Walter N. Gaterman was born in Saint Louis in December 1921. He was in the printing trade before the war. He heard about Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941] over the radio at home. He was drafted into the Army infantry. He had basic training at Camp Roberts in California. He also trained at Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina. He had Ranger training in California with the 87th Division. He was trained on the M1 Garand [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic rifle, also known as the M1 Garand], the Springfield [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber Model 1903, or M1903, Springfield bolt action rifle] and English Enfield rifles. He went to Fort Meade [Annotator's Note: Fort Mead, Maryland] from Columbia then New York [Annotator's Note: New York, New York] for overseas deployment on a large British ship. Landing in Liverpool, England, he was shipped to Norwich. He was given additional training there and then joined Company C, 112th Regiment, 28th Division [Annotator's Note: Company C, 1st Battalion, 112th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division] after transiting the English Channel. Gaterman had a vision problem with one eye and could have avoided service, but he wanted to do his part. He is glad he did but would not want to do it again, especially the prisoner of war camp.

Walter Gaterman joined his unit [Annotator's Note: Company C, 1st Battalion, 112th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division] just prior to the Battle of the Bulge [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Bulge or German Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945]. It was supposedly a quite area. It did not turn out that way. It was a mess. He was in a foxhole near Rogery [Annotator's Note: Rogery, Belgium] when things broke loose and the five men positioned together had to pull out. It was difficult to fight tanks with a rifle. It was frightening. The officer put out the white flag. They were captured and lined up. He had previously destroyed anything he had that was important but he had forgotten to get rid of the flexible German cleaning rod for his rifle. One of his captors said Gaterman was lucky to be where he was. About 50 prisoners were gathered together and marched out. The weather was extremely cold while they were on the road. It took three days to get to Limburg [Annotator's Note: Limburg, Germany] where 40 men were jammed in the railcar. Sanitary conditions were pitiful. There was no strafing of his train like experienced on other transports.

Walter Gaterman arrived at Stalag IV-B near Mühlberg, Germany. He had been interrogated three or four times beforehand. The interrogators were very good at pulling information from the captives. The Germans were pleased while they were winning during the easy victories early in the war. At this stage of the war, things were much tougher on them as Gaterman learned on his truck ride with a German guard on his way to interrogation. Gaterman managed to get in with some British prisoners who treated him well while he was at Stalag IV-B. Food was scarce resulting in Gaterman's considerable loss of weight. After the Russians liberated the camp on 23 April 1945, he left Stalag IV-B. The roads were clogged with displaced persons. He was only one in the mass of people who sought food for survival. Even a couple of German Lugers [Annotator's Note: German P-08 Luger 9mm semi-automatic pistol] had no value to him compared to food and survival. He wishes he had not thrown the valuable pistols away. He was interrogated by a female Russian officer who let him know the war was nearly over. The bread and tea he received was immediately thrown up. Reaching the American lines, he found his strength was very limited. Nevertheless, he crossed a river hand over hand to get to the American side. He eventually made his way to Camp Lucky Strike [Annotator's Note: one of the transit and rehabilitation camps in France named after popular cigarette brands; Lucky Strike was near Le Havre, France] at Le Havre. He flew from there. He was shocked when the plane hit an air pocket but was reassured by the Air Force crewmen. Prior to his capture, Gaterman had only minor skirmishes that resulted in few casualties. Stalag IV-B had originally held 10,000 prisoners but eventually grew to 30,000 POWs [Annotator's Note: prisoners of war]. The Russians were treated miserably in the camp. Escapes were minimal. People were too weak to get away. Language was an issue and lack of knowledge of the territory made it difficult. Recapture meant physical abuse. Russians, Poles, Indians, British, Danes and Americans were among the many nationalities in the Stalag with Gaterman. They all were relegated to eating any scraps of food they could get. Lice was a problem as was the freezing weather. That camp was one of the better places compared to the Holocaust camps.

Walter Gaterman had post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD decades after the war. He met Vietnam veterans who had it worse than him. He could not talk about his issues for years. He counselled Vietnam guys to find someone to talk to so they could relieve their pressures. During a typical day at the Stalag [Annotator's Note: he was imprisoned at Stalag IV-B near Mühlberg, Germany], people who died the night before would be held up for roll call so a ration could be drawn for them. Gaterman was never assigned to a work detail during his captivity. He learned to improvise to slightly improve his life. The British had a radio that was hidden from the Germans. It was a morale booster because the Allied progress could be tracked through the BBC [Annotator's Note: British Broadcasting Corporation] broadcasts. The barrack was gradually torn apart for heating wood. Paper in a prison camp was like gold. There was no toilet paper [Annotator's Note: he gestures with his finger]. Gaterman still feels he was lucky because there were worse camps. He never got close to people in the camp because of his depression. He never went to reunion meetings because he did not know the names of those he was imprisoned with. [Annotator's Note: Gaterman pauses as he gets nervous and needs to gather himself.] Early in the morning, bread and a bit of soup with little nutritional value was parsed out to the prisoners for the daily food. There was little to do other than read and talk. It was very boring. Bathing was impossible. Even when it rained, it was too cold to go outside to clean up. When Allied aircraft flew over the camp, it was an indication that the war was coming to an end. He stayed inside his barrack to conserve energy as he grew weaker from the lack of food. He knew he would make it, but it was getting tougher. It was impossible to recover from sickness because medicine did not exist.

Walter Gaterman saw the Russians liberate his camp on 23 April [Annotator's Note: Stalag IV-B near Mühlberg, Germany was liberated on 23 April 1945]. He was interrogated by a female Russian who was very nice. The Russians gave him bread, butter and tea which he could not hold down. He took to the road for two or three weeks by himself. He was searching for food. He scavenged for food and found some pickled chicken in a German home. He threw up food until his system adapted to nourishment. Some of the food he ate could have been tainted, but he ate it without reservation. He wandered around looking for food until he found the American lines. He was offered many things taken as captured booty but refused it. He was fortunate to reach the Americans. When he reached Camp Lucky Strike [Annotator's Note: one of the transit and rehabilitation camps in France named after popular cigarette brands; Lucky Strike was near Le Havre, France], food was plentiful. He began to be able to hold it down. He was left to recuperate in the camp. From there, he flew to a port where he boarded a ship to return home. Survival was his focus. He was discharged as PFC [Annotator's Note: private first class] at Camp Beale, California on 26 November [Annotator’s Note: 26 November 1945]. Prior to his capture, he manned a foxhole with his M1 rifle [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic rifle, also known as the M1 Garand].