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Jesse Oxendine

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Uncle Sam came for him as soon as he graduated high school. Jesse Oxendine was needed in the big war, along with nearly every other boy in his class. His basic training was cut a little short because the Battle of the Bulge had depleted the ranks of more than one unit. (4:50)

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Jesse Oxendine thought all the Atlantic crossing was done in convoys, but he woke up his first morning at sea and was surprised to find the ship all alone in the ocean. It was a fast liner, able to outrun the German subs. (5:19)

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The 325th was confined to base on the coast of England, waiting for passage across the channel. That didn't stop Jesse Oxendine and his buddies from going to a USO club nearby. They managed to get out and back in through the wire without getting caught. The trip to Le Havre was in an old French freighter, not a pleasant ride. (4:39)

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Jesse Oxendine was sent to a replacement center near the Belgian border. It was in a marvelous old fortress and it was there that he was assigned to a glider infantry unit, part of the 82nd Airborne. He really liked the jump boots but he noticed that nearly every soldier had a Purple Heart. (4:35)

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Crawling under machine gun fire was something he had done several times in training, so when Jesse Oxendine got to Cologne and heard gunfire, he thought they were making him do it again. No, that's the real thing. Those German machine guns had a distinctive sound. (4:42)

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While at the Rhine River, a couple of guys found German machine guns. One of them was smart enough to take the ammunition out of it. The other one nearly made a casualty out of Jesse Oxendine. Then it was on to the Elbe River, where they prepared to take the town of Ludwigslust. (5:38)

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Allied troops were now moving into Germany itself. Jesse Oxendine's unit came across some sort of camp surrounded by wire. What they found inside was unbelievable. Skeletal prisoners with a shocking appearance, bodies stacked like wood, and huge furnaces. They had stumbled upon Wobbelin, one of the Nazi concentration camps. (7:11)

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Everybody wanted a Luger. The Germans were surrendering in droves and throwing their weapons in a big pile. Since the MP's were keeping the GI's away from the pile, Jesse Oxendine and some pals came up with a way to get some pistols. (1:48)

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After liberating a concentration camp, Jesse Oxendine's unit returned to France and were there when the war ended. They were rewarded with a plum assignment, representing US forces in occupied Berlin. They quickly discovered the night life. (4:48)

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While on guard duty in Berlin right after the war, Jesse Oxendine had more trouble with the Russians than anyone else. He recalls the time he and a buddy encountered four drunk Russian soldiers. (3:18)