Jose A. Flores Papers

Item — Box: 1

Identifier: Coll-151

Staff Only

This collection covers a brief two-year period in Jose A. Flores life when he was captured by Axis forces and later repatriated. It contains photographs of POW’s including Flores, money and documents from Nazi era Germany, French money, and documents related to Flores’s prisoner of war status and release.

Dates

Majority of material found within none

Conditions Governing Access

No restrictions

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish, reproduce, distribute, or use by any and all other current or future developed methods or procedures must be obtained in writing from Special Collections and Archives, Mary and Jeff Bell Library, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. All rights are reserved and retained regardless of current or future development or laws that may apply to fair use standards.

Extent

1 Volumes

Abstract

This collection is a brief snapshot in time of Jose Flore’s prisoner of war experience in the European theater of World War II, and the paperwork trail that followed it.

Biographical / Historical

Jose Angel Flores was born October 2, 1917 in Laredo, Texas. He was drafted into the Army in 1944 as World War II raged on In Europe. He was soon in theater with the 29th Armored Division, 112 Regiment, known as the Bloody Bucket Brigade, as a machine gunner. Flores found himself in the Hurtgen Forest entrenched in one of the most brutal and sustained battles of the war and the longest single battle in United States Army history. On November 7, 1944, he was captured by Nazi soldiers.

Flores first tried to confuse his captors by speaking only Spanish, but some of the German soldiers also happened to speak Spanish. He was sent to Limberg to a prisoner of war camp, Stalag 12A. He gave rations from the Red Cross to one of the guards and was even allowed to visit his home. Flores credited this generosity with saving his life. The camp was soon liberated by Russian troops and Flores set out on foot with several others. After several days attempting to locate American troops, they were successful, and were taken to Camp Lucky Strike in France to recuperate.

Jose spent the rest of his life working as a master carpenter, and volunteered his expertise to family, friends, and his church. He passed away in 2013 at the age of 95.

Arrangement

This collection starts in chronological order, but then deviates once Flores was released from the POW camp.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

This collection was donated to Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi by Jose A. Flores on 2003-01-13. Director Tom Kreneck assisted with the acquisition.

Related Materials

Dr. Hector P. Garcia Papers Aalbert Heine & Corpus Christi Science and History Museum Collection Santiago Hernandez Papers Arturo Vasquez, CPA Collection Esther Bonilla Read World War II Oral History Collection

Processing Information

This collection was arranged by Eric Christensen, Librarian of Archive Processing for Texas A&M University– Corpus Christi’s Special Collections & Archives Department.