WWII Slave Camp Soldiers:The Army had never recognized the men until last weekend

The day I held a sobbing WWII medic in my arms
Story Highlights
Two-star general credits CNN's online reporting in preserving WWII legacy

CNN's Wayne Drash filed series of reports in recent months on slave camp soldiers

350 U.S. soldiers were held at a Nazi slave labor camp in 1945

The Army had never recognized the men until last weekend
By Wayne Drash
CNN


Editor's note: In our Behind the Scenes series, CNN correspondents and producers share their experiences in covering news and analyze the stories behind the events.

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- I'll never forget holding World War II medic Tony Acevedo in my arms. He wept and convulsed for more than 10 minutes, his body constricting and tightening in a way I'd never seen before. "I'm sorry," he said, repeating, "I'm sorry. I want to say more, but I can't."

I held his hand and hugged him until he calmed. I had asked what I thought was a simple question. "When I say the name Erwin Metz, what comes to your mind?"

That's when the demons of 1945 took over.

Metz was one of the Nazi commanders who headed a slave labor camp known as Berga an der Elster, where 350 U.S. soldiers -- 80 of whom had been targeted for being Jewish -- were beaten, starved and forced to work in tunnels at a secret V-2 rocket factory. They worked 10 to 12 hour days with only 400 calories of food, mostly bread made from sawdust. More than 100 soldiers died at the camp or on a forced death march of more than 200 miles.
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http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/06/09/berga.recognition.btsc/index.html