Paul Peterson, b. 1924
Paul Peterson was born 1 June 1924 in
Minneapolis, MN. The oldest child of parents of Swedish and Norwegian
ancestry, Paul grew up in Minneapolis and graduated from Central High School in
1942. Following high school Paul
attended the University of Minnesota before being drafted into the US Army in
May 1943.
After
basic training at Camp Wheeler, GA, Paul had additional schooling at the
University of Alabama until early 1944; he then was assigned as a scout/observer
to the 422nd Regiment, 106th Infantry Division and in
September 1944 shipped out to Europe. Sent
to the line near St Vith, Belgium, Paul’s unit was overrun by the German
offensive in December 1944, and with hundreds of other he was captured by the
Germans on 21 December 1944.
Paul
spent the next four months as a POW in Germany, at camps IV-B (Mühlberg),
VIII-A (Görlitz) and, after a 32-day march, XI-B (Fallingbostel).
Conditions steadily worsened, and hunger and disease claimed the lives of
many. Paul was finally liberated
when advancing British troops overran camp XI-B on 16 April 1945. Paul was evacuated to hospital, first in England and then to
the US; he spent the time until his discharge in March 1946 in various medical
facilities. During this time Paul
was married (wife Florence) and made plans for life after the military.
Again
a civilian, Paul returned to Minneapolis, used GI Bill benefits to graduate from the University (class
of ’51), and remained ten years as an instructor in Speech and Theatre Arts. He switched careers in the mid-1960s, becoming a Lutheran
minister, first in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod and after 1978 in the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
Paul retired in 1991.
Biographical
information and all interview content © Thomas Saylor, 2001-02
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