Art LeSage
Era: World War II
Military Branch: Army
Art LeSage at 16 years of age in 1938, enlisted in the Minnesota Army National Guard. In April of 1941, sent to Camp Haan, California to receive desert training. His unit was then transferred to San Francisco in October, 1941, to prepare for shipment to the Pacific.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor changed this plan, and in July of 1942 he was sent to Camp David, North Carolina, where he received a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant. He then volunteered for parachute jump school and sent to Fort Benning, Georgia, and became a member of the 82nd Airborne Division. In April of 1943, his unit was sent to Camp Snively, New York, for deployment by ship to North Africa to train for the planned invasion of Sicily, where he took part in the battle for Salerno. When Sicily was secured, the 82nd moved North to the mainland at Naples and battled in the mountains near Foggia.
The Division was then pulled off the line and sent by sea for an assault landing at Anzio, where he was wounded and captured by a German SS Unit and sent as a Prisoner of War (POW) to OFLAG 46, a POW camp for officers in Poland for 1 year. In January of 1945, with the Russians nearing, he made his escape toward the Russian lines, being helped by some wonderful Polish people. His escape route carried him by train to the Black Sea Port of Odessa, then on to Port Said, Egypt, where he was flown home to the USA for repatriation.
He was honorably discharged from the US Army in October of 1945. Medals and awards earned were the Purple Heart, the POW Medal, the Mediterranean Campaign Medal with three battle stars and a bronze arrowhead, the American Campaign Medal, the WWII Victory Medal and Parachute Badge with a bronze star, denoting combat.
