“Daybreak came and I looked up from my slit trench to see a German soldier standing over me with a fixed bayonet,” said Carl D. Roof of Shelocta, “and he began shouting ‘Rouse! Comrade, Rouse!’.” It was September 7th, 1944 and Carl, with one month on the battlefield, just became a prisoner of war.

Major General Manton S. Eddy, XII Corps commander, had ordered a crossing of the Moselle River north of Nancy, France. The mission was given to the 317th Regiment of the 80th Infantry Division, also known as the Blue Ridge Division composed of men from the "Blue Ridge States" of Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. Carl, a farm boy who just graduated from high school, was drafted in 1942 and was assigned to the 317th Regiment after boot camp in Tennessee.

The decision to cross the river turned out to be a bad one. Day time Calvary reports indicated there wasn’t a strong German presence. It was anything but. Sgt. Carl D. Roof led his men crossing the Moselle River at Pont-á-Moussson on the evening of September 6th under the cover of darkness. As soon as they landed they came immediately came under intense and well-directed artillery, mortar and small arms fire. Two companies managed to cross the river and immediately had to fight off a determined German counterattack. Forced to dig slit trenches to protect themselves, they waited. At 2:00 a.m. the German attack began. They needed more help and had been told it was on the way – but not soon enough. Several of Carl’s men were killed, others wounded. They were ordered to drop everything. One soldier reached to pick up his gun and was shot. Four men from Carl’s squad were captured as four others from another squad. Ultimately, the rest of the regiment could not support the force across the river and the 3rd Battalion lost several hundred men that were killed, wounded and captured.

Carl and his men were then forced marched under German bayonets to a nearby barn. They were at the tail end and as they approached the barn an American artillery shell blew the barn up. The Germans took the wounded that were able to walk and the remaining prisoners to a house in Commercy (northeastern France). Again, another American artillery attack took place. With only the clothes on their back, no rations or water, they took refuge in another barn. They were moved out before daybreak and as they marched through a village the Germans spit, jeered and threw rocks at them. The next morning they board an unmarked train to Zweibruckenm. Again they were attacked, this time by American fighters strafing the train. Arriving at Zweibruckenm, they then board a train to Limberg, Germany. They were housed at a temporary prison, Prison Camp 12A. Carl said, “I received my first Red Cross package containing powdered milk, corned beef, Spam, butter, coffee, sugar, cheese, salmon, raisins, biscuits, cigarettes, chicken,, jam, peanut butter and ration candy bars.” “Finally I had something to eat,” Carl said.

Day later Carl and his men were put on another train and traveled four days. “I was among 2,000 men who arrived at Stalag 3C, a prison camp near Alt Drewitz, Germany, on September 27th, 1944,” Carl said. He now was Sgt. Carl D. Roof #86-632.

At the end of January of 1945 the Russians were advancing on Germany. The Germans tried to move the prisoners out of the camp, but ran into resistance. A Russian tank column arrived at the front of the camp and told the prisoners to wait. The Russians set them free and moved them out at night to keep them safe from further German attacks. Carl and his men then began a very long and dangerous journey. The war wasn’t over and the Russians told them they were on their own and not to travel at night. They were behind the lines and still in Germany! Carl with six men then began an arduous journey to Warsaw. Getting a geography book out of a house they plotted their trip. After arriving in Warsaw they were taken to Odessa, Russia, and then sent out on a ship to Port Said, Egypt. It was here the U.S. Army was informed that they had escaped and were alive.

The long journey began again when they traveled the Suez to Saudi Arabia and after as few days then to Naples, Italy. After spending a week there, they boarded an American ship for home, arriving in Boston, Massachusetts. Sent to Camp Miles Standish Carl was issued a 30-day leave and he headed home. From there Carl headed to another camp for rest and then discharge.

Carl won a number of medals, but outside of the Purple Heart he didn’t want to tell me what the others were. Like many WWII veterans, there is sense of pride in their service, but humility as to any accomplishments. With the great loss of lives and many wounded, they do not believe credit should go to the service they gave. This is what makes them great men and women of honor.

It was a long hard journey, but Carl made it home and went back into farming. He went back to Tennessee to marry the girl, Frankie, he met during boot camp. They married in 1945 and Carl continued to spend his early years in farming. He later did go south and worked there, but returned back home and ended up being an equipment operator.

Carl retired some years ago, but continues to work his farm on 5 Points Road in Shelocta. With sheep and horses, he still stays active as a member of the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Southern Alleghenies Chapter American Ex-Prisoners of War.