Two Vancouver veterans who were captured by German soldiers during World War II will be special guests at Saturday’s local observance of National POW/MIA Recognition Day.
U.S. Army veterans Dale Bowlin and Gene Liggett will be on hand. Bowlin was taken prisoner on Feb. 21, 1945. Later that day, while in German custody, he was hit by artillery from his own unit and almost bled to death. He lost his left leg while in a German hospital. He was freed by a French army unit on April 23, 1945.
Liggett, a forward artillery observer, was captured by the Germans in September 1944. Liggett and four other soldiers escaped and reached American troops on May 6, 1945.
The program begins at 11 a.m. at the Armed Forces Reserve Center, 15005 N.E. 65th St., near Fourth Plain Boulevard and Ward Road in Orchards.
In the center’s assembly hall, the two veterans will display some mementos they brought back from the war in Europe. Bowlin’s keepsakes include a New Testament his parents gave him before he went to war. It was small enough to fit into a soldier’s breast pocket — and with a steel cover, the hope was that it could stop a bullet.
While it didn’t prevent his injury, Bowlin was glad he had the New Testament during his captivity.
“I read through it twice,” said Bowlin, who will be among Saturday’s speakers.
One of Liggett’s keepsakes is a helmet with a hole in it. A fragment from an artillery round penetrated the steel helmet as well as the inner liner before hitting a metal clip that held the headband and webbing. It fractured his skull and gave him a concussion. Liggett mailed the helmet home about four months before he was captured.
The annual event is held to honor and remember those who were prisoners of war and those who are missing in action, as well as their families.
Korean War MIA
That has turned out to be a timely subject. The remains of a soldier killed in the Korean War were recently returned to his Clark County family. Pfc. Billy Butz was killed in November 1950; a military forensic center identified his remains in April.
The Korean government has created a medal to honor America’s Korean War veterans. Two weeks ago, a local group of Korean War veterans presented the medal to Butz’s sister, Betty Hein, on behalf of the brother who was missing action for 66 years.
“That’s one reason we got into this,” said Harold Olson, a member of the Richard L. Quatier Chapter of the Korean War Veterans Association of Southwest Washington. “Never let them be forgotten.”
Saturday’s observance is organized by the Community Military Appreciation Committee, a nonprofit civic nonprofit group that holds community events and recognizes and supports military families. There also will be a 9:45 a.m. reception.
