Ralph Noll says his experiences in World War II don't make him anyone to write about. In fact, the 84-year-old Ventura man has been asked to write about his time in the Army by family members and friends but said he never thought there was much to write.

"I hear a lot of stories, and I don't feel like mine is much different from the others," he said. "I guess I don't think I am anything special."

A native of Fort Wayne, Ind., Noll was drafted into the Army in June 1943. He was sent to Camp Haan in Riverside for basic training, attached to the 832nd anti-aircraft battalion.

For the next 18 months, Noll remained at Camp Haan for specialized training as part of a 40 mm gun crew. But a new colonel took over the battalion in the winter of 1944 and separated all of the men stationed at the base.

"We had been together since the beginning and were hoping we would be able to stay together," Noll said. "We were all like family, so being separated was hard for us all."

Noll was given special leave to visit his grandmother, who was ill in Indiana. After a week, he received orders to report to Colorado Springs, attached to Company F, 100th Infantry.

After several weeks of training in Colorado, the 100th Infantry was sent to Fort Bragg, N.C. Two weeks later, Noll boarded the USS George Washington bound for France.

"We were in combat the minute we got to France," Noll said.

Most of company lost

The 100th Infantry began its first combat mission in the Vosges Mountains in the northeastern end of the country. Throughout November and December, the 100th fought to push the Germans back into their own boundaries. By January 1945, they had made their way to Rimling, France.

"My company fought hard to keep going, but we were outnumbered," Noll said.

Most of the company was lost in Rimling. Noll was severely wounded after a grenade exploded near his legs.

"I was stuck where it went off," he said. "I couldn't walk or even get up."

The Germans searched the area and took all living American soldiers as prisoners, including Noll.

"I couldn't complain about how they treated me in the beginning," he said. "They took me to a hospital and had some of my own guys who were medics take care of me. They did the best they could."

Recovered in hospital

Two weeks after he was captured, Noll was relocated to a special medical unit for rehabilitation care for his knees. He was then sent to a prisoner hospital in Heppenheim, Germany, where he stayed until he was able to walk again.

"The minute I was able to scuffle around, they told me they were going to take me out of the hospital and send me to a prisoner camp," Noll said. "An Army Air Corps major who was in the hospital with me told me to do whatever I could to stay away from where they were taking me. But when it came down to it, there was nothing I could do to stop them."

'I weighed 89 pounds'

Noll was taken to Stalag 12A near Limburg, Germany.

"They didn't keep us there long, because the Americans were getting closer," Noll said.

The German officers ordered the prisoners onto a train headed to another camp. But the train was bombed by American planes after it stopped on the tracks to let the prisoners out for a break.

"A lot of the guys didn't get off of the train, and we lost most of them when it was bombed," Noll said.

The prisoners who survived were forced to walk the remainder of the trip.

"We had a buddy system in the camps," Noll said. "I weighed 89 pounds by the end of February, but my buddy was worse off than I was. I thought we were both going to die walking all that way."

On one occasion, Noll tried to refuse to walk, but when the German soldiers threatened to shoot him, Noll quickly began the journey once again. Despite the threat, the Germans saw that Noll and his friend were struggling to make the trip. They brought them a carriage and a horse and let them ride a majority of the way to the new camp.

"They never made us work or did much to us when we didn't, but they rarely fed us or gave us much that would help us live," Noll said.

Returned to Indiana

By the end of March, the Allied soldiers caught up to the German troops and liberated the surviving members of the 100th Infantry and all of the prisoners with them. Noll was sent to an Army hospital in England. Once he was well enough, he boarded a plane and arrived in New York in June 1945. He was discharged the following September and returned to his home in Fort Wayne.

Moved to Ventura

In 1962, Noll received a job offer that took him to Santa Barbara. One year later, he moved to Ventura and opened Noll Electric. He ran the company until he retired in 1988.

"I've been hesitant to ever say anything about my time in the war, because I was just doing what I needed to do," Noll said. "We were all doing what we needed to do."

Although Noll's experiences may be similar to others, his story is valuable in a time when firsthand accounts of a war that changed the world are hard to come by.

— Of War and Life is a twice-monthly column by Jannette Jauregui that tells the stories of Ventura County's veterans. Veterans who want to share their stories can contact her by e-mail at jmjaureg@callutheran.edu or by mail at Jannette Jauregui, c/o Ventura County Star editorial department, P.O. Box 6006, Camarillo, CA 93011.