TWO TRI-STATE MEN LIBERATED
Classmate First to Greet Shullsburg Soldier
Shullsburg, Wis. - Special – Corp. John C. Hebenstreit was liberated from a German prison camp by the advancing allied armies on March 30, and one of the men to aid in his liberation, and to be among the first to greet him, was a high school classmate, Pfc. Melvin Cherry, according to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. J.R. Hebenstreit. The letter was written on April 1, and received in Shullsburg this week.
The allied force took the prison camp, Stalag 9-B, at Bad Orb, in southern Germany, at about noon of March 30, Good Friday, the letter said.
Hebenstreit said he lost very much weight and had “gone through plenty of hell, but I am all right and expect to be home soon.”
The former German prisoner was reported missing in action on Dec. 16 and was reported as being a prisoner on Feb. 23.
He and Cherry entered the army together, and both were with the 106th division, which was struck first by the Germans in their December counterattack.
Source: Dubuque Telegraph Herald, April 26, 1945, pg. 14, col. 4 (Photo of Hebenstreit included)
**News article submitted by researcher, Jeanie Belding**