There were about lO,OOO British and American POW's who gradually left the compound. We formed a line down the road to the southwest through the pine forest, in the cold, as the snow fell gently. We looked back, Bruce and I, at our home for the past eight months. There was a red glow in the sky above our compound as someone, in a last act of defiance, had set fire to his barracks before leaving. This march was to last for six days and we were to walk sixty two miles. There was about four inches of snow on the ground. and during the first mile we began to realize that we were too weak to carry everything. I took the heaviest cans of food out of my coat and threw them in the snow. I kept the powdered milk as it was the lightest and most nourishing food. Soon the road was littered with food and extra clothing. We knew that we would need the food later, but it was a choice between that or falling behind and possibly losing our friends. About a mile down the road we could hear the Russian guns getting much louder (they were thirty miles away). Suddenly there were some rifle shots and we all scattered off the road, diving head first into the snowy brush. It turned out to be a false alarm so we stopped praying and got back onto the road. At daylight the wind began to blow and for the next two days we marched in a blizzard. We stopped at intervals for ten minute rest periods, dropped into the snow and just dreaded getting up again. We marched this way until noon the following day when we reached Freiwaldu, a distance of eighteen miles in eleven hours. We stopped at a farm house and the barn was full so Bruce and I laid down in the snow against the back of the barn out of the wind. During the afternoon we took turns going to the farmhouse to get warm. Bruce and I got into the kitchen and the farmer and his wife were there just looking bewildered. The German soldiers were noted for taking everything from the people in the countryside in the places they occupied and the Americans were just the opposite. After our time was up and we were warm, Bruce and I took some cans of food out of our packs and gave them to the woman. It was our way of saying thanks to them for allowing us to get warm and we received a smile from her as thanks. Then we returned to the blizzard. Later on during the march we did pick up some things around the farms and it must have been hard for the farm people. Having thousands of Americans crowding into every space must have been traumatic for them. The British prisoners were soon mixed in with us, as all became scattered in line. They were the most amazing people I have ever known. They were always happy and singing, innovative in finding ways to carry their packs. After a few stops at farms they would come down the road with baby buggies, carts and makeshift hand carts created from old wheels they found. I recall one group with packs piled high in a buggy. They also found sleds which worked until the snow melted. Under the miserable conditions no one gave thought to trying to escape. The American colonel who was in charge of us recommended that we stick together for reasons of safety. We had few guards with us and they were mostly old men. The old man with our group rode a bicycle and carried a rifle. It wasn't long before he was walking too and when we had rest stops we immediately fell to working on the blisters we had developed on our feet. We even patched up the guard's feet and it wasn't long before we took turns carrying his rifle and pack. This was the only way that he could keep up and we felt sorry for him. We began again at 6 PM and marched all night in the blizzard. The next day we arrived at a little village named Muskau. Thus far all we had to eat was cold food that we were carrying and some bread the Germans had given us. We were so cold and hungry as we looked for a place to get inside. Bruce and I found a place inside a small stone church in the center of town. We were crowded in so tightly that the only spot Bruce and I could find to sleep was next to the altar. On each side of the altar was a section filled with dirt, with many small white crosses stuck in the dirt. We removed enough crosses to make a place to lie down and when we left we smoothed the ground and replaced the crosses. This was Monday and the first sleep we had since the Friday before. We were very weak and desperately needed it. It was also a relief to get inside away from the cold and snow. We were sti11 eating cold food and more bread from the Germans. With so many men on the move, they had no way to feed us and by this time in the war they barely had enough for themselves anyway. I know our guards had even less than we did. When we started marching again we were really in bad shape.