APPOMATTOX, Va.
(WDBJ)
Dog tags hang framed inside the home of Lawrence
Clements. The World War II veteran looks through
a binder of documents and remembers his time
during the war. �In August of �44, we sailed for
the ocean blue,� said Clements. Clements was
drafted into the Army�s 106th infantry division
in 1944.
He was taken to
Belgium and called out one December night near
St. Vith to scope out the scene. He then heard
something that would change his life for months.
�I went to find out what I could and I heard
them coming... at least I heard this noise and I
said, �well they�s Germans,�� said Clements.
Clements was captured alongside others by German
forces just as the Battle of the Bulge began.
He spent several
cold months being trekked to multiple prisoner
of war camps. He and others were held at a camp
in Limburg (Stalag XII-A) until it was destroyed
by Allied bombing. In April 1945, Allied forces
rescued him at Luckenwalde and helped him
recover from ailments such as malnutrition and a
fever. �The next day they sent me to the 195th
general hospital in Paris right beside the
Eiffel Tower,� said Clements. Although Clements
didn�t climb the tower, he did climb into a boat
to come home.
And at 95 years
young, he still remembers everything like he�s
19.
Copyright 2020
WDBJ. All rights reserved.
Page last revised
12/23/2020