Original Item: One-of-a-kind Set. Sergeant Harry Plisevich ASN 15377623 on D-Day he was platoon sergeant for 3rd Platoon, H Company, 3rd Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. He jumped on D-Day June 6th, 1944 and it was on that day he also performed heroic actions resulting in a Bronze Star. The C-47, from which he jumped, never returned and initial reports indicating that Sgt. Plisevich was believed to me Missing in Action which can be confirmed at this link. He was not in fact missing and went on to fight throughput the Normandy campaign later returning to England in preparation for operation Market Garden. He jumped into Holland for Market Garden then onto the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes forest in Bastogne Belgium where, on January 3rd, 1945 he was wounded (for which he was awarded a Purple Heart) then captured by a German Tank crew. He treated in a German field hospital then held as a prisoner of war at first at Stalag XIIA to IXB near Limburg An Der Lahn, Prussia until he was liberated in April 1945. Other items that belonged to can be found on the "D-Day Story" website at this link. Furthermore, a wonderful detailed interview with Sergeant  Harry Plisevich about his WWII experience was conducted on September 12, 2001 by Tom Swope of the Veterans History Project which can be found at this link and read in parts below.

CITATION FOR THE BRONZE STAR MEDAL
Corporal Harry Plisevich, 15377623, Parachute Infantry, United States Army, for heroic achievement in action. On 16 June 1944, the company of which Corporal Plisevich was an assistant squad leader, had the mission of pushing back a strong enemy road block. His platoon, the assault platoon of the company, was pinned down by heavy enemy machine gun, mortar, and artillery fire from commanding ground. Corporal Plisevich voluntarily crawled forward approximately 45 yards, although exposed to enemy observation and heavy automatic weapons fire, and located a position from which he could employ his rifle grenade against enemy machine gun positions. His action forced the machine guns which had pinned down his platoon to withdraw making it possible for his company to disengage without suffering heavy casualties. His actions were in accordance with the highest standards of the military service. Entered military service from Ohio.

RICHARD D. BUSH
Capt, FA
AGF Liaison Officer
SEAL: 101st A/B Div


14 November 1944
I saw a little flak and tracers to the rear of the plane after we stood up to jump. Everything was normal but after standing up ready to go there was a delay in getting out due to a broken reserve on the number 7 man. We were told that we would be a little south of our DZ and we should jump immediately when the green light came on. To my knowledge the plane was still intact. After I landed I saw one lone C47 over head same 10 or 15 minutes later. I never saw my jump plane after I jumped because I was tangled up in my suspension lines after landing.

Harry Plisevich,
15 377 623
Sgt. Co "H"
 
Sworn to and subscribed before me this 14th day of November 1944
RICHARD ENGELS 1st Lt. Inf., Adjutant.

Included in the incredible set are the following pieces:

- Sgt. Plisevich's original WWII issue size 40R M42 Jump Jacket in Olive Drab #3 offered in very good condition. The coat consists of four front patch pockets with two button snaps on each, along with a unique dual-zippered knife pocket located on the upper lapel which was designed to contain a switchblade pocketknife, used to cut the parachute rigging if entangled. The left shoulder bears an original 101st Airborne patch. The inside lining is stenciled with black ink in Plisevich's laundry number P7523. Note that the laundry number should have a 6 in third position but it is a 5, these numbers were hand stenciled into jackets and mistakes were frequent. Due to the somewhat fragile nature of the uniform the M42 was often reinforced with thicker, tougher canvas on the elbows, crotch and knees. However, this example was never reinforced. The M42 was mostly worn by Paratroops assigned to Airborne units. The M42 was eventually phased out in favor of the M1943 Uniform which was a darker green, OD #7. Despite this, various individuals chose to keep their M42s in order to show their veteran status.

- Original Bronze Star Medal engraved on the reverse Harry Plisevich.

- Original Purple Hear Medal engraved on the reverse Harry Plisevich.

- Original Overseas Garrison Cap with Paratrooper/Glider Patch, size 7 3/8 with leather sweatband and blue satin interior lining and Allied Airborne enamel Distinctive Unit Insignia pin.

- Original unattached 501st PIR GERONIMO insignia patch.

- Original unattached 501st PIR embroidered Paratrooper Wings jump oval.

- Original 501st PIR GERONIMO enamel Distinctive Unit Insignia pin.

- Original Overseas Garrison Cap Paratrooper Insignia patch.

- Original unattached 101st Airborne insignia patch.

- Original unattached Allied Airborne insignia patch.

- Original Combat Infantryman Badge.

- Original captured German Swas armband.

- Original captured German mine flag.

- Original U.S. WWII Paratrooper T5 parachute ripcord handle.

- Various medal ribbon bars and army of occupation medal.

- Copy of Bronze Star Citation.

- Copy of witness account of missing C-47

- Copy of Purple Heart Citation.

- Copies of Multiple wartime photos

- Copies of other wartime documents.

- Original Bastogne Nuts Bronze Plaque. To commemorate the siege of Bastogne during the famous Battle of the Bulge some brass plaques were made by a foundry in Couvin, Belgium. The basic design features two giant military figures towering above a Bastogne city view. The figure on the right is a German soldier offering surrender terms to American General McAuliffe depicted as a typical American with his hands in his pockets. McAulliffe as we all know eventually replied “Nuts” to the puzzled Germans. That famous word “Nuts” is displayed between the two figures below the “Screaming Eagle” patch of the 101st Airborne division. This example is known as the "type III version" and is much more refined and octagonal in shape than other versions. Just who made these plaques remains a mystery. Reportedly they were made by casting the brass from the old shell casings left over from the battle. Some veterans claim that these plaques were awarded to them for their service in the battle. If so these plaques were presented by grateful village officials or civilians to any random GI’s that were available at the moment.

A wonderful long interview with Sergeant Interview with Harry Plisevich was done on September 12, 2001 by Tom Swope of the Veterans History Project which can be found at this link and read in parts below.

Tom Swope:

    This is the oral history of World War II Veteran Harry Plisevich. Harry served in the U.S. Army with the 101st Airborne. He served in the European Theater, and he is a veteran of D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge. Harry's highest rank was sergeant. I'm Tom Swope, and this recording was made at Mr. Plisevich's home in Newberry, Ohio, on September 12th, 2001. Harry was 78 at the time of this recording. Well, tell me about D-Day then.

Harry Plisevich:

    Okay. D-Day. Oh, I was going to say Leonard and I teamed up. Okay. And I didn't want to know the rest of the guys because I was going to feel bad if they didn't come back and this and that, and so Leonard and I were just two good buddies. In fact, I have a list -- this guy I just talked to -- told you a couple of months ago came from Kentucky and wanted to know all about the D-Day, he had his nephew or somebody, and so he was -- he was here. He was talking to me, and that's when I remembered Leonard and I were -- he had a list of all the guys on the plane that I jumped out of, and there were names -- they were very familiar names, but, you know, I don't exactly remember them being on the plane, because again, I locked my mind on just Leonard and I and the rest of -- were going to do the (?hole?)all by ourselves, you know. So then when somebody got killed and stuff like that, I felt bad, of course, but I wasn't that tight closely knit to them. And Leonard -- Leonard and I were together in Holland after D-Day, that Bridge Too Far in Holland, and that was something. The -- flat like this floor is, just flat. I remember that. And walking on patrol, and the British were in reserve for us. We were spearheading trying to keep that highway clean, and I figured out, according to history, the Siegfried Line and -- and the Americans were here, British, and Americans were here, and the Germans were all over there, and if we went this way, we'd get around that Siegfried Line, and then we'd be on our way to Berlin -- I mean on our way to -- yeah, Berlin. And that was the strategy, but I remember the British. They stopped for tea all the time so you couldn't count on them. They had a wonderful artillery that -- if there was a house over there and somebody in there, then you'd call for artillery and they'd come in there and knock that house right off and come right real close to where we were, and that's the only good thing I can say about the British. Their infantry or the rest of the Army didn't do anything for us and -- because we had to wait for them -- we -- they -- they prolonged the war. I think the strategy there is we could have won the war earlier if they -- if they -- where we were and if the British moved up a little faster, they could have made it around _____+ where we were. And I -- I blame the British for that. And then after that, we were there an awful long time and they put us on trucks and were taking us back to camp and that's -- and we were getting back into the regular routine, Army life, playing -- playing baseball and volleyball and stuff like that, and getting our equipment replaced, shirts and stuff like that, and all of a sudden they alerted us that we'd get on trucks and we were going to go. We didn't know where we were going, but they -- some of the Germans were getting too close or something. It was unknown at that time. So we got on these trucks, and I remember the trucks. They were those big cattle trucks, and they were -- not a regular truck. It's an extra long truck. And we're on the truck, and we're just driving and driving. We didn't know where we were going. And it wouldn't stop for anything, so we had to -- had to go -- had to pee, so you got a bazooka and shoved that over the side of the truck and took a leak and that way nobody got splashed, and that -- I remember that. Then we drove and drove and finally when -- Bastogne is where we were going, to Bastogne, got off the truck. Some guys didn't have weapons or boots, galoshes. You hear some people call them galoshes. And then we just got -- we got off and we were just moving out there, and I remember Lieutenant saying, "Plis, you go down -- down the road until you're fired on and come back and report the strength." I -- okay, you know, here we go. So I went down the road, and -- and that's the introduction to Bastogne. And Bastogne, that was -- that was bad. The weather got bad. Snow started coming. And then we bumped into some tanks, something -- not that we bumped into, but a tank showed up, and then we could crawl up -- not crawl up, but walked up there and hugged the tank because it got a lot of heat from that engine and that was a lot of warmth. Enjoyed that. And then talking to the guys. So what was happening, they were using this tank as -- as a heavy weapon against the Germans, and I just remember it being nice and warm, but that was -- that was the strength there. And they kept moving the tank from one area to another area and that's where AH made his big mistake. If they would have kept hitting us, then it would have wiped us out because when we -- in one battle, we were -- I was a sergeant at that time, and my platoon had -- had -- I don't know how many rounds, maybe four rounds or six rounds of bazookas and -- and very -- we had a very nominal amount left, but then they went and -- the Germans went and attacked the other side. And so then we were spared and able to catch our breath or whatever. And then I remember when the American planes came. The -- the weather broke through and American planes came, and I remember watching them. And just before that, I had to move my bowels, and I dropped my pants and, you know, with your shirt and your sweater and a jacket and then your pants, then your -- I had to dig a little foxhole or something and all the sudden, the sun came out and the American -- somebody -- a German sniper was trying to shoot at me, so I hid in the (?dam?) In a hurry and I think I never finished that bowel movement. Never. I remember just, you know, moving out. Just getting up, grabbing stuff and running and hiding behind a thing, got my stuff together. And then the Americans came, and it was a beautiful sight. P47s. And I -- my favorite was a P38, but those big-bellied P47s came there, and, boy, that was nice to see. And then after that the war changed. And then we were -- we were doing fine and all of a sudden, there was another -- we were beating -- that was pretty well done, and there was a sign of Germans going to counterattack after this battle, so we were supposed to go down the road and -- up the road, rather, and see if we can break up that party that they had over there. So we went over there, and they -- and we got in a pretty good fight. Then we -- I remember talking -- we passed I Company. I Company was sitting on the road in reserve, and we went past them, and we were up front, way in the front of the front, and -- and -- and -- and they were hitting us pretty hard. And I remember we didn't have -- we had a -- a medic. We used him for a runner. Well, he was busy. Somebody got wounded, and they were yelling for him, and the lieutenant wasn't there. That's another story about the lieutenant. He -- anyhow, so I was in charge, and I decided we better get some help, and I Company was -- should -- I wanted to go back to I Company and tell them to come up and give us a hand. So I ran back there, and colonel somebody was there, and I told him that we needed help, there was a German -- I says, "There was -- was a German tank over there. I could see them or hear them." And he said, "Oh, there's no German tanks in this area, go back and report to your command." So then I left and when I went running back to where we were going to go and I went and turned here and that was a little bit too soon. I should have waited and turned over here. And all of a sudden -- all of a sudden, there's a guy in a tank with a rifle and he's pointing it right at me. I ran into a -- the whole German Army, and that's how I got caught. Oh, before that, there was a bomb crater and some guys were in a bomb crater, Americans. And I think this kid -- a shell must have went in a bomb crater and exploded and it pushed his diaphragm in, and he was really hurting. He was moaning and groaning and there was no wound or nothing. It pushed his diaphragm in, and he was in pain in his chest. And so after that, there was -- there was some -- I was aware of some -- I thought it was a bazooka at the time because it -- it -- it -- anyhow, I told you about Mark Bandell (ph) wrote those other books. He -- when I told him this story, he went over there and he found that bomb crater. Now, the bomb crater was in the middle of nowhere. And this was -- this was German area, very wooded. You could get lost in there. I think Bandell (ph) said that he got lost in there looking for it. And he found that bomb crater that I was talking about. I assume the Air Force was going back to -- to the lines, and they had a -- they had a bomb that they had to get rid of because they couldn't come back to England with a full load, so they ______ +, you know, so he decided to drop the bomb and nobody would know any different and then he'd be all right. I guess. I'm assuming that. Because he -- why was there a big bomb crater in the middle of nowehre? Nothing but woods. And I forgot the name of the forest or -- the place. Maybe Bandell will remember. He mentioned -- I forgot again, twice.
Tom Swope:

    Do you remember where you were captured? Where -- where exactly you were captured?
Harry Plisevich:

    I don't know exactly.
Tom Swope:

    Was it in Germany?
Harry Plisevich:

    It was just a wooded area.
Tom Swope:

    In Germany?
Harry Plisevich:

    Belgium.
Tom Swope:

    In Belgium?
Harry Plisevich:

    Must have been Belgium, and he -- so anyhow, so we were -- well, let's see. We were -- we were fighting, and I went back to our unit, and that's when I didn't make it all the way, and the Germans grabbed me, and they took me, and then we stopped -- they picked up this one GI that was -- was moaning and groaning, so they put him on a (?shelter half?)or something, and we were out -- up dragging him -- two guys were dragging him back to the rear, and every time we stopped, I reached in my pocket and took out the maps that I had and put them in -- underneath the snow, so that when I -- when they took me back further, I knew something was going to happen, that I didn't have any maps on me, and I didn't know nothing, and I -- you know, I was clean. In fact, later when I was being interrogated, they asked me, "Where were you when you were captured?" I said, "Well, if I knew, I wouldn't be here." You know, smart-ass, you know. But I didn't say nothing. I just figured I knew better than to say anything so then I says I didn't know, so -- and the guy was very friendly. He pulled out a big thing of patches, and he says, "Oh, the 101st." He says, "We know all about you." And he closed the book and then he started to bullshit. He offered me a cigarette. They were my cigarettes he took from me, and he offered -- and he was very friendly. He wanted to talk. Just before that, I heard a bunch of Americans and Germans talking, shouting back and forth. And here was lieutenant -- he was captured -- and a runner with him, and they were both captured, and they were being interrogated, and had a lot of -- a lot of noises. And I remember a lady -- Belgian lady trying to give me a cup of coffee or a cup of something hot. And her eyes -- I remembered her eyes. She had -- they were going sideways. She must have been pro-American because she had a lot of pity in her eyes for me for being captured or being the good guy with all the bad guys. I remember that. You know, little things stick in your mind. And anyhow, after the interrogation -- well, first of all, they put a for wounded tag on me because I was wounded and they saw the wound, but they didn't patch it up or anything. They just looked at it and give me the tag and sent me on the way. And then I ended up in a German hospital. It was in -- a field hospital that they made out of a -- a German -- looked like nunnery, big castle. And so they put me to work carrying patients to the operating room and back up again. And I had to make a sling because I didn't have any strength in my right arm and I put it around my neck and on the -- on the stretcher. And so we were just carrying them back and forth. And I talked to some Germans that were -- could -- had a little English, and so they were -- wanted to talk to me to exercise their English. And I thought, okay. You guys -- and I told them, You take care of me and you get me out of the front lines here and back and we -- and I'll make sure that the Americans send you to the U.S.A. for __________+. That means plenty to eat and no work. So I was trying to work a deal there, say you get me out of here and I'll take care of you when we get over on our side. And so -- at night, you could hear the bombs coming closer and closer, so then I decided to break up the party. And I think after that, I remember what happened after that was -- oh, in that -- during that battle when I got captured -- after I got captured, it was -- darkness set in. That's what saved me. Within a half hour it got dark just like that, and I think that way nobody saw, not too many people saw me and just, you know, that involved at the time. They wanted me to take my boots off and I -- oh, it's cold, snow over here, you know. And then there was some shooting going on and broke up that party, and so I -- I'm trying to think what happened after that.
Tom Swope:

    How did you get wounded?
Harry Plisevich:

    Shrapnel.
Tom Swope:

    Shrapnel.
Harry Plisevich:

    Something in the air. I think --
Tom Swope:

    Shrapnel.
Harry Plisevich:

    -- like when the bazookas, I saw the bazooka go on and -- and that bomb crater went off. Oh, yeah, the bomb crater. Leonard and -- my best buddy, and Salaya (ph), they went back, because darkness set in and the shooting slapped down. I think the Germans withdrew, we withdrew. And then it was a, oh, the -- Leonard -- Leonard -- no. Yeah. Leonard went back to the company and the Germans took care of me back to the interrogation, and Leonard got Salaya (ph),and they went back looking for me. They wondered, "What happened to Plis? He might be wounded. Maybe he's laying out there. He needs help or what." So they went back at nights, the two, Leonard Morris and Salaya (ph) and they went looking for me and they couldn't find me. I thought, well, gee, you know. It's in the book I was showing you that he went back looking for me. How about that? A real sign of devotion, a buddy -- real buddy business. And he didn't know that -- and they didn't know till when I got liberated, of course, I -- I called -- found through some big shots, and I met him in Paris, and then I told him -- and he come to see me at the hospital. I was in the hospital in Paris before they sent me home. And I told him, oh, yeah, Pascal (ph) had -- I'm okay, you know, and anyway, it was nice to see my buddy again. I've been back to see him many times after the war. He -- in fact, just recently, he had a stroke, and I -- he had a heart attack, and then he had a stroke, so I've been calling him, and his wife says he's not getting better, so till he gets better, he can't talk to me, so I think I'll just -- right now, I'm at nothing, just I'll keep calling till I hear from you or you tell me if he's better. And that was the end of that. What's after that? What happened after that?

Tom Swope:

    You want to go back to D-Day, memories of D-Day?
Harry Plisevich:

    Oh, no, like I said, I saw -- I was surprised when that guy came to the house here and he gave me a list --
Tom Swope:

    Uh-huh.
Harry Plisevich:

    -- of the whole crew. And I looked at that the other day and I said, holy shit, I forgot about these guys.
Tom Swope:

    Uh-huh.
Harry Plisevich:

    But then I couldn't remember being that close to them, because that was about the time I started thinking I better not get too close to anybody because then I'm going feel bad if they get killed and --
Tom Swope:

    What time did you jump on D-Day?
Harry Plisevich:

    What?
Tom Swope:

    What time did you jump on D-Day?
Harry Plisevich:

    Oh, it -- it was -- it was like maybe like five hours before H-Hour, maybe 5 o'clock. Maybe. I don't know.
Tom Swope:

    Uh-huh.
Harry Plisevich:

    It was well before H-Hour. And it was a beautiful, beautiful day, nice. The best jump I had was the one in Holland. That was in Holland. It was -- it was beautiful, sunshine, and I remember a P38 flashing past the plane shooting at some -- somebody on the ground or -- or another airplane or what, but that was beautiful. We jumped on there. And then we saw -- jumped out of the airplane, and we saw paratroopers jumping. British or American. They were still jumping, and I was on the ground, and I was impressed with that. And I remember that real vividly. The weather was beautiful, nice day. Nothing was happen -- no Germans, nothing. It took them about a whole day to get organized to find out where we were before they could attack us, you know. But by that time, we were -- we were okay. Piece of cake.
Tom Swope:

    When you jumped in D-Day, were you pretty close? I mean, you hear the --
Harry Plisevich:

    No, this is so far. That's why what happened was when I jumped on D-Day, the Germans must have known or what, they flooded that whole area. It's in a history book someplace I read. They flooded that area, so they didn't have to worry about that part. And that's why our trouble was trying to get from D-Day, probably seven days before we got back to the front lines. I remember seeing a tank coming at us, and here was our tank, and, oh, great. Prior to that, we got to wade through water chest high where they had flooded that area and then you couldn't see where you were walking and once in a while, you'd slip in a ditch or something, but we had to wade through that water to get back to the front. And we saw the American tank, and some French people. I guess they were happy to see us. And then we got back to our unit, and after that, then it was just the same as the war started all over again, you know. I -- I -- I guess that's -- that's what happened. That's how come we weren't there.
Tom Swope:

    You didn't have much opposition where you landed. You just --
Harry Plisevich:

    No, no, it --
Tom Swope:

    -- you just were lost.
Harry Plisevich:

    We were just lost, and they didn't know we were there, and we didn't know where we were. The hedge rows, I remember the hedge rows, and we hid in there. And then I -- then we split up. I don't know why. Sergeant Cardenas (ph) and the lieutenant, they all grabbed some guys and took off, and then the only ones that was left was Leonard Morris and myself, and I was a corporal, I think, at that time and organized the guys that were left, and then, you know, then we got back to the lines. In fact, we got back to the lines, and the guys didn't want to go to combat with the lieutenant because he didn't -- he left them and -- well, maybe his version would be he took whatever he got, and if you weren't right there, you didn't go with him, you went -- stayed there and all the sudden Plis came and then organized and -- I don't know. It's -- I don't even remember. There was no cut and dry or stop shooting, all the sudden, you know. It was just confusion, I guess. But it took us a while to get back to the front lines. Then we saw that tank, and then he -- he pointed us to where we were supposed to go or where -- we ended up we made contact and we were back like nothing happened.
Tom Swope:

    Now, did you know Private Ryan? Niland.
Harry Plisevich:

    Niland. I knew him. He was in the first platoon and I was in the third platoon, but then again, that goes back to what I said. I knew him and was friends with him and everything, but I didn't -- he and I did not -- just like everybody else, I can look at the names now and remember this guy or that guy and I remember drinking beer with him and stuff, George King and a few other names, but they didn't -- didn't get close to them because I had -- Leonard was my buddy and I didn't need anybody else.
Tom Swope:

    So you didn't know anything about the Army looking for him or -- as the story goes. Right? Looking for Niland?
Harry Plisevich:

    No. Niland, he was all right. They were looking for his brother.
Tom Swope:

    They were looking for his brother, right.
Harry Plisevich:

    His brother was in the 82nd Airborne and Father Sampson, who I knew, Father Sampson was a good -- very good guy. I got -- I got his book in there. I got him to autograph it for me. And -- and he was a POW, Father Sampson. But Niland, he was just like the other guys. He was there, one of the guys, and Leonard and I were buddies. You don't want too many buddies or didn't want to be -- try to be the most popular guy in the camp, you know, or platoon. But he -- he was there. He was one of the guys.
Tom Swope:

    Uh-huh.
Harry Plisevich:

    I don't know who his best buddy was, but --
Tom Swope:

    Wasn't the Bridge Too Far --
Harry Plisevich:

    Oh, no, like I said, before we saw the guys -- the planes going over and getting some shot down. Seen somebody jump out, I think, and the shoot never opened, or something. But it was a peaceful, beautiful, sunny day, and we were on the ground looking up. And it took about a whole day for us before the Germans let us know where they were and where -- where we were. Let me think. No, we were there a long time. I don't see -- see, I can't remember the dates.
Tom Swope:

    Uh-huh.
Harry Plisevich:

    I don't know.
Tom Swope:

    You can check the history books for those. How long were you a POW?
Harry Plisevich:

    About three months, almost three months. But, now, that was something else. Okay. Like I said, I was working in the hospital, and I had these paratrooper pants on, boots on, and I volunteered to sweep the floor or whatever, and I noticed all the guys that was sick and dying and whatever, and they gave us these little sugar wafers, vanilla wafers, and I'd reach in there and steal a couple and put them in my pants pocket and -- very careful, because I knew if I got caught, I'd be in a lot of trouble, and so I stole a few -- and I stole some cigarettes -- not cigarettes, tobacco, same method, and some feeny (ph) papers. That's what they call those cigarette papers. And then I learned how to roll my own cigarettes from that, you know, then I'd lick it, and then you -- then I stole some matches same way, and then I'd get in the corner and I lit up the cigarette and after I rolled my own, be careful not to spread it all over the place, and I'd light up that cigarette and, boy, everything would be moving around, you know. I'd take a drag on it and, like, holy mackerel, and --
Tom Swope:

    What was in that cigarette?
Harry Plisevich:

    Oh, it was just a cigarette, but not -- not having any and not knowing or -- it was pretty strong for me, you know. Anyhow, I remember that. And I got -- the nurse -- she was a civilian nurse. They were all like civilians, except the nun. The nun, I stole a pair of scissors off of her. She was mean. She didn't like the Americans. And she wanted me to mop up the floor and -- and she'd tell -- yelled and screamed at me, and then she got down and she was showing me how to do it, and I just kept walking back and walking back, got out of her way. And then so she called me stupid American, don't know nothing, and I think, well, who the hell mopped the floor, you or me? You know. You were hollering at me that I didn't do it right, but then -- that's what I thought, but I didn't say nothing. And I totally got plugged one time, and she wanted me to clean out -- flush out their toilet. Not her, another nurse. And so I'd gag, and I gag very easily anyhow. So I'm poking around there, and all of a sudden, I'm gagging a little bit, and so she ended up -- she did it, but that -- I don't know how else it would have got done. And then the -- the rest of it was okay, nothing, because I didn't team up with anybody there, and -- and I -- one guy I met that could speak German, and he could understand what they were talking about, and he didn't want to get too friendly with me but he also let me know that he didn't want -- he didn't want them to know that he could understand German, so he was a little -- I never got -- I didn't exchange a name and address with anybody while I was at POW camp. Although, I did notice the name Intahar (ph) was on there, and that was my wife's maiden name, and I ended up meeting the guy and he's from Cleveland, and he was a paratrooper, but he wasn't in my company or -- or anything. He -- he was -- he was a good guy. He's -- he's in Florida now, I think. No. Florida? Yeah, I guess he's someplace south. Comes -- he still has a home here in Cleveland.
Tom Swope:

    But not related to your wife.
Harry Plisevich:

    No, no --
Tom Swope:

    Just happened --
Harry Plisevich:

    No, like another clan, Smith or whatever, you know, but --
Tom Swope:

    Was that prison camp in Germany?
Harry Plisevich:

    Pardon?
Tom Swope:

    The prison camp was in Germany?
Harry Plisevich:

    Yeah.
Tom Swope:

    POW camp. How long were --
Harry Plisevich:

    Well, no, it -- yeah, it was Frankfurt.
Tom Swope:

    Uh-huh.
Harry Plisevich:

    Frankfurt. And it was -- two Frankfurts. One's on the right and one is deeper into Germany. We were near the line, and they were trying to move us back. I remember -- another story reminded me. We were on a train, and I remember on the back of the train had a _______, and I'm thinking, oh, my, that's going to attract all the attention, and they put us in these box cars just like animals, you know, forty and eight, forty men and eight horses or something. And so we were locked in there, and we was looking through the cracks and it was beautiful country, just beautiful country. Snow was on the -- on -- on the trees, and they were moving us deeper into Germany, and then the American planes would get into trouble, so the plane -- the train went into a tunnel to get away from the air planes, so they hid in the tunnel. Then they moved out again, and we went a little farther. And I remember they -- they got us out on a forced march because they couldn't get -- the train couldn't get anywhere without getting shot at, so they got out -- oh, before we got out -- before that happened, they must have saw the _____ gun. They went to shooting at us, and somebody got loose and opened up all the doors and all the men ran out of the box cars and onto a field. We were on a field. And they made a great big POW with our bodies like at a football game. Excuse me. Excuse me. I -- that told the airplanes something was wrong here and then they saw that and they figured out, and they kept circling us, but they didn't shoot at us anymore. I remember being in the hospital once and the planes came and saved us, and I think it was because on the outside they had trucks and they -- they weren't -- and they had a great big red cross on -- on a -- on the building. Well, and the reason they were shooting at us -- or not because the red cross didn't do any good because they could see the trucks were not -- were not Red Cross trucks or whatever, and I remember the Germans came in with some civilians and, boy, I got dirty looks and stared at and some of the kids were -- had shrapnel -- shrapnel wounds or whatever, they were debris, and I went -- I went in the corner and I hid in the corner until the next morning -- not the next morning, until things quieted down because I didn't want to get involved or expose myself to get involved. I remember that incident, but -- I forget your question again. It...
Tom Swope:

    How long were you in the hospital?
Harry Plisevich:

    Oh. I was at the -- when I got -- when I got captured and they put me to work, I don't know how long it was. It must have been a -- maybe a month or so. I don't know. And then that's when they moved me -- moved me out of the hospital and they put me -- sent me to a POW camp and that's where the change was. I saw an interesting thing when I was a -- in the hospital. They put me on a detail. I thought it was a new -- new -- you know, and they made me go to a -- they had a -- there was a mountain, and the side of the mountain had a great big concrete door. It must have been three feet thick. And they rolled it back, and it was a factory inside. And it was -- the reason I was there or saw all this is -- it was hard to believe, and I don't know what the name of the town was, because at that time I didn't have a map and I didn't even know where the hell I was, but I remember seeing this, and inside it was a factory, and then what we did, we went there to get a battery or another battery to replace for the one that belonged to the hospital to -- they used in the hospital, so, you know, the battery must have went bad, and I had -- some of the German guards took us -- oh, those -- those guards were crazy. Why we won the war. I was a POW and they said if you -- if you -- if you get in the work detail, you get __________+, you get extra to eat, extra food to eat. So I volunteered. And then I went that -- that -- got a pitchfork and we were trying to take the -- marshalling area, there was a marshalling area nearby, and the -- the point there was if you -- if you work, you get extra to eat, but then the work detail was trying to fill up the bomb crater so that the marshalling area for the trains would be less of a burden for them, and I never volunteered after that because they didn't give us any extra food, and I -- I almost got a kick in the pants because I'd take this big pitchfork and get a whole big pile of dirt and rocks and everything, and by the time I walked down to the end to get rid of it, there was nothing left. It all fell between the forks of the -- of the fork, but I -- I was like a (?WPA?)dragging my feet and didn't contribute anything, and then the next day, I never went back to that work detail, but that funny thing about that was the German corporal that was in charge of us to take us from the camp to get in line, he counted us and we'd move up the road about 100 yards and stop and he'd count us again. Then we'd go a little further, and it would stop and he'd count us again. That's all they did. He -- I don't know what his rank was, but it must have not have been too high. His intelligence couldn't have been too high, because what would have happened between here and there, you know? And then we'd get back to the marshalling area and then back to camp again. Nothing happened. But I got a big kick out of that guy. He was counting to make sure everything was okay. I guess. And it was funny. And again, I didn't eat too good there and I didn't eat too good at all in the POW camp. I had a sandwich. The nun -- the nun that was there, she gave me -- she -- I tried to help her, because she was -- she was -- (?wasn't?) Intelligent. She was just a civilian working in the hospital, and I fixed -- the reason for that was you know these little heaters with the coil -- wrapped coil? You plug it in in like -- in the electricity and make a heating pad out of it?
Tom Swope:

    Uh-huh.
Harry Plisevich:

    She had one like -- something like that, and I would connect it -- it would blow, and I'd connect that and make it work again, and then it would blow and then I'd get the wires going again. [END OF SIDE ONE, TAPE ONE, BEGIN SIDE TWO, TAPE ONE] she -- she was a nice civilian, but she had two brothers that went in an American POW camp, and I told her,__________+, you know, a lot to eat. That's all they worry about is eat. And too bad I -- I didn't -- I did a lot of things I didn't do that I should have done.
Tom Swope:

    So you were liberated at the end of the war then --
Harry Plisevich:

    Well, we were in a forced march. Father Sampson was there. He wrote that book. He was a good guy. He was -- I was a Catholic. He was always Protestant, but he was a Catholic chaplain. And he -- he was a good guy. I remember in basic training, he -- he -- yeah, he was a good guy. Oh, I forget. What did you say?
Tom Swope:

    Liberated at the end of the war?
Harry Plisevich:

    Oh, liberated.
Tom Swope:

    Uh-huh.
Harry Plisevich:

    Oh, this box -- this -- this railroad car we were on ended up in a tunnel and then obvious the Germans were chattering away like crazy and they decided to move -- the train with nowhere to go, so we got out and we started to marching to wherever they wanted us to go. Marching down the road. And then there was a lot of bad words going back and forth. Americans were dragging their feet. You know, they didn't -- they -- and the Germans were trying to prod them into going faster, faster, keep going, you know, and what was happening was Patton's Army was coming, and he was coming real fast, and what he did, he just overtook the whole area and they went back and cleaned it up, but he was going through there and he marched right through our area and he liberated us. I remember seeing the -- the Germans, they were -- they were all upset about something, and -- and finally they ended up they put -- dropped their weapons and took us and -- yeah, they took us and put us in a -- in a group. I remember -- I remember I had a GI overcoat, and whenever -- PW -- PW barracks -- what they did, on these big lard cans -- that was all we had for a latrine that night, and I remember that because I had a GI's -- I still have a lot of trouble with my bowels -- and I cut out little squares out of my -- out of my overcoat to use for toilet paper, because we had no toilet paper. There was no -- in fact, I tried to shave with their soap and their soap was made out of nothing. And I cut that overcoat up in little squares. And when we got liberated, there was some French soldiers in the group, and I went to one of the soldiers and I gave him my GI overcoat because it was cold. And I figure, I don't need this, so I gave it to -- I wondered what he thought of it when he saw that thing with no lining. And I -- I should have saved my canteen cup. I had a canteen cup, and I took a knife and I put an Airborne insignia on it. And I don't know whether -- I should have kept that thing. All that came back was my boots.
Tom Swope:

    What do you think would be your most vivid memory of that experience overseas? Anything come to mind as a really strong memory?
Harry Plisevich:

    Power of prayer. I'm not that religious or anything, but when I came home, I wouldn't step on an ant just for reverence for life. I'd just move my foot and let him -- let him go, you know, don't step on him. And that lasted for a while, but then it didn't last forever. You know, just like -- like now in our house, when there's a bug flying around or this -- and my wife, that's the way she is, but it was easy for me to adjust to that. We'd get a piece of paper and get the bug and take him to the door and throw him out. It could be snowing outside, but I figured he could crawl underneath the leaf or he could go in the barn or someplace, but he doesn't have to stay in the house and I didn't have to step on him either. I -- you know, one -- all the time in the Army, I thought about Connie, and I think -- I thought about her all the time, so maybe that -- and we were engaged. I gave her a watch. I remember it was a gold-plated watch, wrist watch, and -- yeah, a wrist watch, and I gave that to her. I didn't want to get engaged because I just figured I wasn't going to -- going to make it and no use trying to do anything. And then I met my buddy, and I didn't want to get too involved with anybody there, and maybe that was stupid, but I didn't -- didn't have too much to remember. Anyhow, I gave her that -- I -- I can't remember as far as the war whether I just accepted it. I was there, I had a job to do, and I -- and I did it, and a little good luck and bad luck involved in between.
Tom Swope:

    Do you remember anything about getting letters from Connie over there?
Harry Plisevich:

    Yeah, I got -- well, the mail, again, it was -- my sister gave me a letter that I wrote, and I treasured it, and I put it someplace. It's in that pile. I've got to find it, because it should be on top of the list. She -- it's a letter that I wrote home, and they returned it to her for no -- address unknown, you know, and -- and it was -- my birthday is December the 18th, and that's one week before Christmas, and I used to always get gipped. I came from a big poor family. Three brothers, three sisters. And -- and my mother was German. She was born over there. And my father was a Russian immigrant. He didn't -- he was just a laborer. He didn't know anything. He didn't -- no education, and I don't know how the hell they ever came to America and survived. He worked in a coal mine because he couldn't find any work because he didn't know how to write his name. We had to teach him how to write his name when he got his social security check because he didn't know. He just didn't know. And he -- he was a good guy, but he didn't -- didn't know anything. My mother was okay. She could have learn -- she could -- I remember her reading the German newspaper. We lived on 55th and Broadway at that time in Cleveland, and she'd get that paper, and she'd read the German paper once in a while. But my father, all he knew was what his cry-ons (ph) or buddies told him and could speak -- Polish. He could speak for Polish and, you know, in Russian, but he didn't have any education. So actually, I'm the first generation --
Tom Swope:

    Uh-huh.
Harry Plisevich:

    -- of a Plisevich in this --
Tom Swope:

    In this country.
Harry Plisevich:

    -- in this area here. I got three brothers and sisters, but I guess I'm kind of -- that's why I'm so dumb once in a while. Don't know any better.
Tom Swope:

    When you -- by the time you got to Bastogne, had it already been relieved by Patton or --
Harry Plisevich:

    Oh, no. No. We went in -- and like I said before, we went in, got off the trucks, a lot of them didn't have weapons and a complete uniform, and then lieutenant says, "Plis, take this, go down the road, take the company and go down the road until you're fired on, then come back and tell us what the situation is." "Yes, sir." You know. And then that was my introduction to Bastogne. I remember how cold it was. The foxholes were only that deep because the rest was all snow. And it was very cold, and lack of food or whatever. It -- it was -- it was rough. And the Germans were rough too. But -- I'd ______ my buddy _________+ when he went looking for me. He thought maybe I was wounded and laying in the field there. And that was just a fluke thing, but I didn't -- I didn't get -- I didn't get my whole company or squad or anybody in trouble. It's just I screwed up. But I didn't know it at the time either. I didn't know it until I -- until I got captured and the guy grabbed me and he says, where was comrades, where was comrades. And I'm looking over there. They're picking up, stab them, and pick them up and stab them, and shooting a machine gun at us. He was a machine gunner, and if he would have picked that up, then he could have got us. He was a shooting it too -- too -- too high or -- or too low, rather, and, you know, and that's all there was to that.
Tom Swope:

    So you were actually captured at Bastogne then.
Harry Plisevich:

    Yeah, it was at Bastogne.
Tom Swope:

    Were you a part of the group that was surrounded there?
Harry Plisevich:

    Yeah. Yeah, I --
Tom Swope:

    Okay.
Harry Plisevich:

    The 101st Airborne.
Tom Swope:

    The 101st. All right.
Harry Plisevich:

    Yeah. Yeah. They -- in fact, the Germans closed that gap up. They were -- they were advancing, and then what happened when we came in there and then we started fighting them and then held off things for a while. Then the Germans completed their circle of Bastogne, and that was -- and pulling a donut, and that was it and we were on the inside and they were on the outside. And -- and yeah, that's all true. This book here, Band of Brothers, you know, I didn't read this book yet, but I could pick up and I could pick -- I see the uniform. That's exactly true. I know that. And I go in here and I read about the Band of Brothers -- the -- Regiment 506.
Tom Swope:

    Uh-huh.
Harry Plisevich:

    And I was in the 501. So everything's the same except in the 501, all the time I was with them, our -- our commanding officer didn't allow us to have any cameras. We weren't allowed cameras. We weren't allowed this and that. How come other guys were? But you couldn't say that. You just didn't have any because he didn't want you to have any. And these guys had a lot of publicity and a lot of good things going. But good for them. But I remember -- I couldn't take any pictures. I weren't allowed to. But now, see, in that movie that I was trying to think of --
Tom Swope:

    Saving Private --
Harry Plisevich:

    Saving Private Ryan. I went to see that, and I was trying to find out -- I was looking at the -- at the uniforms and what they were -- weapons, and I wanted to see how authentic this movie was. In the meantime, I had to go to the bathroom so bad my feet were starting to float. I went there with my brother. And I talked my brother into going Airborne, so he went to the 82nd Airborne, and I -- I tried -- and I had connections be involved with the Northern High Chapter. I wrote the Constitution and bylaws, and so I was going to get him transferred to the -- to the 101st.
Tom Swope:

    Uh-huh.
Harry Plisevich:

    So he got his buddy and they had arranged the two of them would exchange two men there for two 101st guys for two 82nd guys, and his buddy didn't want to go so he didn't go, and I figured, don't push it. At that time, that's when they had a big -- they had a jump, and there was a lot of ground wind and a lot of troopers got hurt, so I thought, oh, good thing I didn't -- I didn't push it too far, and so he stayed in the 82nd but no combat. He did good. And -- well, I got to check this out. But I -- I went to the movies, and I had to go to the bathroom so bad, and I was stuck -- I took my two brother-in-laws and my brother and I went and I sat -- followed them and sat there against the wall, and so I had to go to the bathroom. I couldn't -- I got to hurry up, so I had to walk past all this whole row of people to get to the bathroom, and it was at the end of the movie, and I didn't want to miss any of it, so I bought the tape and now I look at it, but it was -- it brought back a lot of memories, but -- the real -- the real guy Niland, Fritz Nilan, he -- he -- he was a good guy, but I didn't know him that close. I didn't go out drinking with him or anything like that. You know, that's where I got the habit of -- hobby, rather -- you know, when you get older, you're supposed to have a hobby, you know, just as long as you have a hobby, so I thought drinking beer would be a good hobby. My wife didn't like it, and I didn't think I was overdoing it, but the -- the -- I remember, get a hobby, and that was that.
Tom Swope:

    Have any trouble adjusting to civilian life after the war?
Harry Plisevich:

    Oh, I think my wife says I -- I did. I don't think I did, but I was a little -- I got -- lost a little weight. I was a little skinny, but that came back, and as far as I was concerned, everything was normal. The biggest problem, to answer your question, was home. Home was a long way from -- from Cleveland, Ohio, to where I was in France or Germany or whatever, and I didn't think -- you know, at first, I got to get back to the front lines and then from there, maybe the war will still be on and I'll have to pick up the uniform from some other unit. I didn't -- didn't -- didn't worry about that too much, except how to get home, a long way home. The whole ocean between here and home.
Tom Swope:

    Did you actually get out of the POW camp before the war was officially over or was the -- had the war ended --
Harry Plisevich:

    All in all, it was -- the war was still on.
Tom Swope:

    -- before you -- when you got out?
Harry Plisevich:

    In fact, Patton's tanks was marching that way. I -- I don't even know the name of the town. I can't remember. I didn't have anything to read or -- except where that one guy could speak German, I should have got his name and address and then he could have filled me in on everything I forgot, but he -- he was kind of secretive too. He trusted me, I think, but after -- just like that, it didn't matter, you know. It just didn't matter after that.
Tom Swope:

    Well, I understand what his concern was because my dad was captured with a guy who spoke German. They found out, and they killed him.
Harry Plisevich:

    Well, see --
Tom Swope:

    Almost immediately.
Harry Plisevich:

    See, I --
Tom Swope:

    Uh-huh.
Harry Plisevich:

    I -- I know -- my barber, his -- his father-in-law -- I can't figure out how his father-in-law was Jewish. I -- I'm going to have to come out and ask him.
Tom Swope:

    Right.
Harry Plisevich:

    So anyhow, he -- his father-in-law was a POW, but he was in the Air Force and so he was a POW for a long time, and he wouldn't talk about it. A lot of guys won't talk about it. I talk about it because, to me, it was just a happening. I'm here and everything's fine. And this -- this guy finally went to a -- a reunion or something, and then the other guys, also POWs and maybe also German -- Jewish, maybe not Jewish exactly, but all of a sudden, it broke the ice and he talks about it, so he -- my barber probably would like -- well, maybe he kind of felt like he'd like to get me to meet his father-in-law or that we could talk a little bit, but that's up to him if he wants to talk, fine. Besides it's completely different. He was in the POW camp for so long and they were trying to protect him from the Germans knowing that he was Jewish, and in my case, I was just there for moving on to some other place or something else, and then it was a lot of combat involved.
Tom Swope:

    Yeah.
Harry Plisevich:

    It was -- I'll probably -- I'll -- see, the bad part is I'll probably think of a lot of little thoughts that I have shelled or put behind me after you leave. Then I'll remember, I should have told him this and I should have told him that.
Tom Swope:

    Well, we'll just have to sit down again then.
Harry Plisevich:

    Well, if I get something good, I'll let you know. You know, I'm surprised at myself -- oh, like I said, I just tell you the story like, so I can remember but --
Tom Swope:

    Uh-huh.
Harry Plisevich:

    I'm usually introverted or was introverted, and Connie was my whole life. The rest didn't matter. But I -- it's amazing how I could use that four letter word being a sergeant at that -- but you know one thing about that Army too, I got cheated out of a lot of rank, because we jumped on D-Day, they wouldn't go with Lieutenant ______ anymore. They trusted Harry Plisevich, but they didn't trust -- and then the sergeant got -- Nelson got wounded, and I shipped him home, so then I was -- every time we'd fill out, I was filling in acting lieutenant, you know, Sergeant Plisevich, but then I was only a three-striped sergeant, squad leader, and I never did get the -- you know, platoon leader or rank or the other rank, because they just -- I got moved. In the meantime after that, things settled down, I got captured, so I never got the rank.
Tom Swope:

    Well.
Harry Plisevich:

    And I never cared, never thought about it, till just one day I was digging in there, hell, I should have had a little more rank than what I had, but then who cares, you know. It's just like when I got liberated and I gave my overcoat away because the thing didn't have any lining in it.
Tom Swope:

    Uh-huh.
Harry Plisevich:

    That was another thing.
Tom Swope:

    Yeah.
Harry Plisevich:

    I remember that now.