From Boy Scout to Soldier: Simon J. Gurdal- Belgian Brigade Piron 1c Battalion, World War II- Europe In-Person

Main Library Simon Gurdal was fourteen when the Germans occupied his home of Verviers, Belgium in 1940. He said, “All we could do was to hide ourselves. One day, our bell rang. It was two ladies who had a little six-year-old Jewish girl, Annie. The lady said, ‘She’s for you’, and they rushed away. Annie had a piece of paper in her coat pocket which read: I am a Jewish girl. Please take me in and hide me." In 1944, I was 17. One of the Boy Scouts in my troop said, ‘Let's join the army.’ I said, ‘Let's go!’ Seven of us went to St. Nicolas-Waes and soon... we were in the Army!“ We were sent north to fight with British Field Marshal Montgomery in Operation Market Garden. One time, I found myself in a foxhole with two Americans, a Canadian and a Polish soldier. I was wounded but went back into the fight. “I am now an American citizen. I’m proud to wear the badge of Belgian Brigade Piron. What I tell you comes from my memory, but most of all, from my heart.” Registration Not Required | For Adults This FREE program is funded by the Friends of the Library.