OGJVAMC Recognizes local POWs
John Kusmitch, a Korean War POW, receives letters of recognition and tokens of appreciation from Acting Medical Center Director, Andrea Collins (right) and Karen Thekan, OGJVAMC Former POW Advocate (left) on National POW/MIA Recognition Day.
"They are so humble. They don't seek recognition," said social worker Karen Thekan, speaking of the former prisoners of war (POWs) that she and other VA employees serve at the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center (OGJVAMC) in Iron Mountain, MI. "They feel that it is what they had to do and the experience they were dealt with while serving their country," she added.
Thekan is speaking of her impression of POWs as the VA medical center's Former POW Advocate. She serves as the point of contact and advocate for the former POWs ensuring their health care needs are met and they receive the VA benefits they earned as Veterans and as POWs.
On Friday, September 18, OGJVAMC recognized three of these local heroes who were prisoners of war in conjunction with the National POW/MIA Recognition Day: John Moddie, formerly of Quinnesec, MI and now residing in OGJVAMC's Community Living Center; John Kusmitch, of Kingsford, MI; and Robert Smith, of Tomahawk, WI. A fourth former POW, Richard Radlinger at the Wisconsin State Veterans Home in King, WI, recently passed away on August 31, 2020.
The VA medical center observed this day by providing a POW/MIA Recognition Day package to each of the former POWs and a special luncheon for residents of its Community Living Center. The package included a POW/MIA fleece sweater, ball cap, and pin as well as letters of recognition from the medical center director and local congressional representatives. Mr. Radlinger's package was sent to his daughter.
In past years the medical center has honored the former POWs with a formal ceremony and special luncheon; however, due to COVID-19 precautions, this year’s ceremony was canceled. Even though they could not have a formal ceremony this year, Thekan said it is still a very important day to remember those individuals. "We honor them today, and every day of the year, and we hold them in the highest regard,” she said.
Moddie, 95, who was captured in the Battle of the Bulge in WWII, remembers there were over 70 POWs attending the first POW/MIA ceremony hosted by OGJVAMC. "Now there are only a few of us left," said Moddie. Kusmitch, 89, was captured during the Spring Offensive of 1951 on the Korean Peninsula. "I'm glad they recognize us here." said Kusmitch.
Since the outbreak of World War I, more than 142,000 American service men and women were captured and held as POWs. Today, less than 20,000 are still living. “They endured uncertainties, deprivations, and hardships of hostile captivity; something that very few Americans can relate to,” said Jim Rice, medical center director. “However, we are extremely grateful and indebted to these heroes.”
John Moddie, a World War II POW, is served a special meal at the Oscar G. Johnson VA's Community Living Center by Heather LaPalm, Recreation Therapy Assistant, as part of POW/MIA Recognition Day.
Read on for more details about OGJVAMC's three remaining former POWs and a fourth POW that recently passed away.
John Moddie, US Army, 590th Field Artillery Unit
Captured December 1944 during WWII, Battle of the Bulge
Mr. John Moddie, 95, of Quinnesec, MI, enlisted in the U.S. Army right after graduating from Niagara High School. He was assigned to the 590th Field Artillery Unit and shipped overseas to Germany.
"I fought for three months and remember truckloads of shells and being part of a big push of eight to 10 divisions," said Moddie. That “big push” turned out to be the Battle of the Bulge, the last major German offensive of the war, fought from December 16, 1944 to January 25, 1945. It would be the second-most lethal American battle with more than 19,000 Americans killed.
Moddie received shrapnel wounds during the battle and, along with 20 to 25 others, was captured on December 19, 1944.
"The German took us into a fenced-in yard and the next morning we began marching through dense fog and over soggy ground for three days," said Moddie. "Those who stumbled or could not keep up were shot and left to die alone in the mud."
They eventually arrived at a rail yard and were packed into box cars, where Moddie and his fellow soldiers stood for three days while being transported. The train stopped at Stalag 9-B camp in Bad Orb located in central Germany. He spent four and a half months as a POW enduring harsh conditions that would see him wither from 150 pounds to only about 85 pounds. One time during his imprisonment, Moddie was lined up with other POWs in front of German machine guns but fortunately the officer in charge changed his mind and the guns were not fired.
Moddie and the other soldiers awoke one morning to an empty camp with the gates open. The Germans had evacuated during the night rather than be found in the POW camp by the Allied forces. He and the other survivors were flown to a camp in France on a plane called Lucky Strike. He spent a month in a hospital at Fort Hood, Texas.
Moddie spent a year in business college and “had a lot of different jobs” over the decades since the war. He worked at a paper mill in Green Bay before moving back home, settling in construction as a career.
Robert Smith, U.S Army, 4th Armored Division
Captured April 1945 during a POW rescue mission
Mr. Robert Smith, 94, of Tomahawk, WI, graduated from high school on June 5, 1944, and entered the service on August 23, 1944. He was assigned to Company C, 4th Armored Division as a tank crew member. His company was sent to free POWs in a German POW camp.
"When we crossed the Rhine River, the Germans were waiting for us and took out most of our tanks," said Smith. "I had to advance on foot with the infantry."
Smith was captured, along with others from his company, on Good Friday 1945. They were loaded on box cars Easter Sunday for transport to Stalag 7A, Germany’s largest POW camp located in Moosburg, Germany. At the time of its liberation, the camp held 76,248 prisoners hailing from every allied nation. The trip to Stalag 7A took two weeks during which he lost 22 pounds. Smith was 18 at the time of his capture and spent 33 days as a POW before the camp was liberated.
Smith held multiple jobs after he left the Army including at local gas stations, an antique store, and a bank. He really enjoyed his job being a bank teller in Hartland, Wisconsin and stayed in finances for the rest of his career.
John Kusmitch, U.S Army, 25th Infantry Division
Captured April 1951 during Korean Conflict, Spring Offensive
Mr. John Kusmitch, an 89-year-old veteran and native of Kingsford, MI, was only 20 years old when he was captured while fighting in the Korean Conflict. Kusmitch enlisted in the United States Army in August 1949 at the age of 18. He served in the Army’s 25th Infantry Division as a motor transport operator and was responsible for supervising and operating vehicles to transport personnel and cargo. "The motor transport operators were the backbone of the Army's support and sustainment structure, providing advanced mobility on and off the battlefield," said Kusmitch.
Kusmitch was only in the Army for two years before he was taken prisoner of war. He was captured during the Spring Offensive of April 1951 when the 700,000-strong Chinese People's Volunteer Army attacked UN forces in hopes of driving them off the Korean peninsula. He was captured, along with 15 to 20 others in his group, and spent over 27 months as a POW enduring harsh conditions. The POW camp that he stayed in was eight miles away from the Chinese border.
"If you survived the first four months, you had a good chance. We lost over a 1000 prisoners in our camp, more at other camp," said Kusmitch at last year's POW ceremony. After he left the Army, he worked as a construction worker in Chicago.
Richard Radlinger, U.S. Army Air Corps, 15th Air Force (passed away August 31, 2020)
Captured 1944 on a bombing run over Europe
Richard Radlinger, 97, was a native of Park Falls, WI, and recently resided in the Wisconsin State Veterans Home in Kings, WI, until his death on August 31, 2020. He was drafted in January of 1943 into the US Army Air Corp and sent overseas to North Africa with the 15th Air Force as a B-17 flight engineer. He flew in both the African and Europan theaters during World War II and participated in the invasion of Southern France. He received multiple injuries during a bombing mission in Bulgaria where his plane lost two of its engines, crash landed, and killed two of the crew. Radlinger was on another mission when his plane was hit. He parachuted and noticed his left leg was missing as he was decending. He was captured and hospitalized as a German prisoner of war. Radlinger spoke highly of the surgery on his leg under German care. He watched as allied planes drop bombs during the Battle of the Bulge, some almost hitting the German hospital where he was being treated. After he returned to America, he had a number of operations and was an inpatient for a year at Percy Jones Hospital in Battle Creek, Michigan.
