WWII vet buoyed by liberation

BY ROBERT L. BAKER

Wyoming County Press Examiner

AUBURN TWP. - It's a long way from Beaumont to Berlin, but for Ralph Richards, the end of World War II couldn't get there soon enough, and the memories are still haunting.

He noted that some call his the ‘greatest generation,' but Richards, now 85, said he feels that it was just doing what the country called it to do, and he expects no less from this one.

The 1941 graduate of Beaumont High School and now a resident of Auburn Township, said he did his basic training at Fort Bragg, N.C., in 1942, and was transferred to Camp Campbell, Ky., where he became attached to the 14^th Armored Division.

Following the D-Day invasion earlier in the year, Richards' unit landed in southern France in September 1944, and kept focused on moving its armored brigade across the country and into Germany until the war was over.

He served in the military police, first with weapons command but later with helping keep under control prisoners of war the unit picked up.

At the time of V-E (Victory in Europe) Day on May 8, 1945, "We had about 3,500 prisoners we were taking care of, from age 15 up to old men."

He said his unit was under Gen. George Patton's command, and "He (Patton) was rough. But, if you were doing your job you were left alone. If you messed up, he knew it, and you didn't soon forget it."

He recalled that a couple of weeks shy of V-E Day, his was one of many American units that went in and helped liberate Stalag 6 or 7 that had 120,000 allied prisoners including Gen. Patton's son.

With tears in his voice, he recalled the scenes where everyone was crying, "including nearly all of our toughest guys."

He added, "But it was not just the American prisoners who moved you emotionally, it was everyone. There was- and is- something so sacred about regaining your freedom and hope."

Trying to explain what it was like later entering concentration camps at Dachau and Buchenwald, Richards said simply, "It still isn't easy to talk about."

"If you knew that one of my best friends died in my arms before a medic could get there, than maybe you could understand my pain from war," he said, "and the pain I've carried with me all these years."

It was a far cry from the joy he also felt on New Year's Eve of 1946 as he rejoined his wife, Julia, at Fort Monmouth, N.J., where he was honorably discharged.

He became a letter carrier in New Jersey and came back to the area in 1987 when he and his wife retired.

Asked if he was a hero of what some contemporary historians have called "the greatest generation," Richards said, "I don't consider myself better than anyone else. We liberated people whom I guess might not have been if we didn't show up."

He talked of Beaumont schoolmates such as Joe Rusinko, Lawrence Gavek and Clifford Nulton who served elsewhere in the war and never returned, and somehow felt that he had been covered by a special hand of protection.

Although his wife died in 2002, he lives near his daughter Doris now and admits he's had some difficulty talking about his war experiences. He said he has a grandson now in tenth grade and he reluctantly tries to answer his questions.

But then, he wonders aloud, "If we don't talk about it, who will?"