Oral history interview of John Nicholson. John W. Nicholson, Jr. was drafted into WWII (1943-1945) into the Army Company A, 143rd Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division and served as a Private First (1st) Class. He saw action in the European Theater in Scotland, Casablanca (Morocco), Oran (Algeria), North Africa, and Italy. He was shot and then captured and later taken by the Germans through Rome to Stalag 7A and then 2B in northeastern Germany. He worked on a farm as a field worker with potatoes, wheat, and barley. He had potato soup and turnips or rutabagas to eat. On April 13, 1945 he was liberated when the German guards surrendered to American forces in a nearby village. He was a POW for 14 months, and received 2 Purple Hearts.