Personal Narrative Manuscript/Mixed Material Photo, Print, Drawing Homer Eslie Hall Collection
Veterans History Project Service Summary:
- War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
- Branch of Service: Army
- Unit of Service: 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division
- Location of Service: European Theater
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/74621
A member of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division, Staff Sergeant Homer Hall parachuted into Normandy in the early hours of D-Day, missing his drop zone by several miles. After nearly a week spent dodging Germans, he was captured on June 13th. Interned in Stalag Luft IV, he cobbled together a diary from cigarette labels, and bound it together with a strip of tin from a container of cheese that was sent to the camp by the Red Cross. In this diary, he recorded the names of his fellow prisoners, small vignettes about his buddies, poems, and vocabulary lessons in Spanish-all of which hint at the boredom of life in a POW camp, and the bonds between fellow internees. After nearly eleven months of captivity, and almost two months of forced marching through the countryside, he and two other prisoners successfully escaped from German control in late April 1945.
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About this Item
Title
- Homer Eslie Hall Collection
Names
- Hall, Homer Eslie
- Kinion, Fern M.
Home State
- Arkansas
Headings
- - Hall, Homer Eslie
- - World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
- - United States. Army.
- - Prisoner of War -- United States
Repository
- Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
Gender
- Male
Status
- veteran
Service History
-
World War, 1939-1945
- Branch of Service: Army
- Unit of Service: 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division
- Location of Service: European Theater
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Dates of Service: 1942-1945
- Prisoner of War: Yes
- Entrance into Service: Enlisted
- Military Status: veteran
Materials
- Manuscript: Diaries and journals [2 items] -- Handwritten document (collected 1944-1945)
- Manuscript: Mixed (Multiple types of manuscripts) [ item] -- Typewritten document (collected 1941-1946)
Collection Number
- AFC/2001/001/74621
Cite as
- Homer Eslie Hall Collection (AFC/2001/001/74621), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
Online Format
- image