3 FREED FROM NAZI PRISONS
More Glad News Comes to Dubuqueland Families
More good news has been received by Dubuqueland families, for it was reported Thursday that three servicemen, Pfc. Ralph J. Schetgen and Pfc. William Weber, of Dubuque, and Pvt. William Schilling, East Dubuque, all of whom were German prisoners, are once again under allied military control.
[excerpt]
Mrs. Matilda Weber, 1103 ½ Iowa street, learned in March that her son, Pfc. William Weber, who had been listed as missing since last December, had been captured by the Nazis. She received a war department telegram and a letter from the soldier Thursday telling of his liberation.
“I am now in the 195th general hospital in France, and it certainly feels good to be in American hands again,” he wrote. “The Yanks freed us April 2, and although I can promise nothing, I think I'll be home soon.”
Pfc. Weber also told his mother he was completely happy after his release, and he made himself feel even better by “having a good cry”.
He has been wounded in action twice. Last July 26 he was injured in France, and was hurt again last October. Pfc. Weber was with Patton's Third army when he was lost.
Source: Dubuque Telegraph Herald, April 26, 1945 pg 1, col 7
