In late February1943, a fierce WWII battle was fought at the Kasserine Pass in Tunisia in North Africa. Among the U.S. soldiers in the battle, which Allied Forces lost, were Greene County members of the 34th Infantry Division of the Iowa National Guard who had been activated in 1942. They were captured by German Field Marshall Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps and sent to prison camps in Germany and Poland where they spent the rest of the war.
Their “long road home” is the topic of a Friday, Nov. 6, Greene County Historical Society program at the Scranton Methodist Church, 1000 Lincoln St.
Sue Wilcox Richardson of Jefferson, the daughter of late POW Capt. Lumund Wilcox, who commanded the Greene County contingent, will recall the stories the men told about their imprisonment when they finally got home and picked up their lives in 1945. The 12:45 p.m. program follows a noon lunch prepared by Methodist Church congregants. To reserve a seat at the table, call 515-370-4799 Cost is $12.
