Pte. James Poage McClelland
United States Army 350th Infantry Regiment, Coy. A 88th Division
from:Alhambra, Calif. USA
My father, James P. McClelland, was an enlisted man in the US Army and served the last seven months of World War II as a prisoner in Stalag VII A, Moosburg, Germany.
His brief military career took him from basic training in Texas, on a victory ship across the Atlantic to Napoli, then slowly up through Italy, above Florence, where he went from one replacement camp to another. Being 35 years old, he got the feeling he would never be called to the front.
The situation changed. In early October of 1944, thousands of troops were pulled from the Italian front to participate in the invasion of Southern France. But the battle in Italy against the Germans and the formidable Gothic Line continued. Everyone was called to duty, including company clerks and older GIs, like my Dad. Moving into battle for Pvt. James P. McClelland was the beginning of what could have been the end.
On his third day of combat, he was captured and his seven months of being a POW began. His experiences were unusual. Each day was a battle for survival. For him it was a happy ending. He survived.
On his return to civilian life, he began writing about his experiences. He worked nights, putting his experiences on legal-sized yellow pads. He hired a typist. He revised and revised. He sent his manuscript to several publishers and started a collection of rejection slips. Despite his limited Ozark education and lack of writing skills, his story was real. Long after his death, I reread the manuscript and decided it should be published, if for no other reason than to preserve McClelland family history. It took me three years to retype his manuscript, edit it, research changes and make two visits to Europe. I visited a museum in Moosburg north of Munich where his Stalag VIIA was located. I walked the streets of Munich where Dad had dodged bombs dropped by Allied planes. I sipped beer in Lowenbrau, the big brewery where my father had hidden in the basement during air raids. I finally published Name, Rank and Serial Number in 2005.
