In the Press...

By Christopher Neely -

A Manasquan resident who was captured by the Nazis in WWII’s Battle of the Bulge in 1945 was awarded a rare military medal by a member of congress on Friday, Jan. 30.

Francis B. Hayes Jr., 89, of Manasquan, was awarded a Prisoner of War Medal by Congressman Christopher Smith [R-4] on Friday. Mr. Hayes served for the U.S. military during WWII and was held in a Nazi prison camp for months until being liberated in April 1945.

Congressman Smith welcomed Mr. Hayes and 16 of his family members, ranging from children to great grandchildren, to his Freehold office to present him with the medal almost exactly 70 years after Mr. Hayes was taken prisoner by the Nazi forces.

“It is a privilege to give the medal to such a great man, who did so much and never brought attention to himself,” Congressman Smith said. “It’s an honor to be in his presence.”

Mr. Hayes admitted he did not know the medal even existed until he heard about it while watching Jeopardy one night.

While his family members said he never cared much about medals, Mr. Hayes said he was happy to receive the honor in the presence of his family.

“I think it’s tremendous, I’m amazed,” Mr. Hayes said. “I thank Christopher Smith so much. It has been a pleasure getting all of my family together. 70 years is a long time, and you don’t talk about it too often. But when I think about it, I just think as long as I have such a wonderful family, that’s the main thing.”

THE FRANCIS B. HAYES JR. STORY

As Francis Hayes prepared for his first day of senior year at East Orange High School, unbeknownst to him, the United States government had decided on a different fate for the 18-year-old.

It was Sept. 3, 1943, when Mr. Hayes received a postcard from the U.S. government, informing him he would be helping the country and its allies defeat the Nazis in WWII. He had been officially drafted, and instead of reporting to homeroom for his first day of senior year, on Sept. 24, Mr. Hayes reported to Fort Dix. He received a uniform and was sent to Camp McCain in Mississippi for basic military training.

Mr. Hayes was on schedule to attend to the University of Maine for engineering, but the war began to escalate, and instead was redirected to Europe with Company B of the 301st Infantry Regiment of the 94th Infantry Division from Fort Benning, Georgia.

On Aug. 4, 1944, he boarded the Queen Elizabeth and sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe.

“The Queen Elizabeth was an extremely fast ship,” Mr. Hayes said. He remembered the ship having to cross the Atlantic in a zigzag pattern, switching its course every few minutes to avoid possible attacks from German U-Boats.

“There were so many soldiers on the boat, we had to eat standing up and slept in shifts,” Mr. Hayes said.

The trip across the Atlantic only took five days. The ship docked at Scotland on Aug. 11, 1944, and the troops were brought to southern England by way of train. From there, Mr. Hayes’ division was sent across the English Channel to France, landing at Utah Beach.

According to Mr. Hayes, Gen. George Patton’s armored divisions worked quickly to push the Germans back and out of France. Although these efforts were successful, the quick work of the division left pockets of Germans throughout France. Mr. Hayes’ division’s task was to basically hit any spots that Gen. Patton’s division missed.

By the end of December 1944 into January 1945, Mr. Hayes said his division was moved east across France by truck to the southern section of the Battle of the Bulge. In the Battle of the Bulge, the American forces were trying to break through the German line between France and Germany. Mr. Hayes’ company’s [Company B] job was to retake the German town of Orscholz.

“My company made it into town through heavy mine fields and very cold, snowy weather,” Mr. Hayes said. “We became completely cut off. Germans were all around us. We were neither able to pull back nor advance, and we were running out of ammunition. We were captured by the Germans and taken as prisoners of war on Jan. 21, 1945.”

Mr. Hayes said at the time he remembered reading about a massacre by the Germans near a steep embankment. He and his company were marched to a similar embankment and were convinced their fate would end up the same.

“Thank God it did not,” Mr. Hayes said.

According to Mr. Hayes, the officers and enlisted men were sent to separate prison camps. Mr. Hayes remembers being transported multiple times between prison camps in what were known as “40-and-eight” boxcars, which got their name because they could carry either 40 men or eight horses.

The reason for the constant moves between prison camps, according to Mr. Hayes, was because as the Germans continued to get pushed back, they needed to move their prison camps deeper into Germany.

As a POW, Mr. Hayes was given very little to eat and shared a bunk and one blanket with another prisoner during the cold German winter. Mr. Hayes said he still does not eat spinach because the Germans served grass soup during his imprisonment.

In the days approaching April 16, Mr. Hayes and the rest of the POWs at camp Stalag XII B in the northern section of Germany began to notice the amount of German guards was depleting. Eventually, the prisoners were completely abandoned by the guards and on April 16, troops from the British military liberated the prisoners from the camp.

Not long after being freed from the camp, Mr. Hayes was sent to Belgium, where he attempted to attend a United Service Organization [USO] show. The USO is a private nonprofit organization with the mission of providing support to troops through morale, welfare and recreation-type services. Mr. Hayes, light-heartedly, remembers being denied entry to the USO show following his liberation from the prison camp because he did not have a tie.

From Belgium, Mr. Hayes was flown to England, where he boarded a ship headed back to the United States in May 1945. His ship was in the last convoy of ships to be escorted back to the United States. Still extremely malnourished from months of imprisonment, Mr. Hayes volunteered for kitchen police [KP] on the ship. Although KP is one of the least desired positions to hold on a ship, he knew he would be able to eat more by being on the kitchen staff.

The ship docked and Mr. Hayes stayed in Atlantic City for a week of recuperation, as the U.S. armed forces took over a handful of hotels for returning soldiers to rest.

According to Mr. Hayes, although he spent months in a German prison camp, he did not have enough points to be discharged. The military sent him to Washington and Lee University in Virginia to study personnel services. Although the U.S. had claimed victory over the Nazis in Europe, there was still a war being fought against the Japanese in the Pacific. After a month, he was sent to Tourney General Hospital in Palm Springs, California, to assist returning soldiers with their records.

On Nov. 26, 1945, Mr. Hayes was honorably discharged from the military at Camp Haan, California.

“I hitchhiked by Air Force planes across the country from one military base to another to get back home in New Jersey,” Mr. Hayes said. By the end of his military career, Mr. Hayes achieved the rank of corporal.

THE POW MEDAL

The POW Medal has only officially existed for 30 years. Although its creation had been discussed since 1944, it was only authorized by Congress and singed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1985. The medal can be awarded to anyone who was a prisoner of war after April 5, 1917, which is the date of the United States’ entry into WWI.

“It’s a little late, but better late than never,” said Congressman Smith, who was the chairman of the Veterans Committee in the House of Representatives for four years. “Prisoners of war have given above and beyond to their country. All are heroes who have protected our freedoms.”

Congressman Smith also awarded six other military medals to Mr. Hayes on Friday: the American Campaign medal [honoring service in WWII], Army Good Conduct Medal [honoring three consecutive years of faithful service], WWII Victory Medal [honoring service in WWII], African/Middle Eastern Campaign Medal [honoring WWII service in North Africa and Middle East], Combat Infantryman Badge [honoring active ground combat as member of infantry] and the Marksman Badge with Rifle Bar [honoring completion of weapons qualification course].

“The POW Medals and the other medals are an important part of Mr. Hayes’ accomplishments, as well as the Hayes family history,” Congressman Smith said. “He served his country honorably. … I’m glad Mr. Hayes watches Jeopardy.”

This story was originally printed on Feb. 6, 2015 and published at: http://starnewsgroup.com/weekly/2015/02.05.15/squan_man__w_02.05.15_62031.html