Joseph R. Chapman, Freeport

We will never fully understand the depths of what Joseph Rodney Chapman (Rod) of Freeport experienced in World War II. Today, at 84 years of age, trim looking, healthy and sharp as a tack, you would never guess his pain and suffering resulting from his final WWII battle. He believed at that moment he was about to become a dead man. He was the last soldier alive on the battlefield out of 187 men known to have been there. He laid hidden and wounded from the shooting face down in a deep dirt road tire track. Lying there with a knee wounded from shrapnel and still alive, he quickly prayed, “God, please make it quick” as he heard the German soldiers advancing on him. They kicked his body turning him over and then placed a gun muzzle between his eyes. The memories of September 8, 1944 still live today agonizingly waking him up some nights.

He was in Company A of the 319th Regiment, 1st Battalion of the 80th Infantry Division as an Infantry Browning Automatic Rifleman (BR). As part of General George Patton’s Third Army, the 319th had the mission of securing a bridgehead at Toul (France) where the Moselle River made its wide loop to the west. On September 4th, attempts to cross the Moselle River at Pont A Mousson and north of Pont A Mousson met with fierce enemy resistance and the units withdrew to make further preparations. At Pont-à-Mousson, American forces dispensed with reconnaissance and preliminary artillery bombardments, hoping to use tactical surprise instead. This turned out to be a poor decision as the German defenders were in greater strength and much better prepared then assumed and held terrain that allowed them to observe the movement of the American forces in the vicinity.

Company A was patrolling in the high country and ordered to move down a hill and across a recently mowed field over to the woods. Rod immediately sensed danger. “It didn’t look good,” he said, believing they were exposed and in danger. That day, September 8th, 1944 was his first wedding anniversary, having married during a furlough from boot camp. He had arranged for roses to be sent to his wife. It was 6:00 p.m. and they began to move down the hill. The Germans were there in force and began to fire on them. Guys on the flank had no cover and were “picked off like sitting ducks” Rod said. “I returned fire and tried to keep moving,” he said as he got hit with shrapnel and dived into the deep rutted tire tracks for cover. When everything went quiet, he was the last living soldier on the field. He heard the Germans coming and thought it was over, but instead they took him as a prisoner of war.

He was transported to Limburg, Germany, a holding place, until he was put on a train box car with other prisoners for transportation to Stalag 7A at Moosburg, Germany. near Munich. Still alive and not revealing his wound to the Germans, he yet faced another horror. While on train the American air force strafed it taking out the engine, not knowing there were prisoners aboard. Five men in the boxcars were killed by friendly fire and others wounded. Fear struck the prisoners who were packed in like sardines and had no means of escape. All the doors were locked!

The night of September 8th, 1944, Mary Chapman, Rod’s wife, received a telegram that he was missing in action. It would be several more months, around Thanksgiving, before she knew he was a Prisoner of War.

At Stalag 7A they were issued prison garb and fed one boiled potato with one piece of black bread at noon and two boiled potatoes and two pieces of black bread each day. Rod was assigned to work details that were sent outside to rebuild the bombed out railroads. Rod said that they were well trained on what to do as prisoners of war. And, as bad as the situation was there was some humor in what they did do. First, he was sent to dig air raid shelters. They would work as slow as possible. Later, he and others were sent to Munich to rebuild the railroad. Rod and his crew had the task of replacing railroad ties. A number of these railroad ties were stacked by the side and using tool grips similar to ice block tongs, they would carry them from the stack to the railroad rails. Then they would carry the railroad tie back. They did this all day long and the German guards never noticed.

The war ended in 1945 and Stalag 7A prisoners left the camp after the German soldiers abandoned it. He and another buddy walked a distance before finding Americans to help them. By this time they had lost a lot of weight (Rod was down to 121 pounds), had thick and heavy beards, their skin showed the effects of not being fed properly and never changing clothes left them with a smell. They reached help, were taken to headquarters and then sent to Camp Lucky Strike in Janville, France, where the fed, deloused and treated for their needs. Rod said they were put on a baby food diet for sometime. A numbers of months passed before they were permitted home. The men were sent back according to the states they were from. New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania came up and they boarded a luxury ship converted for these missions. Former prisoners of war were kept separated from others during their reentry period.

Rod Chapman is a native of Freeport as his wife Mary. They live in the home Mary was born in. He graduated from Freeport High School and was working when he was drafted in 1942. After boot camp, he was trained in a series of other camps for extended period of time. He was finally shipped overseas in 1944, but not before a 15-day furlough to get married.

After arriving in Europe, his 319th Regiment landed on Utah Beach in France six days after the D-Day invasion. He immediately was involved in fighting. The 319th Regiment was part of the 80th Infantry Division that belonged to the 3rd Army under General George Patton. They liberated one town in northern France, and then surrounded Paris permitting the French freedom fighters to take possession of the city.

Joseph R. Chapman is a decorated war veteran having been awarded the Purple Heart, Silver Medal, Bronze Medal and Prisoner of War Medal. He is well known and liked throughout his Freeport community. After returning home from the war he returned to Freeport worked a short time for PPG and then joined the Post Office where he served 32 years, retiring in 1981. Today, he is an unofficial historian of the area and enjoys educating others about the historical background of Freeport.

Be sure to watch the video interview of Rod Chapman telling about his wartime experiences at: