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World War II veteran reflects on service

The Herald - 5/28/2022

May 27—HERMITAGE — Now 96, Hermitage resident and World War II veteran John Durisko can still remember the day he was drafted into the Army — Dec. 3, 1943.

"On the letter, it said 'your friends and neighbors have chosen you,'" Durisko said. "I thought, 'some friends and neighbors!'"

A native of Farrell, Durisko was drafted at the age of 18 and sent to Camp Barkeley in Texas to be trained as a medic.

Originally intended for the Pacific Theater, Durisko and his unit were instead sent to Europe for the impending Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France, taking him from Camp Reynolds in Mercer County to Camp Shanks in New York.

When the 150-ship convoy eventually left New York for Liverpool, England, Durisko said the north Atlantic waters were especially rough.

Some ships carrying new equipment, such as trucks and airplanes, were too heavy and had to discard some of the equipment into the ocean.

"The waves were so high that when the ships went up and down, we could see their propellers coming out of the water," Durisko said.

When Durisko's unit arrived in Europe after D-Day, the Allies had pushed about five miles inland. He was then assigned to the 35th Infantry Division, 320th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Battalion — a part of the Third Army, led by Gen. George S. Patton.

At one point his unit was assigned to join the First Army, led by Gen. Omar Bradley, but ultimately returned to Patton's Third Army.

During a battle along the Moselle River, Durisko's unit was stopped by a German 20mm anti-aircraft gun on the other side of the river. Patton arrived and was told by the officer in charge what the hold-up was.

In expected fashion, Durisko said Patton told the officer to get the unit across the river or else the officer would be replaced.

Durisko's role as a medic exposed him to many of the harsh consequences of war.

In one instance, a tank that was burning after getting hit rolled into the American aid station. One of the crewmen, his own clothes on fire, climbed out of the tank, asked for help and dropped dead.

Another time, Durisko himself was asked to join a platoon as their new medic after the previous medic, while trying to save the life of a wounded German soldier, was stabbed to death by that same soldier.

On Sept. 17, 1944, Durisko was involved in a battle in the Ardennes Forest, helping wounded American soldiers.

As the battle progressed, the American troops moved forward and Durisko walked in the direction he had last seen them. However, he exited the forest near a German machine gun outpost and was spotted by an SS soldier.

The soldier shouted and fired his rifle at Durisko from the hip, sending the bullet through Durisko's helmet and knocking him out.

Durisko survived and was taken prisoner by the Germans, first at "Stalag-2A-Neubrandenberg." There, he met other prisoners, including Americans, British paratroopers from Operation Market-Garden, French, Poles and Russians.

Even though a German soldier told Durisko "the war is over for you" upon his capture, there were still plenty of hardships inflicted upon the Allied prisoners.

At one point the Germans had a group of Russian civilians, including men, women, and children, dig a large trench next to the camp.

When they were finished, the Germans gunned them down and had the trench filled in, with some of the Russians still alive.

Eventually Durisko and about 60 others were sent by train to a location farther north toward the Baltic Sea, where the prisoners were kept in a former cantina surrounded by wire fences and made to work on railroads that were being bombed by the Allies.

Although the prison camp was located in a small village, the railroads led to a nearby U-boat facility and Peenemunde, where V-2 rockets were manufactured, he said.

For lunch, the soldiers were given ersatz coffee, which Durisko described as looking like burnt bread boiled in water; two slices of pumpernickel bread; and a tablespoon of marmalade.

By the time he was freed, Durisko said he'd gone from under 200 pounds to about 112.

"The bread tasted like it had very small bits of sand or gravel in it," he said. "They put it in there so it felt like it filled you up."

While working, temperatures could drop as low as 30 degrees below zero, and snowfall could be at least knee-deep at times.

Because the soldiers didn't have gloves, Durisko's hands froze, and he once dropped a railroad tie on one of his captor's hands when it slipped from Durisko's fingers.

Though the boss began shouting and wanted to shoot Durisko, a German guard nicknamed "Bumpy Neck" stepped between the two and told the boss, "You do not touch this man," saving Durisko's life.

Aside from the American aircraft that were sometimes seen bombing the trains and railroads, Durisko did briefly see a German jet fighter flying over some treetops before it started to "flip-flop" and crash.

Another time, the Germans withheld the POWs' boxes of food from the Red Cross, causing them to refuse to work. A German officer then arrived and threatened to shoot the prisoners if they didn't get to work.

After some negotiation, the German officer asked if the prisoners would work if he promised the food boxes would be there when the prisoners returned. The prisoners agreed, and the officer kept his word.

There were a few bright moments throughout Durisko's imprisonment, including a local woman in the village who sometimes gave the prisoners produce from her garden.

At Christmas, the woman's grandson, who was about 11, came to play songs for the prisoners on his accordion while the prisoners sang along.

To show their appreciation, the prisoners gave the boy their D-Bar chocolate bars, for which the boy was "very thankful."

After about eight months as a POW, Durisko said, the German guards asked the prisoners to grab anything they could carry, and the group left town on foot.

It turned out Soviet Army tanks had been spotted emerging from the woods about three miles away.

After walking for a day and night, the group arrived at a home being used to house British prisoners waiting for trucks to take them to Lubeck.

As the Americans spoke with the British, a Soviet tank came over the hill toward them. Bumpy Neck, the only remaining guard at this point, fled, and the Soviet tank fired a shot in his direction.

The Soviet tank crews were happy to meet Americans, and sent the prisoners to a Soviet outpost, where Durisko said there were tanks, trucks and women soldiers.

The Soviets offered the prisoners vodka, bread and sausage to eat. They later left for Lubeck, then on to Bremen Airport to start the long journey home.

Eventually Durisko returned to Farrell, where he surprised his family by returning home unannounced. A couple weeks after his homecoming, a postcard Durisko had written home when he was taken prisoner arrived in the mailbox.

"They had all of us POWs write postcards when they captured us so we could tell what happened," he said. "Here I was a prisoner for eight months, and I still came home before the postcard."

There were about 60 prisoners with Durisko's group, and he kept in touch with around 35 of them after the war, writing letters and even visiting them while on vacation.

Normally Durisko didn't bring up his experiences in the war except with his fellow veterans and a few family members. He also didn't speak at local schools or events, and still doesn't plan to, because of what happened.

"There's a lot of things that happened and a lot of memories to go through, and I'd rather not go through all of them," he said.

Even though he never sought attention for his actions, Durisko did end up receiving some commendations over the years, including the Medal of the Jubilee of Liberty, presented by former U.S. Rep. Phil English, and a certificate of recognition from the City of Conneaut, Ohio.

Aside from the American commendations Durisko has received, he was also presented with the Legion d'honneur, first established by Napoleon Bonaparte.

The award was presented to Durisko and three other veterans during a special ceremony in August of 2017, in Conneaut — the site of an annual D-Day reenactment.

Presenting the awards were Vincent Floreani, consul general of France, and a French servicewoman.

"It was hot, but it was really nice," he said. "They had a lady sing the French national anthem, and then they had another lady sing the American national anthem."

While he was appreciative of the award, Durisko was approached by a family afterward who wanted to ask him a "few questions," which Durisko said turned into a half-hour interview about his service.

That family sent him a book of photos from the event and still keep in touch, but Durisko said talking about his service with them also helped make it a little easier to share what happened.

"After that I started to open up a little bit more," he said.

Discussing his service can still be difficult, but Durisko did end up writing down the full story of his time in the Army, and has since had family members ask for copies.

"I must've went to get it copied a dozen times by now," he said.

Even though he doesn't normally seek attention for himself or what he went through, Durisko said it was important for people, especially younger people, to continue to remember those who served and gave their lives on occasions like Memorial Day.

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Like David L. Dye on Facebook or email him at ddye@sharonherald.com.

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