Veterans column: Letter shares the death of Johnstown's Perfect in World War II
Johnstown native Sergeant Truman Perfect was 27 years old when he was killed on April 20, 1945.
Eighteen days later, on May 8, 1945, Germany surrendered and the war in Europe was over. In the June 14, 1945, Johnstown Independent newspaper, a letter was printed that had been sent from Germany to Truman’s parents on May 24, 1945 from a fellow soldier, Henry L. Stimson.
“My Dear Mr. and Mrs. Perfect, last night censorship was relaxed, and this is the first moment that I have felt free to write to you. I have little enough to say but even that would have been difficult under the past circumstances, so please pardon the time that has elapsed. I have been looking forward to, yet fearing I should hear from you, for I knew that someday I must write to you and I wanted to wait until I could actually write what I felt; now I can put writing off no longer.
It is difficult to write a letter of this sort, not only because it is to you but also because Tru was probably the best friend I had in this world. It may sound cold, but now that a month has elapsed I can talk about it a lot easier; for days after it happened I must have had feelings similar to yours for I remember little of the following week. Somehow a soldier living as we have learns to tuck such unpleasant memories away, he never forgets if he is human, but there is always so much to do, and we can’t let personal feelings outwardly affect us if we are to go on. That is easy to write, but as you know one’s subconscious mind cannot be governed by any such rules. In my struggle here for words this may sound impersonal and unreal, I merely want you to know that this is the only way I can put it on paper.
I have written the details to my wife in a roundabout manner hoping that they would get to you, but I know that you will want to know firsthand what happened that day. It’s hard to accept such realities and somehow details seem to make it more concrete, but I imagine you will want to know regardless. April 20th was the day we crossed over into Czechoslovakia, and the mission of our group was to take the city of Asch, quite a large place about 20,000 population. One platoon of tanks went with one recon troop, and Tru’s platoon was attached to C Troop. Their job was to flank the high ground to the north of the city and continue into the city from there. The first part of the mission was accomplished successfully, and the dismounted men started into town. Having encountered quite a bit of small-arms fire, Captain Harris called for one tank to come up, which was Tru’s. The Captain rode [on] the back of the tank as they started down the street. As they started past one group of houses two men jumped out from a small alley with Panzerfausts, the German version of the bazooka, and fired before anyone on the tank could even move. It was all over instantly, the gunner, driver, and Tru were killed instantly while the loader was seriously wounded and the assistant driver knocked unconscious by the explosion. More tanks came up immediately and leveled the area but there was nothing that could be done to erase what had already happened. There is little more worth saying, the town was taken with a few more casualties, a thousand prisoners were taken and the 90th Division got the credit, for we were attached to them. As soon as I heard the news, I went to the medics, for my mind refused to believe it. I saw Tru. It may be of some small comfort to know that he died well, if there is such a thing. Apparently, he had been killed by the concussion for he looked as if he had been sleeping peacefully, he had never known what happened.” (To be continued.)
Doug Stout is the Veterans Project Coordinator for the Licking County Library. You may contact him at 740-349-5571 or dstout@lickingcountylibrary.org. His book "Never Forgotten: The Stories of Licking County Veterans" is available for purchase at the library or online at bookbaby.com & Amazon.com.
This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Vet column: Letter shares the death of Johnstown's Perfect in WWII
