(Editor’s Note: Kingsville’s World War II hero and POW survivor Cruz Mata was buried Tuesday. He died at the age of 91.)

Working with senior citizen services for Kleberg County for many years I was fortunate to meet many people from all walks of life. One of those individuals was Mr. Cruz Mata, a World War II prisoner of war.

One year I decided to develop an oral history about senior citizen’s perception of the 1929 great depression here in Kleberg County. It was on that occasion that I interviewed Mr. Cruz Mata when he spoke about his time as a prisoner of war in a German prison camp.

In addition, he brought me a dairy that he kept of his experience as a prisoner of war in 1944. The following are excerpts from his diary.

“It was the 7th of May, 1942, that I left Kingsville bound for Fort Sam Houston for a preliminary physical exam. I was there twelve days and then sent to Camp Shelby in Mississippi. I spent time at several training camps such as Ft. Dix in California. On the 29th of December, 1943, we were transported by ship to Casa Blanca, North Africa. On the 3rd of March, 1944, we boarded a ship that took us to Mapoli, Italy. From Mapoli we were sent near the German front line. On Easter Sunday, April 9, 1944, we arrived at the front lines. On the 10th we lost two men from my company and nine were wounded. We were there three days when we started going out at night to a certain place to guard a road against German activity. During the day we would sleep in what was a small cave and during the night we would keep watch on the road.”

“On the 11th of May the machine gun section was gathered at about 11:30 a.m. when Sgt. Miclin, the platoon Sgt., could hardly talk but finally said “this is the day.” He told us that night we would commence an attack at about 11 p.m. and he explained the strategy. We proceeded to equip ourselves with ammo and grenades and everything we would need. I was scared, but not very much. More apprehensive was my feeling was one of not knowing what lied ahead. I remember a Pvt. who always said he was not afraid of war, especially when he got drunk. However, this day he seemed scared and apprehensive as we all did.”

“We moved out about 8 p.m. and continued until eleven p.m., May 12, 1944; when we reached a point that we could no longer advance. We were within reach of the German machine guns. The Germans began firing intensely. We were twohundred yards from the Germans when they started using artillery and everything they had. There were about 1500 of us marching toward the Germans. I started sweating more as I saw my fellow Americans wounded as we went.”

“On the 12th of May, 1944, we took over a town by the name of Itaeta.” “We left the town and took Rome, Italy, on the 4th of June.” “We passed through Rome and camped thirty miles from there.” “From the camp we continued to attack the Germans at other places. I can’t describe all the fighting because I can’t remember all of it, but we fought until the 25th of August.”

“On the 19th of September at 10 a.m. they told us to rest because that night we were to attack a very dangerous place. We started advancing at about 6 p.m.; L company was advancing up the middle. The Germans started shooting and we were in a place with little cover. We were advancing slowly and lost several men in the process. We were there until 10:30 p.m. and as it got dark we proceeded with our attack. At about twelve midnight we heard a German say “Hi Doc” and at the same time he started shooting his machine gun. I was hit in the leg and my Lt. told me to stay back. We continued walking and I felt considerable pain as I walked, but I did not complain.”

“At about 5:30 in the morning the Germans came at us from all sides. Collins and I were partners and we shot at the Germans back to back. Grenades came at us from all sides and finally I ran out of bullets. I noticed the rest of my company had also stopped shooting. I had by this time been wounded on my left arm by a grenade. Without ammo, we surrendered to the Germans.

They called us “Amerikihunds” which meant American dogs.

They took us to some houses and bandaged our wounded. We then marched over ten kilometers to a town. I had lost a lot of blood and I was weak after the march. We continued marching another 15 kilometers to a prison camp.”

“We finally reached a prison camp where we were interrogated. It was cold and we were put up in rooms with grass on the floor for us to sleep on. We had not eaten for several days and we were told that n the morning we would be fed. We were fed soup which I could not drink. Some of the men did.”

\“Soon they started taking us to a room one by one. When it was my turn, I entered a room with a Corporal at a desk. I knew the difference between corporals and sergeants by this time. He asked me in English to sit down and I told him I could not because of my wounds. He spoke very good English. He stated that if I cooperated with him he would make sure my wounds were treated. He proceeded to ask me what division I was with and I answered:

“My name is Cruz Mata, and my number is 38157544.”

“He asked how many divisions are fighting in Italy and which are they. I repeated my name and number. He then said answer me and live or stay silent and die. He pushed me into a corner and loaded his gun. I thought my time had come. He asked me again who my Captain was and I was silent. He kicked me on my wounded leg and I fell to the floor with pain. I was ill and weak and had not eaten for several days. He then told me to stand and I did. He then kicked me in the ribs and placed the pistol to my chest. He continued asking questions for about an hour and I continued to be silent. He finally called in a guard and I returned to where the others were.”

“On the morning of Sept. 23, 1945, a Saturday we were taken to another prison camp in Milan, Italy. We were told to take all of our clothes off and the Germans searched us.”

The Cruz Mata diary ends on page 45 after stating they reached Milan on the 23rd of Sept. 1945. The diary is written in Spanish. Mr. Cruz Mata never gave up. Even in a German prison camp, Cruz never gave any information to the Germans.

Knowing that he could be killed for defiance of the German interrogations, he still remained faithful to America. He related to me that the Germans had a problem understanding him fully and probably felt he was hiding information as were the other prisoners. In Cruz Mata’s case, I asked him if he felt that the Germans may have wondered if he was Navajo and a “code talker.” He told me it was very possible that they thought he might have been that, but his recollection of the interrogations were vague because he was in pain and felt very weak from the loss of blood and no food.

The contract that every veteran signs when he or she enlists in service to America is to be willing to die for the freedom that Americans live by. Many of our Americans in war did not come back and some did not come back fully functioning.

The prisoners of war, those missing in action, and those killed in action in service remain our heroes who we must always remember as we pay tribute to them on Memorial Day and Veterans Day.

Mr. Cruz Mata is one of many who served America well and we will miss him.

Farewell my good friend and peace be with you.