Pvt. Frank Hernandez
US Army Co. K 329th Infantry Regiment
from:San Diego, CA
In 1943, at age 18, Frank Hernandez joined the Army 83rd Infantry Division, 329th Infantry Regiment, Company K. He began his military service on the beaches of Normandy, France. He was injured by shrapnel two months later in the hedgerows of France and was sent to a hospital in England to recuperate. He was awarded the Purple Heart.
Some months later, he rejoined his company in time for the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium. In April 1945, he was captured in Germany and was nearly executed by a German SS soldier, but when Frank knelt down to say the “Our Father” the soldier could not pull the trigger. Instead he was marched to a prison camp and lived out the remaining weeks of the war at Stalag 11-A.
