Tony: A Soldier’s Journey

Anthony “Tony” Acevedo

U.S. Army medic Anthony “Tony” Acevedo served with the 275th Infantry Regiment, 70th Infantry Division, during the Battle of the Bulge. Under heavy fire, he treated wounded soldiers and tried to comfort them with words from his prayer book. When his unit ran out of ammunition, German forces captured the men and forced them to march barefoot through deep snow.

At Stalag IX-B, Acevedo used saved medical supplies to care for other prisoners. In January 1945, German officers separated Jewish POWs and men they believed to be Jewish. Acevedo was among those transferred to Berga an der Elster, possibly because he was Mexican American. There, prisoners endured forced labor, little food, disease, and malnutrition while clearing tunnels for an underground factory.

Acevedo kept a secret diary, writing nearly every day about camp life, Allied advances, and the deaths of fellow prisoners. When the guards evacuated Berga, prisoners were driven on a forced march in brutal conditions; men who could not continue were shot. Acevedo recorded the march and his liberation on April 23, 1945.

Of roughly 350 American POWs held at Berga, about 70 died. Acevedo described documenting their experiences and deaths as a “moral obligation.”

Presenters or Contributors

• Featured veteran: Tony Acevedo
• Narrator: Not identified in the subtitles