My grandfather was Private Arlie Earl Chandler. I don't know any details of his capture other than the fact that it happened during the Salerno invasion in late 1943. After being captured, he was held prisoner of war at Stalag II-B for approximately 19 months. He was in the 5th Army, 142nd Infantry, Company L.
Da, as his grandchildren called him, passed away in September 1984, less than two months after I turned eleven. I knew he had been in the Army but I didn't know anything about POW's, much less war on a scale like that of World War II. As I grew up, my interest in Da's experience increased. I began asking my grandmother if Da ever talked about his time as a POW. She said he hardly ever mentioned it. That would explain why I never knew anything besides the fact he had been in the Army. My grandparents got married right before he took off for basic training at Camp Croft in Spartanburg, SC. He also spent time at Camp Edwards in Massachusetts.
My grandmother, known as BaBa, to her grandchildren, passed away a little over 3 months ago. A couple of years before that a box of old pictures was found. That box held a various assortment of letters, postcards, telegrams, and photos that have all helped to shed light on this part of my grandfather's life. There was even a letter from Senator John Bankhead (AL) telling my grandmother the bad news about her husband.
The pictures that were taken in Stalag-IIB had an ink stamp on the back side of it that said Stalag-IIB with some more German writing. If it hadn't been for that stamp on those photos I'm not so sure my grandmother would've remembered which camp it was. As a matter of fact, the main reason I'm sharing this, other than to honor my grandfather, is because I stumbled upon this website a year ago and recognized a name that was on the back of one of my grandmother's pictures. The name I recognized was J.D. Akin. It turns out his grandson, Jeff Baker, had already posted a brief message about his grandfather on this site. I guess I felt the need to come back and post my message because I know BaBa would've wanted me to.
So Jeff, I hope you see this and I thank your grandfather for serving our great country.
There is another POW mentioned on this site who might be in a different picture with my grandfather. The post was made by Cherie Sukeforth and her father was John E. Sprague. In her post she said that her father had played trumpet in the Army band before being shipped to North Africa. She also mentioned a photo of her grandfather with a band while at Stalag-IIB. Well, it may be a long shot but I have a picture of a group of guys and one has a trumpet, one a harmonica, and one has a guitar. I don't have the actual picture or I could read the names on the back. But I scanned the picture months ago so I'll at least be able to post it as well as the picture with Jeff Baker's grandfather, J.D. Akin. I failed to mention that Mr. Akin's name was written on the back along with my grandfather, Sidney Harris, and Frank Bevins. So in the picture with four gentlemen it's Sidney Harris, Frank Bevins, Arlie Chandler, and J.D. Akin, from left to right. I'm including another picture that had these names of the back (some names may be slightly wrong due to handwriting). Left to right it's: Morrie Grahm, Al Figuria, and John Portonaeala. Those are probably a little inaccurate like I said, but I hope it helps someone find these men. Cherie if that is your grandfather this will be one fine story of the veterans' grandchildren connecting with each other with the use of modern technology.
To the people at Wartime Memories thank you so very much for letting me share such a long story. I've had to do some research to go with what was left of my sweet grandmother's memory, but it has helped me find out more about this part of my grandfather's life. Thank you for keeping this website up and I look forward to hearing from anyone who may know the men in these pictures or the men I wrote about.
