“Dec. 20, 1944 — Marched 7 miles to collection point. 1 cup of coffee and sack of Hardtack.”
“Dec. 21, 1944 — Marched 30 miles. Nothing to eat at all.”
“Dec. 22, 1944 to Dec. 25, 1944 — Stayed in barn, was given some boiled potatoes in last day. Strafed and bombed.”
“Dec. 26, 1944 — March to Bitburg, 40 kilos. Slept in bombed-out garage.”
The diary — fragile and worn with age — is now in the possession of Lightell’s sister, Eleanor Watson of New Philadelphia, who keeps it preserved, along with letters he wrote home from the service.
The diary tells of the hardships Lightell endured as a POW in the waning days of World War II in Europe.
Lightell was born April 24, 1924, in Freeport, a son of Scott and Margaret Lightell. The family moved to Dover in 1931 when his father got a job at Reeves Steel. They lived in a company house in the “Tin Town” section on the south side of Dover. The Lightells moved to New Philadelphia in 1936.
Lightell quit school at age 16 and went to work at the Belmont Enameling Co. in New Philadelphia. He entered the Army on March 22, 1943, serving as a medic in Company I, 109th Infantry Regiment of the 28th Division.
In December 1944, the 28th Division held a 25-mile-long sector — three times the area an infantry division normally would be expected to defend — in the Ardennes forest of Luxembourg following its bloody involvement in the Battle of the Hurtgen Forest. Allied commanders considered the Ardennes to be a quiet sector on the western front.
On Dec. 10, Lightell wrote a three-page letter home to his mother. It made no mention of the war.
“Just writing you a few lines to let you know I am well and sure hope this letter finds you the same,” he wrote. “Just writing you these few lines to let you know I had some pictures taken and am sending you a couple of them.”
It was the last letter Margaret Lightell received from her son.
On Dec. 16, the Germans launched a massive offensive through the lightly defended Ardennes, hoping to drive to the English Channel and split Allied forces in two.
The 28th Division, though heavily outnumbered, was able to throw off the German’s timetable through stubborn resistance and helped the Allies win what became known as the Battle of the Bulge.
Lightell was captured on the second day of the offensive, Dec. 17.
Days later, his family learned of his fate. “Two officers came to our house to tell us he was missing in action,” Watson recalled.
During his four months of captivity, Lightell endured skimpy food rations as he and his fellow POWs were marched around Germany during one of the coldest winters on record. The diary says that on some days in February and March, he walked as much as 32 miles in a day.
“They marched the prisoners because they didn’t know where to put them,” Watson said.
Her brother suffered frostbite to his hands, ears and feet.
His biggest frustration was that the Germans wouldn’t allow him to help his fellow prisoners, even though he was a medic. So he finally buried his medic’s arm band.
On April 13, 1945, Lightell was liberated while being held in a German stalag, or prison camp, in Braunschweig, Germany.
He wrote in his diary on April 15, 1945 – “In officer Stalag having a good time hunting for sausage. Eating so much I am sick in the stomach.”
“April 16, 1945 – Washed up and took a shower and sure do feel good. The first shower in months.”
Lightell returned to New Philadelphia after the war. “He never talked about his service,” Watson said.
But he suffered nightmares because of his experiences in combat. He moved frequently, living for awhile in Las Vegas, where he helped to build the Stardust casino. He also worked as an ironworker at the Mercury space program test site.
He died Dec. 15, 1995, at a Veterans Administration hospital in California at age 71.