Life inside the camp was reasonably self-contained and controlled by the Senior American Officer, Colonel Spivey--later, General Vandemeer. Under them was a military chain of command. The International Red Cross furnished small food parcels in limited quantities. The YMCA gave musical instruments and a few library books.

Each compound was composed of a series of barracks. Each barrack was divided into "combines" (rooms) of fourteen men. We were in Combine 7, Block (barracks) 43. The individuals were: Dale C. Tipton, Billy C. Lawrence, Roy D. Bartley, Elmer M. Brockmeier, J.D. Magargee, Buryl C. Heffron, Millard E. Mulry, Chad W. Stephens, H.C. Schauer, Vernon L. Burda, Dwaine E. Gould, James H. Keeffe, Francis J. Hasek, and Emerson Jones, Jr.

These men were separated from other combines by crude multiple-deck bunks (four three-deck bunks and one two-deck bunk); in the center was a table. At each end of the barrack was a stove, which we only had fuel for several times. I was in the top deck of the three-deck bunk next to the stove, with Vern Burda directly below me, and Billy C. Lawrence (the oldest one in our combine, and a Texan) below him on the bottom deck. The men were a co-op group, that is, they shared what food they got and lived together as a family. In the center was a laundry room with running cold water. Needless to say, it was seldom used.

Each compound had several "coolers." These were mostly buried--all but the top and about 12 inches of the side wall, which had a small slot in it for the guards to put food in, which was very seldom. This is where you were put whenever you did something that displeased the guards. It was a solitary confinement situation. Your time in the cooler depended on the whim of the Germans. When people came out they were usually extremely weak and emaciated and needed a lot of moral support. Other P.O.W.s would try and smuggle food to them, but if you got caught you would wind up in another of the coolers.