[Annotator's Note: Interview begins with interviewer introducing himself.] John Henry Mock was born in September 1925 and grew up in Hamilton [Annotator's Note: Hamilton, Kansas]. His father worked in the oilfields for many years. Mock grew up on a farm owned by his grandfather. Oil was found on the property so they brought in pumping equipment and pumped oil while continuing to work the farm. That brought in some money which made the depression years easy. Mock left school about three months before graduating. He was drafted into the Army and sent to Fort Leavenworth where he spent just a short time before being sent back home. When he was called up he was sent to Camp Fannin, Texas for infantry training. Mock had scored high on his test and was put in communications. He had to learn Morse code and various signals equipment. Out of the 25 men who started the training, Mock was one of only two to successfully complete it. Mock was then sent to Camp Campbell, Kentucky where he was assigned to the 20th Armored Division. Mock liked that. He rode in a half track everywhere he went. He was then transferred to Camp Atterbury [Annotator's Note: Camp Atterbury, Indiana] where he joined the 106th Infantry Division. Men were being assigned to this division from all over the military. There were many men who had come from the Air Corps. From there they went to Camp Myles Standish [Annotator's Note: Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts] for boat training then to New York where they boarded the Aquitania. They steamed alone. One night a submarine went after them. The ship was well armed for defense but did not need to use its guns. The enemy submarine broke contact and submerged. They finally put in at Glasgow, Scotland.

They [Annotator's Note: John Mock and his fellow soldiers of Company L, 3rd Battalion, 422nd Infantry Regiment, 106th Infantry Division] went by train to Stow on the Wold, England. After a short time there they moved down to the coast and boarded ships to cross the Channel. They jumped from the transport ship to the landing craft which took them ashore. This was in the last week of November [Annotator's Note: November 1944]. After going ashore they went into bivouac while they waited for the Red Ball Express to pick them up and take them to the front. It rained every night while they were in camp. They were finally picked up by six by six trucks. While traveling through France, children would line the roads and gesture to the soldiers. Once they crossed into Germany, however, the people along the road just stared at the soldiers. They relieved the 2nd Infantry Division on the front lines.

They [Annotator's Note: John Mock and his fellow soldiers of Company L, 3rd Battalion, 422nd Infantry Regiment, 106th Infantry Division] took over the front line positions of the 2nd Infantry Division. The engineers had built each squad a cabin to live in. It was not too comfortable. Mock was an infantryman. All they did when they arrived at the front was conduct patrols and post look outs. On the 14th [Annotator's Note: 14 December 1944] it was very cold and there was a lot of snow on the ground. The Germans put a loud speaker up and broadcast the sound of a tank engine revving up. The next day it was the same. On the 16th the Germans came. They bypassed Mock's unit which was in bunkers on an elevated piece of ground. Mock's position was next to Colonel Thompson's [Annotator's Note: Lieutenant Colonel Donald Thompson was the commanding officer of the 3rd Battalion, 422nd Infantry Regiment, 106th Infantry Division] command post. Elements of the 81st Engineers [Annotator's Note: 81st Engineer Combat Battalion] were in the town of Auw which was just below Mock's position. The Germans entered the town and got them. Then Mock's unit chased the Germans out of the town. After dark, Mock's unit moved into Auw. There was a 105 [Annotator's Note: 105mm artillery piece] in Auw. The Germans eventually found out where Mock's unit was and started dropping shells on them. About a third of the shells dropped on them did not go off. The next day two small tanks approached the town. The 105 in Auw got both of them. Mock also saw a Messerschmitt fly past with two P-47s [Annotator's Note: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter aircraft] chasing it. The P-47s shot the German plane down. Later on, a convoy came out of the woods into an open field near Mock's position. They got both of the trucks. The rest of the convoy was team and wagon [Annotator's Note: wagons pulled by horses]. Mock's unit destroyed the convoy. The following day a tank came out in an effort to knock out the other 105. Mock jumped into his foxhole but his feet were hanging out. A shell from the tank went off about five feet away. Eventually the tank left. A piece of shrapnel had gone through the side of Mock's shoe. That night Mock was allowed to sleep in a hay loft so he could warm up.

The next day they [Annotator's Note: John Mock and his fellow soldiers of Company L, 3rd Battalion, 422nd Infantry Regiment, 106th Infantry Division] jumped off to take Schoenberg but the Germans got there first so they headed back toward the American lines. They stopped for the night then continued their journey the next day. They came across a small town held by the Germans. They thought they were far enough away from it but they were not. They walked right into the Germans. The Germans opened fire and Lieutenant Christianson [Annotator's Note: unsure of spelling] was nearly shot in half. Mock and another soldier tried to get away but the cries of the wounded caused them to throw away their rifles and ammunition belts and rejoin the group. They were put in an old school. The following day the Germans asked if anyone was hurt or wounded. The Germans had surrounded them. Mock could have escaped but did not want to leave the wounded. When the Germans asked if anyone was hurt about eight or nine men stood up but Mock did not. His sergeant told him to go and get his foot looked at. The Germans treated the wounded. They put black coal tar sap on Mock's wound. His grandmother had used the same stuff back in the 1920s. Then they wrapped his foot up. A week or so later Mock could wear his shoe again. Mock was with the wounded. Those who had not been wounded were sent to a stalag [Annotator's Note: prisoner of war camp].

John Mock and the other wounded were moved from town to town. Sometimes they stayed in a hospital and sometimes they were put in a hotel. The guards were good to their wounded charges. They were older German soldiers and some of them could speak English. When they passed through Boppard, Germany, near Coblenz, the civilians lined the streets. They jeered and assaulted the prisoners. Mock passed through Coblenz five times. One night they were put on a passenger train. A passenger tried to attack the prisoners but the guards stopped him. They stopped in Bonn, Germany where they were allowed to get off the train to relieve themselves. Around 18 January [Annotator's Note: 18 January 1945] they ended up at Stalag XII-A in Limburg, Germany. The trip to Stalag XII-A had taken about three weeks. On Christmas Eve they stopped at an aid station where their bandages were changed and they were fed. The German and American wounded slept in the same hallway at the aid station. That night, two German officers walked down the hall and gave every wounded man a shot of schnapps. Then they all sang the song Silent Night. It was a Christmas Mock will never forget.

John Mock ended up at Stalag XII-A [Annotator's Note: in Limburg, Germany]. The latrine in the camp overflowed every morning. The prisoners had to walk through it to get to morning roll call. When the Germans were satisfied that everyone was there the prisoners would be fed. The food was meager. One loaf of bread was shared by six men. The same six men stayed together for all meals. The bread was cut into six pieces and they would take turns picking the first piece of bread. The straw they slept on at night was full of lice. It was very uncomfortable. When they first got to the camp they were each given one cigarette per day. Those who did not smoke saved their cigarettes and when they had 20 of them they traded them to the guards for a loaf of bread. They unloaded Red Cross parcels out of a boxcar and put them in a storage room. They knew the parcels were there but they only received a parcel once. The parcels contained condensed milk, cans of dried foods, and a chocolate bar. Mock believes that the Germans were taking the parcels for themselves. The Air Corps [Annotator's note: members of the U.S. Army Air Forces who were prisoners of war] got a lot of parcels. Goering [Annotator's Note: Reichsmarshall Hermann Goering was the head of the German Air Force and second in line to Adolf Hitler in the Nazi Party] was the head of the air corps and ordered that those prisoners be fed better. The captured airmen were fed a little better and had bunks to sleep on whereas POWs [Annotator's Note: prisoners of war] from the Army slept on hay on the ground. By February [Annotator's Note: February 1945], the prisoners were only issued one cigarette per week. In March they did not get any. One man Mock knew would trade his bread ration for cigarettes. He eventually died. For entertainment the prisoners would pop the bloated lice that were feeding on them. They also talked about food. They would watch the bombers that went over and would count the parachutes that came out of those that were hit. Once in a while they would hear a rumor about the progress of the war. While in the camp Mock ran into a guy who lived very close to him back in Kansas. The only work detail Mock was ever assigned was to pound tin cans one day. While they were on their way to Stalag XII-A they were transported in wood burning trucks.

By 21 March [Annotator's Note: 21 March 1945], the American forces were getting close so John Mock and his fellow prisoners were put on boxcars. They were packed in very tight. The following day the train's engine was strafed by a P-47 [Annotator's Note: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter aircraft] and a P-38 [Annotator's Note: Lockheed P-38 Lightening fighter aircraft]. After the locomotive blew up the prisoners just sat where they were. They were in Bergholz, Germany. On the third day they got out of the train to get something to eat and get a drink of water from a nearby stream. On the seventh day they heard the sound of American machine guns being fired nearby. The next day, the train crew came by, unlocked the doors, and let the prisoners out. The crew had canned food and bread in their truck which the prisoners ate then the men lay down on the rocks along the rail road tracks.

As they [Annotator's Note: John Mock and his fellow prisoners of war, or POWs] lay there, the 99th Infantry Division passed through. By that time Mock weighed 105 pounds. The soldiers stopped and talked to the POWs. There were a lot of tears flowing. That evening, a weapons carrier arrived full of fresh bread for the prisoners. The next day, ambulances arrived to take the prisoners away. There were 277 prisoners but each ambulance could only carry four people so they had to make several trips. They were brought to a field hospital. When they arrived at the entrance to one of the tents they told the nurse that they were American POWs. When she saw their condition she began to cry. She brought Mock to a cot in the tent and sat him down. She then retrieved a bucket of warm water, soap, shaving supplies, and a clean pair of pajamas for Mock. He got himself cleaned up and got rid of the clothes and German overcoat he had been wearing. They were full of lice. After Mock got cleaned up, the nurse brought him a cup of sliced peaches and the two sat and talked for a while. The nurse told Mock that the former POWs would be flown to Reims, France the following day.

The next day, John Mock was flown to Rheims, France in a C-47 [Annotator's Note: Douglas C-47 Skytrain cargo aircraft] that had been converted to an ambulance. In Reims they were moved to the top floor of an old school building. When they were fed that night their food was brought by German POWs [Annotator's Note: prisoners of war]. That did not go over well so after that the food was delivered by French personnel. After about five days Mock started sneaking extra meals. He and the other prisoners quickly put weight back on. One of the prisoners had worms which required medical treatment. Mock had arrived in Reims around 1 April [Annotator's Note: 1 April 1945]. They had been liberated by the 99th Infantry Division on 28 March. On 25 March [Annotator's Note 25 May] they went to Paris. A bus picked them up at the airport and drove them through Paris. The driver showed them all of the sights. They stopped at a location where they were issued new class A uniforms [Annotator's Note: dress uniforms]. After a few days in Paris they were taken back to the airport where they boarded a DC-6 [Annotator's Note: Douglas DC-6 passenger aircraft] for the flight back to the United States. After a short stop in the Azores where they had a short rest and a bite to eat, they continued their journey. They had breakfast in New Foundland the next morning then arrived in New York. They were sent to Long Island where they spent several days before being flown home. Mock was flown to Kansas City then went by car to Topeka where he spent the remainder of his time in the service at Winter General Hospital.

After leaving the service, John Mock could not find work near his home so he took a friend's suggestion and moved to Fort Worth, Texas. Mock and his friend tried to get work with Consolidated Aircraft but the company was closing down. They then went to work in the oil fields in west Texas. Mock had grown up in oil fields and was familiar with the work. There was plenty of work to be had there. Mock stayed in West Texas until 1951 when he left to go to Hobbs, New Mexico. In 1965, Mock left Hobbs and went to Brazil to work as a rig mechanic. He worked in Brazil for two and a half years. In all, Mock spent 19 years overseas. He went to Japan, England, Singapore, and Bahrain. He was in Bahrain at the time that Bahrain was forming its own government. While in England he visited every museum in London. Mock now collects rare Cadillacs.