2021 Memorial Message
106th Infantry Division Association
Chaplain, Rev. Chris Edmonds
September 11, 2021
In memory of those members of the 106th that have passed away since our last Memorial Service:
...proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. Leviticus 25:10
On an early summer day in 1962, at our oldest Army post, General Douglas MacArthur, stood to cheers from West Point cadets after delivering his famous speech, "Duty, Honor, Country".
The General proclaimed, "Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying points: to build courage when courage seems to fail; to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith; to create hope when hope becomes forlorn."
Duty, honor, country: this is the song of America.
A sure melody sung by our brave men and women in the military. It is the call of their hearts, the cadence of their march, the crescendo of their courage, the clear sound of their citizenship.
From the village green of Lexington to the dangerous streets of Kabul, many have joined the song. Young people from every hillside, hamlet, and home; young people who love America.
Their hallowed voices lift the chorus of sweet freedom’s song.
My country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims' pride,
From ev'ry mountainside
Let freedom ring!
Their heroic lives deserve our enduring love.
We are blessed by their melody. A song they sing as soldiers. A canon they raise as citizens: duty, honor, country.
We are especially blessed by the men of the 106th Infantry. Soldiers who lifted freedom’s strain in the sweat stained soil of Atterbury and the blood-stained snow of the Ardennes. They fought because of duty. They fought on because of courage. They fought with every ounce of their being because of love for country.
My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,
Thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills;
My heart with rapture thrills,
Like that above.
Duty rallied them to fight like a lion against the onslaught of evil. Courage sustained them to fight on when all seemed lost. Love of country and countrymen summoned their faith in God’s goodness when there was little cause for faith. Their collective will ignited hope when hope seemed forlorn.
Despite the hell of bloody mortars, despite the crush of mighty Panzers, despite the rush of enemy hordes, our brave boys filled the frozen forests with the joyous sounds of liberty to win the day.
Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees
Sweet freedom's song;
Let mortal tongues awake;
Let all that breathe partake;
Let rocks their silence break,
The sound prolong.
In this holy moment, as we pause to remember our 106th heroes no longer with us, who now sing in the heavenlies, may we honor them by joining their refrain: duty, honor, country.
Far too many gave their full devotion “over there”. They are heroes.
Many more somehow survived the Wehrmacht, weather, wounds, and week after week of little food as POW’s to make it back home. They are heroes.
Remember Tech Sergeant Henry Hank Freedman of the 422nd Headquarters Company A, a wiry and winsome Jewish kid from Boston. A longtime supporter of the 106th Association, he was a good soldier and a friend to all.
Hank grew up with Yiddish as his first language, an invaluable resource against the German enemy. As a POW, Hank deciphered Nazi conversations giving our freedom loving boys lifesaving information during capture and at Stalags IXB and IXA.
After liberation, Hank didn’t make the trip to Camp Lucky Strike with the other GIs but instead, was taken to a “proper”—permanent—hospital. At five feet five, he weighed less than 110 pounds and would ultimately spend three weeks near death in the hospital in Rouen and then another week recovering in a hospital in Paris.
Hank recalled how his grandmother who had raised him fainted when he telephoned her from New York City on May 8, 1945—V-E Day—to say that he was home after he’d spent ninety-eight days in German POW camps.
Hank’s miraculous survival allowed him to return home, marry his “lovely” Betty, raise a family, become a dapper dresser and dancer, and enjoy a successful business career as a buyer for Rich’s department store in Atlanta. A cancer survivor, he was married for fifty-one years to Betty, the “love of his life”, until her death in 2004.
Hank inspired many people along the way with his vibrant Christian faith and his love for the bible and prayer. Hank passed away peacefully in Georgia at the age of 99 on Saturday May 16, 2021 surrounded by his loving family.
Never forget Henry Hank Freedman, 422nd/HQ/A.
Remember Ralph J. Nelson, Private First Class, 422nd Cannon Company, a bright kid from Moline, Illinois. After graduating from Rock Island High School in 1943, he was drafted into the Army. Later he was assigned to the 106th and sent to defend American lines in the dense forests of the Ardennes.
It was quiet and peaceful there, idyllic like a winter wonderland, until December 16, 1944. At 0530 hours, the frozen earth around Private Nelson erupted: hell appeared like a ghost in the forest. In an instant, pine trees exploded into deadly wooden spikes. The frigid air turned fiery red. Blood and bone mingled with chunks of thawing debris. After valiant fighting, he and thousands of young Americans were taken prisoner by German forces too many to number.
Ralph and the others were force marched without food and water for days then loaded on to trains, standing room only. On Christmas day, after five days crammed in boxcars, his train of starving POWs finally stopped in a small town. The doors flew open, and armed Wehrmacht troops shouted, “Raus! Schnell!” Ralph fell out of the railcar, his limbs freezing, barely able to stand.
The train had stopped short of the depot. In a “deliberate attempt at dehumanization” by the Germans, Ralph and his brave buddies were forced to march into the town. In a long, snaking line, they marched past the three-story red-stone station house. A clocktower rose from the middle of its roof peak. Over the main entrance, a large sign with black letters identified the station as Bad Orb.
Bad Orb, also known as Stalag IXB, was a notorious Nazi POW camp near Frankfurt, Germany. Conditions in this camp were terrible. Stalag IXB ranks as one of the worst German camps that held Americans.
On Monday April 2, 1945, an American task force broke through the German lines, and drove north 37 miles through enemy held territory to Bad Orb, and liberated Stalag IXB. Ralph had suffered there more than 100 days. Freedom never felt so good.
Ralph returned home to Rock Island where he completed his undergraduate education and went onto to receive a degree in Dentistry. He married his beautiful bride Rhoda and they moved to Los Alamos, New Mexico where he developed a thriving dentistry and raised a family.
Dr. Ralph was a 40-year member of the American Dental Association, the Kiwanis Club of Los Alamos, the American Ex-Prisoners of War, and a Board Member of our own 106th Association. He enjoyed the outdoors and was an avid bird watcher. Above all, Ralph was a man of faith who loved his family.
Dr. Ralph J. Nelson, age 95, passed away in Albuquerque on Tuesday, November 10, 2020, surrounded by his loving wife of 71 years and his beloved family.
Never forget Dr. Ralph J. Nelson, 422nd Canon Company.
More than twenty-five of our 106th warriors have left us since our last memorial. We are remiss in not sharing each of their indelible stories. Extraordinary Americans like PFC Harry F. Martin, Jr, 2nd Lieutenant John R. Prell, and PFC John R. Schaffner. Great men who gave us greater lives. Their memories remain steadfast and treasured by all of us.
Take a few moments to remember all our heroes of the 106th. They deserve our undivided attention and devoted admiration. They stood against evil and helped save our world. They stood for duty, honor, country—and our freedom. Look up their experience, reflect on their lives, and thank God for them.
Every breath of free air we breathe, every cup of fresh coffee we taste, every moment with loving family we enjoy, and every liberty we are blessed to experience is because of them.
Duty, honor, country are more than words. They are enduring values of freedom. Values lived by our heroes of the 106th before, during, and after the war.
I pray their values are your values.
I pray we follow their footsteps.
I pray we will ask God for the courage to live with duty, honor, and country.
I pray we inspire future generations like the Greatest Generation inspires us.
I pray millions will join us in freedom’s refrain as we “proclaim liberty throughout all the land.”
Our fathers' God to Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing.
Long may our land be bright,
With freedom's holy light,
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God our King!