On Veterans Day, residents and elected officials are commemorating their servicemen and women with a variety of ceremonies around the state.
On Thursday, a group of former World War II prisoners of war gathered in Providence to receive recognition from the state’s Congressional Delegation.
In 1941, East Providence resident Roland Strumpf was flying planes in Eastern Europe, when he was shot down and captured by German forces.
“We got shot down at the oil fields in Romania, and ended up in Bulgaria,” said Strumpf. “The tough thing is we didn’t learn anything about Bulgaria, and so which way is freedom?”
When Strumpf managed to escape he made his way to Syria, where the RAF – the British Royal Air Force was stationed.
“We ended up in Aleppo, actually, the RAF had an airbase in Aleppo, and we ended up there because they provided us airplanes and flew us from Syria back to Italy, and we were finally free,” said Strumpf.
Fellow Rhode Islander, Leo Belend fought on Omaha Beach in Normandy, France in the summer of 1944. During the melee, the 21-year-old was shot in the leg and crawled into a creek where he was discovered by German soldiers.
“I was sitting on my broken leg. I was there for 14 hours,” said Belend. “And then a German came up to the creek, and he was about 10 feet from me and he shot me with his Luger.”
Belend was held as a German captive for two months, in a hospital in France, before U.S. forces appeared towards the end of World War II.
“When the Americans came the Germans took off, left me in the hospital,” said Belend. “Then the Americans put me in a cast, they took me to a field hospital, the next day, they put me on an airplane, shipped me back to England.”
On Friday, Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo and members of the state Congressional delegation honored servicemen and women at the State Veterans Home in Bristol.
