Oral History Interview with Robert Meyer, June 25, 2007

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert W. Meyer. Meyer was born in Olympia, Washington on 3 September 1924. After graduating from high school in 1942, he was drafted into the Army on 15 May 1943. He was placed into the Army Specialized Training Program. Following 13 weeks of basic training at Camp Wheeler, Georgia, he was sent to the University of Alabama for 3 months of specialized training. He was accepted for flight training, but returned to the infantry in April 1944. Assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 263rd Regiment, 66th Infantry Division, he went overseas in September 1944. Reassigned as a machine gunner to Company A, 109th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division, Meyer saw combat in Belgium, Germany, and Luxemburg. He was captured by the Germans on 18 December 1944 while fighting near Longsdorf, Luxemburg. He spent the next 4 months in various prisoner of war and labor camps, including Stalag IIA north of Berlin. In April 1945, as the Russians approached Stalag IIA, the German guards fled. Essentially free, Meyer first tried to avoid the Russians but finally advanced with them to the Elbe River where he was reunited with US forces. Sent to Le Havre, he was shipped back to the States in May 1945. After a 70 day leave and extensive recuperation in California, Meyer was discharged from the Army on 6 December 1945