TROUP MEMBER FORMER U.S. POW; IMPRISONED AT LEONARD WOOD

As an Austrian soldier in the German army, Rudolf Korbuly spent three years as a prisoner of war at Fort Leonard Wood during World War II.

Now, some 50 years later, Korboly, 76, has returned to Missouri for his first voluntary visit.

He is traveling with the Volkstanzgruppe Baden group, which was in Cape Girardeau Wednesday to present the music and dance of their native Austria to elementary students.

He said it was nice to be in Missouri and the United States and that he harbors no ill will toward this country, despite what happened in the war.

"The war is 50 years over," Korbuly said. "I'd be silly if I said I didn't like America. If I didn't like it, I wouldn't visit."

In 1943, Korbuly was a 23-year-old parachuter fighting in South America when he was captured by American troops. He was brought to Fort Leonard Wood, where he was forced to work on farms picking cantaloupes.

He slept in small bunks in barracks that were too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter. He missed his home and family every day, he said.

But while being a prisoner of war in America was in no way pleasant, Korbuly said it could have been worse.

"You put your hands up and say (you didn't want to) fight Americans, and they helped you," Korbuly said. "But the Russians would kill you. It's a big difference."

He said he was never mistreated by American soldiers.

"If you were captured by the Russians there was no food; and if you were ill they would kill you. Here, we had enough to eat and a place to sleep. We had it much better than others," he said.

He was a prisoner in Missouri for three years, even a year after the war ended in 1945, in which time he was labeled a "displaced person."

But he finally made it home.

In the days since, he has thought of the war many times over the past 50 years. Fighting in the German army was a difficult thing for Korbuly, but he said he had no choice.

"If we did not go to fight, we would go to jail," he said. "I didn't want to fight. I can't say if it was a good thing or not. I had to do it."

When asked how he felt about what was done to the Jews, he said it was a small part of the war.

"Everybody said we were Nazis," he said. "But it's not true. Not every German was a Nazi."

He said that people followed Adolph Hitler because of what Hitler told the people.

"He promised you many things," he said. "And you believed this. There was no work and no food. He came to Austria in 1938 and promised us these things. We had to work, we had to eat. If he gives you work and food, you don't ask, 'Who is this?'

"Hitler's gone; he isn't here anymore. We don't cry any tears because he's gone. We are glad he's gone"

Instead of pointing out the differences, Korbuly would rather point out the similarities.

In Austria, Korbuly operates ham radios. He found out that 83 Cape Girardeans are licensed to operate the radios.

"We had that in common," Korbuly said, smiling.

Having endured war, he said the countries that are fighting today are mindless. "Places like Yugoslavia and all the countries that are fighting, I can't see why they do it," he said. "It's silly."

Korbuly and the others are returning to Austria Friday, he said.