My uncle, Paul John Jordan, was born in Maibe, WV on April 27th 1919. As a young man in the 1930s, Paul worked in the Water Department in the C.C.C. Paul was the first of six Jordan brothers to join the armed forces. He enlisted on July 14th 1941, several months before the attack on Pearl Harbor, at Baltimore, MD. He was trained as a medic and then assigned to the 34th Infantry Division. He was placed in C Company, 109th Medical Battalion of the 168th Infantry Regiment. He was listed as 5'11" and 147 lbs.
Paul's 34th Infantry Division was sent straight from Newport News,VA to Oran, North Africa to begin "Operation Torch". In early February of 1943, the 34th Infantry Division's 3rd Battalion, 168th Infantry Regiment was positioned 10 miles east of Sidi Bou Zid on three hills: D.J. Lessouda (northernmost), D.J.Hadid (southernmost) and D.J.Ksaira, which was the easternmost position of the American Forces. C Company, 109th Medical Battalion was atop this hill. At 0430 on February 14th 1943, the German 10th and 21st Panzer Division tanks moved out to attack Sidi Bou Zid.
A raging sandstorm had been blowing for 12 hours and the American Forces couldn't see or hear anything. The storm was blowing from east to west - right into the faces of the Americans atop these three hills. The German tanks first surrounded, then later bypassed these positions. The German infantry, riding the tanks and scout cars, then unleashed a relentless fire upon these three hills for two days. Relief columns sent from Sidi Bou Zid were repeatedly attacked by the German Luftwaffe, and the Americans lost 44 tanks at this time. On the nights of February 15th and 16th, several Americans escaped this ring, but 600 from Lessouda, and 800 from Ksaira surrendered to the Germans.
"Paul Jordan was listed as missing in action on February 17th 1943. He was transported to Sicily on February 3rd 1943, to mainland Italy on March 10th 1943, to Austria on March 14th 1943 and, finally, to Germany, on March 16th 1943. He spent time in Stalags 3A, 7A, 2B, 3B and 5B."
