by C V Ricks
Also, to bide the time, Budd took a YMCA notebook and made a journal out of it. The cover was made out of a towel. He took his favorite pictures from his wallet and sewed them in the journal with a little poem for each picture. There would not be a day go by that Budd would not open up his journal and see his Faelela waving at him. He imagined she was saying, “Hurry home.” Budd even had a lock of her hair. He could still envision her face as she walked up to him, her curly hair bouncing along her shoulders, her red lips smiling up at him. Her hands were tucked in the pockets of her overcoat the same length as her pretty dress. Then she pulled out the dainty locks of hair she had cut off just for him. They were tied in a small bow and she slipped it into his hand and gave him a peck on his cheek. He took her in his arms and gave her a huge hug and kiss.
Now he caressed the soft locks of hair. He examined the picture of Mother Adams waving to him and he felt the love exude from the page. He looked at the photo of his sister standing with his favorite nephew Jimmy. Every day Budd opened up that journal and it gave him the strength to survive the day. With cold fingers grasping the crayons, he colored the cover. Red, white and blue, the colors of his nation's flag.
Budd could feel himself starving to death. His one-hundred-fifty pound before-prisoner weight was now down to 90 pounds. He was skin and bones. He could only hope that the war would end before he died of malnutrition. I continued to watch over Budd. Even though he was very sickly, I felt that his suffering would be over soon.
Chapter 30
Fortunately, good news came his way, when on April 29, 1945 word was received that the war had ended in Europe. Budd and the men were so excited, but for the time-being they were still prisoners of war.
The last week of April, the prisoners heard the sound of cannons going off in the distance. The Russian Cossacks were moving in on them. The scene was like that of World War I. The Russians were riding horses and pulling cannons along with some tank corps members. The war may have been over, but not for the Russians. They had a score to settle with the Germans.
Budd and the other prisoners feared that they would be caught in the middle of a mighty battle between the Germans and the Russians. So the prisoners spent the entire day using tin cans to dig trenches outside their windows. At the first sign of a battle, they planned to jump out of the window into their trenches. With that disquieting thought, they tried to sleep.
Luckily, a fight did not materialize. It was a relief to awaken on the morning of May 1st to see Americans in the guard towers and patrolling fences. All of the Germans had fled, and before leaving they destroyed all military instillations in the path of the oncoming Russians. It was chaotic. The prisoners' withheld Red Cross parcels were made available to a German mob, consisting of soldiers and civilians. Then Budd heard the sound of a bomb exploding in a storage room. The men feared they may need the trenches after all. There were 9,000 prisoners liberated from Budd's camp alone. The Russian Commander was difficult. The prisoners remained in the compounds as though still prisoners, until they were ordered to leave. The men had no form of transportation, but in order to appease the Russians they pulled down the fences and towers and off to town they went.
Budd and two of his buddies began walking toward town. They were walking along the marshes when they spotted a grizzly sight. Four dead bodies were lying there. They appeared to be a grandmother, a mother, a daughter and a small child. The mother still held the pistol. She had killed the other three, then turned the gun on herself. It didn't take Budd long to see why she did this. In the town square, the German women were being forced to dance with the Russian soldiers. During the dance some of the soldiers pulled their partners into an alley, raping them, and afterwards going back for more. Seeing the chaos, the town's mayor had killed himself. The Russian soldiers were perversive This had been going on for the past twenty-four hours. How could people treat other people this way?
On Saturday, May 12th, the first Flying Fortresses arrived from England. First priority were the wounded, then the British followed. The rest, including Budd, were flown out on May 13 and 14. The bomb bay doors were covered with plywood. Budd and the others were stacked into the airplanes like firewood. It was hard to believe that now the war was over. For some reason, thoughts that he wouldn't make it home still plagued Budd's mind.
The plane landed in Reims, France where a show was put on for the prisoners. Now the tables were turned. The German prisoners served dinner to Budd and the others. While they served dinner, the guards cracked whips and yelled at them to move it. The guards put on quite a show for their benefit. Budd and the other prisoners were now treated like royalty.
The next morning Budd and the others were trucked to LaHarve, France located on the coast of the English channel. They were sent through the de-lousing machine on several occasions to rid themselves of lice. Each time new clothing was issued. The loudspeaker came on at various times during the day directing the men to an area where they were given eggnog. The purpose of the eggnog was to build the men back up. This did build them up in a hurry. Each day there was a USO show. Entertainers sang, “Rum and Coca Cola,” “Don't Fence Me In,” and other popular songs of the day. There were several camps strewn along the coast. They lived in tents again. Budd's camp was named “Camp Lucky Strike.”
Prisoners and other misplaced soldiers were coming in by the droves. It was not long before the temporary camps were full. In order to take care of the over-flow flooding in, the men were given $100 in English pounds and an open-end furlough was offered to them. This meant that there was no specified date to return to Grovesner Square in London. In the event that there was no space on a ship to return to the States, Budd would be given more money to continue his leave.
The men were living in groups of ten to fifteen. Budd out-ranked the other men in his group. His group was assigned to report to his base back near home. The men in his group were hard seasoned infantrymen. Budd was entrusted with all the paperwork to be turned in when reaching their destination.
One afternoon a flying fortress from England landed on the temporary air strip. Budd and two of his buddies ran out to ask the pilot if they could fly back to England with him. The pilot said yes but that they would have to be ready to leave in an hour. Budd rushed back to the remainder of his group to tell them that they had a way to England. All of the other men in Budd's group refused to fly. They said that they had come this far alive and they would not risk their lives now. So, Budd gave each one of them their papers and said that he would see them back at the base near home whenever they got there. So, Budd and his two buddies took the flight back to England. They stayed at Eighth Air force base near London. The next day Budd and his buddies took in the sites of London. One of the big attractions was a section of London called Piccadilly Circus. There Budd sent a telegram to his sweetheart to let her know that all was well. Budd and his buddies were given free train tickets to Scotland. They were excited to see Edinburgh, Scotland and a new adventure that awaited them there.
Budd and his buddies checked into a Red Cross hotel just across the street from the old Edinburgh castle. The charge was reasonable, so they could conserve some of their money for site seeing. The city was beautiful. Budd met a young lady who showed him all of the sites. Together they took a drive on a double decker bus through the green hills.
Budd and his buddies went to a portrait studio for tourists. Here he dressed up in the attire of a Scottish gentlemen complete with kilts.This photo he was excited to bring home and show Faelela. After a few days, Budd was about out of money and ready to end his furlough. Budd's main objective now was to get home. He hoped there would be space on the next ship out. Budd and his buddies found their way to the dingy office on Grovsnor square in London on June 14, 1945, just one day before Budd's 20th birthday. They were told that there was one space open on a ship going out the next day. Budd was reluctant to leave his friends, but the pull toward home caused him to accept the space.
That night Budd boarded t
he ship. The ship was operated by merchant marines. One of the cooks befriended Budd and gave him a job in the kitchen. At night they were holed up deep in the ship with hammocks for beds. Budd was still concerned. Would he make it home to his sweetheart? Would he make it across the ocean alive?
Budd helped out in the kitchen and it was a good place for him because he was fed well. On June 16th, Budd's friend, Joey came out of the kitchen while Budd was working on the tables. His hands were full of a large sheet cake. Budd's eyes lit up and his smile widened when he saw the whole kitchen crew gathered together singing“Happy Birthday” to him.
Finally the ship reached New York. The servicemen aboard the ship were taken to an army base some distance from the city. Budd stayed to help the cooks with the cleanup process and then was taken to the army base. The very next day, Budd was put on a train headed for home.
Chapter 31
Budd arrived in the city very early in the morning. His first call was to his dad who lived in the city. Budd's dad rushed right down to pick him up. Next he went to Louise and her husband's home. After a wonderful visit, he cleaned up, picked up his car and stopped off to see mother Adams. He wanted to surprise Faelela, so he waited outside the building where she worked. When she walked out the door, he was casually and sophisticately posed there. What a site to see. Faelela ran to him and hugged him tightly. It was like a dream.
I felt relief. Now Budd could go on to live a normal life. He would marry, have children, and die of old age. Then, when he will die, I will see him again. Also Nick, and Louise. But for now, I will go on looking over him and the others to whom I am a guardian angel.