WW2 POW information request

My great uncle's tombstone inscription indicates he was a WW2 Army POW, but I am not aware of any details, possibly during the battle of the bulge. Looking for any information anyone may have. His name was William A Minnick.

 

The only possibility appears to be William A. Minnick Jr. was a Private First Class in the Army during World War II. William resided in Elk County, Pennsylvania before enlisting on February 16, 1943. At the time of enlistment, William was 20 years old, had 2 years of high school education and was single, without dependents. One year later, William was captured by Nazi Germany while serving in France, and was sent to Stalag 12A to 9B near Limburg An Der Lahn, Prussia where 4,339 other American POWs were held. William's capture was first reported to the International Committee of the Red Cross on November 27, 1944, and the last report was made on June 4, 1945. Based on these two reports, William was imprisoned for at least 189 days (~7 months). The average duration of imprisonment was 363 days. Ultimately, William was returned to military control, liberated or repatriated. William A. Minnick Jr., Private First Class, Army However, it gives his birth year as 1923 rather than 1924 as on the tombstone. Do you have any additional information? Where he was born? Birth date? Etc.?

 

Sorry, no, here is the correct one.

William A. Minnick, 90, of 181 Lynch Road, St. Marys, passed away Friday, August 8, 2014, at the Highland View Health Care in Brockway.

He was born June 28, 1924 in St. Marys, son of the late William and Adeline Cannon Minnick. He was a lifelong resident of the area and attended St. Marys public schools. He was a retired employee of Stackpole Carbon Company, retiring in 1987 after 37 years of service.

On August 8, 1945 in the St. Mary’s Church, he married Arlene M. Lenze, who survives. He is also survived by three sons, David W. Minnick and his wife Sandy of Sharon, Robert A. Minnick and his wife Katherine of St. Marys, and Ronald J. Minnick and his wife Mary of Wellsboro, PA; three grandchildren, Timothy Minnick, Gregg Minnick, and Megan Klingensmith; nine great grandchildren; and one sister, Rita Minnick of 29 Palms, CA.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by a grandson, Matthew Minnick; and nine sisters, Julie Schreiber, Gertrude Cheatle, Rose Stauffer, Anna Bobenrieth, Viola Curry, Genevieve McBride, Mary Smith, Adeline Lenze and a sister Helen Minnick who died in childhood.

Mr. Minnick was a member of the St. Mary’s Church. He was a veteran of the US Army, serving in WWII in the European Theater, was a Prisoner of War, and was a Purple Heart recipient. He was a member of the St. Joseph’s Society, the American Legion, and the Disabled American Veterans.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated in the St. Mary’s Church on Monday, August 11, 2014 at 11:00 AM, with the Rev. Eric Vogt, OSB, officiating. Full military rites will be accorded by the St. Marys Servicemen’s Burial Detail. Burial will be in the St. Mary’s Cemetery.

Visitation is at the Lynch-Radkowski Funeral Home on Monday morning from 9:30 until 10:30 AM.

Memorials, if desired, may be made to the St. Mary’s Church, 325 Church Street, St. Marys, PA 15857; the Elk County Catholic School System, 600 Maurus Street, St. Marys, PA 15857; or the Rides 4 Vets, PO Box 70, Ridgway, PA 15853. William A. Minnick

 

He was a longtime resident of St Marys PA(Elk County). The second post information is correct with respect to Family and surviving relatives. You will note Lenze Family grave markers in the Tombstone Pic background. Not sure the issue with birth date. Is there any additional details of the activity in the area he was captured?

 

Unfortunately, there are no other Minnick's listed as POW in the NARA database. The only other William A Minnick with an Army enlistment record was from Oregon, was born in 1924, but was not drafted until May 1945, so was unlikely to be a German POW.

 

Okay, sometimes the year codes got scrambled. Your best bet would be to check with Elk County for their records of World War II veterans. They often filed copies of their separation papers with the county when they were discharged. That may give additional information on his actual date of capture (Red Cross reporting was often weeks, months, or even years after the actual capture date). Unfortunately, it appears the individual paper records of Recovered Allied Military Personnel - they actual individual reports - were not retained. The only record I know of is the NARA AAD Record NARA - AAD - Fielded Search - World War II Prisoners of War Data File, 12/7/1941 - 11/19/1946 that provided the information in my first post.

 

Shannon, I just sent in a request form for my great grandfather's, your great uncle's information, to the National Military Personnel Archives in St. Louis. I do not know how successful it will be, due to the 1973 fire, but I hope to find out more and later on, hopefully, get some reproduction medals for the ones that I do not have.