V-E Day in Chicago-- Part 9: "On Second Base"

A Chicago Cubs official said: "The unconditional defeat of Germany has put out armies on second base.  One more hit against the Japs and we can send all the boys home."

Yet, for some families, the end of the war would be bittersweet, a son or father would never come home.  Others would return with medals and wounded.

Former North Park College teacher, Captain Elem "who lost his leg while helping a wounded soldier from a mine strewn field, has been awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and a citation of merit."

Tribune war correspondent Robert Cromie reported from another troop ship: "One youngster just released from a German prison camp was taken suddenly ill half-way across with spinal meningitis.  He died not long after crying through the delirium which made him think he was once more in Nazi hands: 'I knew I was never really going to be liberated.'"

Cromie was later hired by WGN radio to tell Chicagoans about the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps which had just been liberated.

--GreGen