ignored? He was already depressed and housebound, and the injustice of the situation made his physical limitations even harder to bear.
In 1994, Fred decided to give it one more try to appeal the VA decision. He knew he was near the end of the line. His liver had failed,176 Betty’s job had vaporized (the company had folded up after local development was completed), and Fred was afraid that what little money they still had in the bank after paying his medical bills would not be enough for her to live on.
He was well aware that it was a long shot, as the KLB Club had failed to gather sufficient congressional support for the recognition bill, and he had been even less successful getting support for his campaign against the VA. In March 1986, Betty wrote to Senator Paula Hawkins, who was known to be sympathetic to veterans issues:
This appeal is being directed to you, as an avowed advocate of veteran’s rights, in the hope that you will be able to crack the facade of indifference my husband has been encountering at the Veterans Administration.
After summarizing his wartime and postwar difficulties, she continued:
All his doctors have certified that his problems are service-connected. . . . he has had to dig out all his old papers to prove he was even in the Army, let alone a POW. . . Senator Hawkins, I believe that men like Fred Martini have virtually given their lives for their country and their country should acknowledge its responsibility in times of trouble. What my husband and those other prisoners went through in Buchenwald was so unspeakable that even now it is difficult for him to talk about it; but he has never faltered in his loyalty to his crew and his country.
She closed, begging for assistance. I
n May, Fred sent a letter to Senator Alan K. Simpson, detailing his military service and that of Betty and his sister, Liz. He gave an overview of his medical issues and the lack of support from the VA. Simpson was on record, saying:
Show me a combat veteran from a combat theater with any type of ailment or malady or conditions and I say give him everything it takes — anything they need — and I shall be right there to do that.177
So Fred devoted four pages to summarizing his wartime experiences and the problems he had encountered convincing the VA to treat his conditions seriously. He closed with, “I honestly believe that the VA operates on the belief that if they wait long enough, problems will resolve themselves through attrition.”
Several months later, having heard nothing from either senator, Betty sent a second letter to Senator Paula Hawkins, attaching a copy of the letter to Senator Simpson. In her cover letter, Betty wrote:
I find it almost incomprehensible that there has never been a mention of the fact, in any speech or publication I have seen at any time since World War II, that a few American soldiers were imprisoned at the infamous Buchenwald Concentration Camp. . . . those whom I have met have, without exception, been victims of physical illnesses over the years which, doctors agree, are directly related to their incarceration in a concentration camp. In spite of this, the VA insists on treating these men as normal prisoners of war detained in normal camps with the normal treatment supposedly received there. . . . Some of my husband’s contacts are Canadian veterans of Buchenwald. Their government gives them super-special treatment, special pensions, and even last year flew the entire group to Europe for a reunion with other Allied Buchenwald survivors, paying all their expenses. . . . I see him each day forcing himself to wear shoes when his feet are so painful that he winces if anyone touches them. . . . Even as I write this, I find myself crying. . . . We haven’t heard from Senator Simpson.
Neither Senator Hawkins nor Senator Simpson responded to these letters.
Fred went before the appeals board in his wheelchair to give testimony in person, with Betty accompanying him. It was very difficult for them to talk about their situation in a public forum, and in the end, they shouldn’t have bothered. The VA flatly refused to reconsider Fred’s pension rating. As it had since 1947, the VA cited previous denials as sufficient evidence that no increase in rating was justified.
The only bright spot in his last year came in late January 1995, when Fred became a grandfather. To his great delight, his new grandson was named Frederic. Buoyed by this, Fred filed another appeal with the VA. He was determined to go down swinging.
On 25 May 1995, another Concurrent Resolution was introduced, as H Con. R 73, by Rep. Tim Hutchinson (R-Arkansas). In his introduction, Representative Hutchinson acknowledged the recent death of Michael Petrich, a Buchenwald airman who had been instrumental in reactivating the KLB Club. The resolution was referred to the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight and then to the Committee on Civil Service the next day. It went no further.
A few months later, on 21 September 1995, Fred died when multiple systems collapsed. His last VA appeal was still being processed. Fred died frustrated and angry about his treatment by the US government, and completely baffled by the government’s refusal to correct the historical record. Yet that frustration and anger had never impacted his love of country, nor was he embittered by his experiences with the VA. He had often told Betty “Every day of my life after leaving Buchenwald was an unexpected gift.” Fred always knew he was on borrowed time — he was simply trying to make the best of it.
173 For a list of the awards given to von Braun during his career in Nazi Germany and in the post-war period, see Appendix 5.
174 Military Intelligence Service branch X was responsible for intelligence concerning, and communication with, American military personnel held in German POW camps.
175 See Appendix 6 for the text of the 1993, 1995, and 1997 resolutions.
176 He had been diagnosed with hepatitis C in the 1980s. There was no way to tell if he had contracted an aggressive strain from a transfusion in surgery or if it was a smoldering case from the shared needles used to give the chest injections in Buchenwald.
177 Fred was probably unaware that although Simpson made those comments in a discussion of the Gramm-Rudman Amendment, they were made to deflect criticism from his assertion that most veterans’ disability payments were awarded without sufficient justification.
EPILOGUE
IN THE AFTERMATH OF FRED’S death, I flew from Hawaii to Florida and found boxes of correspondence and files and newspaper articles among his effects. My mother, still distraught, told me many things that she and Fred had kept to themselves. I decided to try to carry on the battle my father had started.
On 2 February 1996, I wrote to the Hawaii congressional representatives, Neil Abercrombie and Patsy Mink, and enclosed news articles about Fred and his experiences. I asked why the existence of the Buchenwald airmen had been kept secret for 40 years, even from other branches of the government, and why Congress had failed to pass a resolution that would set the record straight, despite the fact that it would cost nothing and require no payments to the survivors? I sent similar letters to the offices of Hawaii Senators Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka.
I received responses from all four. Rep. Abercrombie had contacted Ms. Sandra Stuart, Assistant Secretary of Defense, posing these questions. Rep. Mink reported that H Con. R 73 had stalled in committee, but that if it emerged, she would happily sign on as a cosponsor. She had also written to Ms. Stuart seeking answers. Senators Akaka and Inouye had written to the Department of Defense as well.
On 20 March 1996, James D. Wold, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (POW/MIA Affairs) responded to Senator Akaka, with copies to Senator Inouye and Representatives Mink and Abercrombie. Mr. Wold said that he had checked with the Army and with the National Holocaust Memorial and verified the existence of the Buchenwald airmen. He also said, “None of those offices, however, could explain why the information has been withheld for so long.” He said he had also checked with the VA, but was told that they could not research the case without a claim number.
On 22 March, Terrence J. Gough, Chief of the Staff Support Branch of the Department of the Army, responded to Representative Mink. The letter said, “A search at the Center for Military History files revealed no information on this subject.” Mr. Gough then contacted a historian at the Holocaust Museum who advised him that approximately 500 American airmen and ground troops had been held in up to ten camps, including Buchenwald, Dachau, Flossenberg, Mathausen, and Nordhausen. Mr. Gough was told that official documents were in NARA Record Groups 238 and 338, but he had no information as to when the records had been declassified.
On 9 May, Senator Akaka wrote to summarize the letters he had received, saying that the Buchenwald experience was confirmed, but that it was not known why it had been classified for so long. He said he had contacted the Army Center of Military History for further research.
On 20 June, Senator Akaka received a response from Mr. Joe We, Acting Chief of the Staff Support Branch. A search of their files contained no information pertaining to secrecy regarding liberated POWs. He went on to list the Record Groups at the National Archives where documents might be found, and quoted a senior archivist who said that the Buchenwald records had been officially declassified in 1974,178 but that they were not consulted until the late 1980s. He felt that this might have contributed to Fred’s frustrations, adding that after declassification, the records would have been accessible to the VA — if they knew who to ask and where to look for them. He did not attempt to address the question of why the existence of the Buchenwald airmen had remained classified for 30-40 years.
H Con. R 73 was not passed by the 104th Congress. In July 1997, it was reintroduced as H Con. R 95 early in the 105th Congress, with twenty-six cosponsors. Surviving members of the KLB Club were in attendance, as were representatives of the ex-POW and VFW organizations. The bill passed t
he House of Representatives on September 16, 1997.
In the Senate, the concurrent resolution (Sen Con. R 32) was again referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Once again, it died there for unknown reasons. The net result was that the Buchenwald airmen would receive no recognition, although the 103-105th Congresses did manage to find the time to commemorate the achievements of astronauts and contributions made to country music. No corresponding bill has since been introduced, and the official US historical record has yet to be corrected.
Ironically, soon after Fred’s death, the German government initiated a program to provide compensation for victims of Nazi abuse and a second program for POWs assigned to forced labor kommandos. Buchenwald airmen alive at the time could receive generous compensation (up to $50,000) from each program. Betty wrote to ask if surviving spouses could be considered for such awards. She was initially told that it was likely, but by the time she received the application forms and started gathering the required documentation, the submission period had ended.
In 1999, Congress passed the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act, mandating the declassification of all related documents. An Interagency Working Group was established to oversee the review and declassification of these materials. The process was cumbersome, slow, and delayed by obfuscation, interagency squabbling, and outright stonewalling, particularly by the CIA. A final report, released in 2007, acknowledged that despite the best efforts of the IWG, not all records had been released.179 What was released was sometimes of limited value. For example, the FBI file on Wernher von Braun included a 48-page translation of an article published by Julius Mader, 43 pages where the entire contents of a memo or report had been redacted, and 31 blank pages inserted to signify that material was withheld due to security concerns — 62 years after WWII ended, 30 years after von Braun’s death, and eight years after passage of the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act.
Betrayed: Secrecy, Lies, and Consequences Page 39