Melvin L. Baker was born in November 1919 in Marysville which is near his current home in Summerdale, Pennsylvania. He was a member of the 398th Infantry Regiment, 100th Infantry Division during World War 2. He was drafted on 10 April 1942. He was discharged as a staff sergeant. He was captured on 3 December 1944 and reported missing in action. His regiment had advanced across France and taken the small town of Wingen, France before the Americans were driven out. Resistance had steadily been very heavy along the way. While on a hill outside of town, the Germans were firing mortars on the advancing Americans. Some of Baker's buddies were killed or injured at that time. It was not the first time he had been shelled. He had landed in Marseilles and gone down the ship using cargo nets. They walked over sunken ships and when they reached shore they were bombed by enemy aircraft. There were no injuries at the time. It was raining and the men pitched tents, made camp and ate. Proceeding toward Germany, it was rainy and cold. There was little resistance capturing various towns along the way. Little was explained of the significance of securing each town. It was just another town. The men foolishly wasted food not knowing that their capture was just ahead. When the regiment reached Wingen, they received enemy mortar fire. One man was shell shocked [Annotator's Note: a period reference to what is today referred to as post traumatic stress disorder] and stood up without concern for being injured. Baker escorted him to the rear. When Baker returned to his post in a building, he was cold and hungry. Not knowing the German positions, he rested. Soon, a German speaking very understandable English said for them to surrender or the building would be blown up. Seeing a large contingent of enemy soldiers just outside the building, he and the others opted to lay down their weapons and surrender. Baker walked outside and handed a grenade to an enemy soldier who quickly disposed of it. Baker observed many Americans outside the building who had previously surrendered. It was the worst time of his life. He summarily disposed of any German money he possessed. The prisoners were taken to another building where there was heat inside. The POWs [Annotator's Note: prisoner of war] sat on the floor and awaited interrogation by a German officer who spoke very good English. Baker volunteered nothing but his name, rank and serial number despite inquiries for further details by the German. Baker was told to empty his pockets but was allowed to keep his personal effects. Then he was taken to camp XII-A [Annotator's Note: Stalag XII-A in Limburg, Germany].

Melvin Baker was concerned that his family would not know his status after he was captured. Later, he was allowed to write home. He continuously worried about what the Germans would do with him. Some American soldiers were shot after capture. Before surrendering, Baker had a squad of 12 men under his command. At deployment, he was a T5 [Annotator's Note: Technician 5th Grade, the pay grade equivilent of a corporal] but was promoted to a staff sergeant and given a squad of men that he did not know. He learned their capabilities in the field. When he first entered the town of Wingen, France, the German resistance was light. The next morning, the Germans came back into the town and pushed the Americans back. When the Americans returned a second time, they were trapped by the Germans. The lieutenant over Baker's squad insisted that his men should not go back into the town, but he was overruled by the commanding officer. As circumstances evolved, Baker's squad was overwhelmed and surrendered. After interrogation, he was sent to Stalag XII-A in Limburg, Germany. He knew nothing about Stalags until he reached XII-A. He was embarrassed and surprised to be captured. He later stayed in a camp that was an old Navy camp. It even had a swimming pool but it was not used. That was Stalag II-D near Stargard. He saw Russians there. He spent time in two other Stalags during his captivity. Beside size differences, they were all similar. As the warfare neared them, the guards wanted to leave. The British Army eventually liberated the camp and Baker. He was given food and a fresh uniform. The food caused stomach problems for Baker and some of the other malnourished prisoners. As a prisoner, Baker was lonely and depressed. At the same time, he was cold and hungry. In prison, he had few friends. He had more friends while in his platoon. One friend gave him a violin which he got rid of during combat. Each POW [Annotator's Note: prisoner of war] camp barrack had a hole in the floor for attempted escapes. Baker was too weak from weight loss to attempt to get away. A typical day as a POW basically involved sleeping and laying around. There was never any recreation organized. It made for long days. Baker was skeptical of the German guards. Food was sparse and unappealing. When he was moved from one camp to another, he was forced to march. It was always cold. The Vosges Mountains in France were very dark. It was difficult to find his way through the forests with the high trees. When he was told to fix bayonets in readiness for attack, it made him anxious. No contact was made on that occasion. Another time, Baker was told to scout ahead in a jeep with other personnel. He did not find any Germans on that mission either.

Melvin Baker felt the German guards were tough. He tried to stay right with them. A flight of B-17s [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber] bombed him while he was in Europe. A P-47 [Annotator's Note: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter aircraft] fired on the Americans on one occasion. Baker saw the first dead German soldier, laying with a potato masher [Annotator's Note: German Stielhandgranate or stick hand grenade] in his hand. That first realization that war was a personally deadly affair startled him. He did not know what he was doing there. He did not flee the draft like some men did. The destruction he witnessed was horrible. That was particularly the case at Le Havre.

Melvin Baker did not remember having any heat in any POW [Annotator's Note: prisoner of war] barracks. Moving from camp to camp was reason for alarm. There was always the uncertainty of what the Germans were going to do. Many men died on those difficult marches. Baker had frostbite on both feet. When a man fell out, he could be executed. One woman provided the struggling marchers with some food to keep them alive. The guards were not in too good a shape either. Baker never had new clothing issued to him. He had a shower and clean underwear provided to him before he went into combat. That fresh underwear may have saved his life. He wore it for over 170 days. After he was liberated by the British, he was provided with fresh clothing. He was liberated after the German guards had left. Food was plentiful after that. When Baker saw Allied aircraft flying over, he knew the war was coming to a favorable end. Unfortunately, there were instances of Allied bombs falling on Allied POWs. Baker was forced to participate in the clean up afterward. Baker personally experienced a near miss. He suffered terribly during his imprisonment. He constantly thought about returning home and seeing his wife. He did manage to write home on a few occasions. He received some packages from home but that stopped after a while. The guards became difficult to deal with after camp bombings. Prisoners were counted every day but the POWs made it difficult. [Annotator's Note: A final conversation ensues about the uncertainty of being a POW of Germany during the war versus the relative comfort of the German POWs in the United States.]