The Abbeville Boys

Chapter 10: Joseph Continues to Cope

      Over the next few days Kurt continued to impress the captain. Kurt performed all the maneuvers asked of him. On the fourth day Kurt and Berger walked out to the flight line, it was foggy, everything was wet. They walked to the usual plane and stood there. Berger turned to Kurt, “Do you want to fly?”

      Kurt said, “Yes sir. Let’s do the preflight and go.”

      Berger looked at him, “The fog is bad. What about visibility?”

      Kurt pointed to the sky where the sun was breaking through, “See there. The sun is coming through. By the time we preflight and get airborne the fog will burn off. I’m ready if you are.”

      Berger looked at him. Most cadets would’ve said they weren’t flying in the fog. This guy was courageous and smart. They went up and Kurt was right, the fog burned off. They flew for over an hour and landed. When they got out of the plane Berger knew Kurt was ready for the next step. The Third Reich needed pilots ready to fight. They were about to be at war. It was time to train on Kurt’s primary fighter plane, the ME 109.

      They walked back to the hanger and Berger said, “Tomorrow you start training on the 109. I think you’re ready. You’ve done a great job.”

      Kurt wasn’t sure how to take the news. The other cadets were just now starting to train on the FW 44. He acknowledged, “Yes sir. I’m ready. I feel great when I’m in the sky.”

      “I know. I can tell. You’re a natural pilot and we’re going to need you for what’s coming.”

      Kurt went back to his room to think about what was happening. Rudy walked in, “Hey, I saw you flying in the fog today. You look great up there as it burned off. You’ve been going up every day now. Today was my first day up in the FW 44. You seem to have a big jump on the rest of us. I knew you were a good pilot.”

      Kurt was still trying to be modest, “Thanks Rudy. Berger told me I will start training on the 109 tomorrow. Things are moving so fast I’m having trouble keeping up.”

      Rudy got a wide eyed look, “You start on the 109? You can handle it. You are the smoothest pilot I’ve ever seen. You’ll be great.”

      “I hope so.”

      Many thoughts were going through Kurt’s head about how fast the training was going. Kurt didn’t have much time to think about Gretchen or Joseph. He wrote letters to both. He got replies from Gretchen but nothing from Joseph. He still couldn’t figure out what happened to him.

      If Kurt could see Joseph now, he wouldn’t recognize him. Joseph was decimated from work in the cable ditch and lack of food. He was gaunt and weak. He was trying to survive as the old man had told him. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could go on.

      One night the old man came to Joseph in bed, “Here eat this, it’ll help.” The old man had a small piece of meat and a few green beans.

      Joseph said, “No, you eat it. I’m not going to make it. Take care of yourself.”

      The old man got upset, “No, I’ve had some. Now take this and by morning you’ll feel better. I told you, survive.”

      The old man was right. The next morning Joseph felt better and could make it through the day. The old man managed to bring him a decent meal twice a week. It kept up Joseph’s strength and morale. Joseph never asked where the old man was getting the food. Wherever he was getting the food the Nazis would probably kill him for it.

      The camp life was a nightmare. When he got back to the housing from the ditches people would sit around and talk about life in their homes, just months ago. Joseph told stories of his family at their estate and the inmates listening couldn’t believe people with their money and power were taken to the camp. Joseph looked hard at everyone, “They’re coming for all of us. We waited too long to act because we couldn’t believe it would come to this. Now we could all die.”

      Joseph went into the ditch again the next day and was fortunate. God must have a plan for him. A man in front of him was clubbed over the head with the steel cable by a trustee and killed. Joseph survived another day.

      Joseph tried to get details of where his mother and father were. New people coming into the camp had news of the outside but nothing about his parents.

      One new prisoner came into the housing area Joseph was in. He told everyone he had been a trustee in the women’s area and most of them, especially the older ones, had been gassed and burned.

      Joseph just sat there. He knew his dad couldn't take the hardships he had endured and started to think both his parents were probably dead. He was now torn between surviving and telling the world what went on there or just ending it. Maybe let God sort it out is the best answer. Day after day he became weaker and weaker. Even with the old man bringing him a decent meal a couple of times a week he was losing his way. Things became surreal, as he's having trouble coping.