Wallace Carden
Wallace Frederick Carden (born July 8, 1924 in Briceville, Tennessee; died May 22, 2016) was a World War II veteran and prisoner of war who worked for 40 years as an analytical chemist at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He and his wife moved to Vestavia Hills after his retirement.
Carden was the son of Clayton and Virdie Carden of Briceville, a coal-mining town near Oak Ridge, Tennessee. He enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War II and was sent to Europe as part of the 28th Infantry.
Carden fought in the Battle of the Bulge and was one of 4,000 U. S. soldiers captured there. He was taken first to a prison camp at Bad Orb, but then, from Christmas 1944 until the end of the war he and 350 other soldiers suspected of being Jewish were imprisoned under extremely cruel conditions at a concentration camp near Berga an der Elster, Germany. They were caged in squalor, fed meager rations and forced to perform hard labor.
The prisoners were marched after the camp closed on April 5 1945. Dozens died during the march. About 270 emaciated survivors were subsequently rescued by American troops. After the war, Carden went to college on the GI bill and became a chemist. He worked at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee until his retirement. He and his wife now live with their daughter Karen in Vestavia Hills.
In 2008 Representative Spencer Bachus co-sponsored a bill directing the army to provide special recognition to the prisoners of Berga, of whom 13 still survive.
Carden died in 2016 at South Haven Nursing Home in Hoover. He is buried at Woodhaven Memorial Gardens in Anderson County, Tennessee.
References
- Wadhwani, Anita (October 29, 2003) "Holocaust Soldiers Recall Capture, Liberation. Tennessean
- Orndorff, Mary (December 24, 2008) "After 64 years, U.S. Army to recognize Vestavia Hills veteran Wallace Carden, who was held prisoner by Nazis." Birmingham News
- Bachus, Spencer (May 22, 2008) "Tribute to US POWs at the Berga Labor Camp". Congressional Record
External links
- Wallace F. Carden page at the Tennessee Holocaust Commission website
- Berga: Soldiers of Another War
- Wallace Frederick Carden at Findagrave.com