Thomas Houdek was born in Detroit, Michigan in March 1926, the youngest of six children. His father was a tool and die maker who did his best to provide for the family throughout the depression years. Houdek's oldest brother was drafted into the Army in the first draft in 1940. Houdek was visiting with his brother who was home on leave after taking part in the Louisiana Maneuvers when word of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was announced on 7 December 1941. The news of the attack was a surprise to Houdek. He did not truly comprehend its meaning. Shortly after the United States officially entered the war, Houdek went to work for Metro Auto Electric even though he was only 15 years old. He worked for Metro Electric until April 1944 when he was drafted into the Army. After the war, he returned to Metro Electric and ultimately retired from the company.

After receiving his draft notice [Annotator's Note: in April 1944], Thomas Houdek was sent to Camp Hood, Texas where he took his basic training. After completing basic training, he and several other newly trained infantrymen volunteered for overseas service. Houdek had prior training during his ROTC [Annotator's Note: Reserve Office Training Corps] involvement in high school. The volunteers for overseas were sent to Camp Gruber, Oklahoma where Houdek joined Company G, 2nd Battalion, 232nd Infantry Regiment, 42nd Infantry Division as a rifleman and grenadier. Houdek later fired a grenade at an enemy tank during combat. The tank was disabled. He also used his rifle in combat. After a short period of stateside training in Oklahoma and a leave at home, Houdek and the 232nd Infantry Regiment moved to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey. There, they boarded a transport ship and steamed for Southern France. The Coast Guard prevented submarine attacks on their ship prior to the ocean crossing. The ship landed at Marseilles [Annotator's Note: Marseilles, France].

After arriving in Southern France, Thomas Houdek and the rest of his unit [Annotator's Note: Company G, 2nd Battalion, 232nd Infantry Regiment, 42nd Infantry Division] went ashore in Marseilles across the hull of a scuttled French warship. From Marseilles, Houdek and his unit were trucked to Strasbourg where they arrived on 23 December 1944. There, Houdek and six others took over a bunker overlooking the Rhine River. Over the following days, Houdek and the others could see German infantry and armor massing on the opposite side of the river. Then, on 3 January 1945, the Germans launched a furious assault across the Rhine. For two days, Houdek and the rest of his battalion fought against German infantry and tanks with only their rifles and rifle grenades. On the second day of the battle, the Germans blew up the bunker Houdek was in and set it on fire. The blast knocked him to the ground and stunned him somewhat. Before he could regain his senses, the bunker was surrounded by German troops. Realizing that their situation was untenable, Houdek and the other six guys in the bunker decided to surrender. They were taken across the Rhine River to a building in which they were interrogated. From there, they were taken to Nuremburg and then crammed into boxcars and sent to Colditz prison where they were delayed. The German rail tracks ahead had been destroyed. During the trip, friendly aircraft shot at, bombed, and attempted to destroy the rail cars and tracks. After a shower in freezing weather and repair to the tracks ahead, the prisoners were jammed into another railcar and sent to Moosburg, Germany and Stalag IV-A.

After a short time at Stalag IV-A [Annotator's Note: in Moosburg, Germany], Thomas Houdek and other prisoners were sent to Stalag IV-B [Annotator's Note: in Mühlberg, Germany]. While a prisoner in Stalag IV-B, Houdek went out on a number of work details including repairing rail lines and clearing debris in Dresden following the massive bombing of that city. While helping an injured friend, Houdek struggled to keep him alive cajoling him to eat something. The man never ate despite repeated requests by Houdek. Houdek's buddy died. [Annotator's Note: Houdek cries.] He felt very close to that man even though he never knew his name. At another point, Houdek suffered a hernia and was no longer able to go out on work details. He later became very sick from eating rotten food. He witnessed Russian aircraft strafe Allied prisoners. In late April 1945, Russian Cossacks entered the camp and liberated the POWs [Annotator's Note: prisoners of war]. Houdek and the other newly freed prisoners were sent to Riesa, Germany.

Thomas Houdek was liberated and sent to Riesa, Germany where he spent several weeks waiting for American troops to collect him and the other former POWs [Annotator's Note: prisoner of war]. While there, Houdek and several others broke into a store room and took a number of cans of food. After watching some of the guys eat themselves to death, Houdek decided to stash the cans he took in the back of a bass drum. One evening, Houdek was looking out of the window when he saw several German women walking down the street. The women were obviously in bad shape so Houdek dropped the cans of food to them. After two or three weeks in Riesa, Houdek and the other Americans were flown to Camp Lucky Strike [Annotator's Note: a transit camp in France named after a popular cigarette brand] at Le Havre. There, a German SS [Annotator's Note: German paramilitary organization] soldier was incarcerated by American MPs [Annotator's Note: military police] for impersonating an American soldier. At Le Havre, he boarded a ship and steamed back to the United States. On the voyage back to the United States, Houdek sold all his souvenir guns to the Merchant Marine crew. After landing at Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia, Houdek was sent by train to Fort Sheridan, Illinois. During the trip, the train stopped in a town in West Virginia in the middle of the night. During the stop, a preacher asked the servicemen on the train if they needed anything. When the men replied that they needed food, the minister rounded up dozens of town's people. The town's people prepared a full meal of fried chicken with all of the sides for the soldiers. It was the only time Houdek has ever eaten fried chicken in the middle of the night. Once the men were fed, the train continued on to Florida then from there to San Francisco where Houdek spent the next several months. Finally, in November 1945, Houdek was discharged from the Army in San Diego, California with the rank of PFC [Annotator's Note: private first class]. After leaving the Army, Houdek returned to Detroit and went back to work for Metro Electric where he worked his entire career. He raised a family and is thankful for the life he had.

Thomas Houdek was involved in a firefight at the French and German border. His group [Annotator's Note: Houdek was a member of Company G, 2nd Battalion, 232nd Infantry Regiment, 42nd Infantry Division] attacked a bunker and captured it. Shortly thereafter, Germans attacked their position and blew the door off the bunker. The Americans inside reacted in various ways. One man who armed himself to the teeth started crying and did not fire a shot at the enemy. Houdek was blown against a table. Seeing the situation was hopeless, Houdek smashed his rifle and exited the bunker without realizing that he had two grenades in his pockets. It had been a noisy experience. Out of Houdek's whole outfit, about 75 percent were casualties. Some survivors were reassigned to new outfits. Meanwhile, Houdek spent his time as a POW [Annotator's Note: prisoner of war]. He has no regrets and is proud of his service. He was not frightened about being captured. He was more concerned about his parents worrying about him. Most of the Germans treated the American captives fairly. Most Americans feared what was next. Houdek did not have that fear even though he was one of the youngest men in the outfit. He was captured right around his birthday [Annotator's Note: around 6 March 1945].

Thomas Houdek and other enlisted POWs [Annotator’s Note: prisoners of war] worked dawn to dusk repairing German railroads. Life was tough as a captive. Houdek had a personal religious experience on Palm Sunday while he was a POW. That feeling extended to his postwar life on Palm Sundays. A priest once asked Houdek what he would do if the priest was German. Houdek said he would kill him. He did not believe in turning the other cheek as the cleric had wanted. [Annotator's Note: Houdek laughs.] Houdek heard of the death of President Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: President Franklin D. Roosevelt] while he was a POW. All the other Allied prisoners were gathered and saluted the American POWs for their loss. Prior to liberation, battles raged between Russian and German tanks. The action went back and forth. The English learned of the German defeat and made the Americans fall out. Houdek hated the English because they always seemed to command the camps from the Allied side. Unlike the Americans, the British received Red Cross parcels. Houdek only obtained one parcel and that had to be shared between eight men. Normally, the parcel was to be shared by two men. Why the Germans did not distribute the parcels evenly, no one knows. Russian Cossacks liberated the camp [Annotator's Note: Stalag IV-B in Mühlberg, Germany] and freed the POWs. The liberated men were taken by truck to Riesa [Annotator's Note: Riesa, Germany]. Ample food was available but Houdek did not eat too much because some men had died from overeating. He felt sorry for the German populace who had suffered so much. Two German women had offered him bread while he was a captive. He could have sworn that he was looking at his mother. Houdek could not feel anger toward all Germans.

Thomas Houdek was discharged in San Diego, California on 25 November 1945. He considered staying in the service but decided against it. He would have had the opportunity to buy an Army staff car had he stayed in the Army and remained in California. That still was not inducement enough to reenlist. Houdek never took advantage of the G.I. Bill. He did not believe the government owed him anything. He does receive various benefits from the Veterans Administration. Immediately after the war, he did receive some support from the government. After the war, he had shrapnel from an artillery barrage removed from his foot. He received the Purple Heart for frozen feet.

Thomas Houdek was not afraid during war. His most vivid memory involves a man who died during captivity. Houdek felt the man had treated him as a younger brother. He gets emotional remembering that loss. When it came time for POW [Annotator's Note: prisoner of war] chow, knowing the soup server was important in order to get the most solids in the small portion dispensed to each man. They only had a bit of bread to go along with the often watery soup. When Houdek contested the amount he was given, he was told to shut up or he would not be given anything. Today, freedom means everything to Houdek. People recognize and respect his ordeals as a prisoner of war. He talks with various audiences about those experiences. He loves the American flag. He agrees with Trump [Annotator's Note: President Donald Trump] on the people coming across the Mexican border. They should immigrate legally. Life growing up for Houdek was far less complicated than that faced by young people today. People today do not realize what war is. Houdek agrees with Tom Brokow about his generation being the best. Since the end of the war, Houdek has met many former general officers and told his story to them and others. Many people stop him to thank him for his service and ask for a photograph with him.