Herman Zerger, a World War II veteran and former POW (prisoner of war) is one of the most outstanding, unusual people you could ever meet.
His military years are marked with tremendous selfless service and sacrifice. During WWII in 1942, Herman enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as a Platoon Sergeant with Rifle Co. I, 141st Infantry, 36th Infantry Division. As a young man, 18 years old, he fought 300 days on the front line in 31 battles in both Italy and France. He received a Bronze Star for valor after he took out a German tank that had his small company pinned down. He cast his first vote (for Franklin Delano Roosevelt) from a foxhole facing the Germans before being taken as a prisoner on Feb. 3, 1945 by the SS troops, Hilter’s elite, the same day sniper and mortar fire pinned down his unit. As a POW, he lived on grass soup infested with bugs, inadequate clothing, unheated and rat-infested quarters with very primitive sanitation and no medical care. Torture was commonplace. He suffered from malnutrition and frozen feet, handling metal railroad rails with no gloves, pulling the skin and flesh right off his hands and fingers. And yet, he would do it again for his country. He returned home in May 1945, weighing in at 100 pounds. Later, his unit was presented with the prestigious Presidential Unit Citation, the highest award given to a combat unit.
Herman is a true veteran to be remembered… ALWAYS!
