ARLINGTON — He doesn’t tell the kids the whole story when he speaks at schools about serving on the front lines during World War II.
Elwood Barker, 91, survived four close calls while fighting the Axis powers in Europe.
He’s part of the so-called Silent Generation that kept the war mostly to themselves for more than half a century. Tears welled in his eyes as he described the annihilation of the armed conflict during an interview at his Arlington home Friday.
Barker grew up on a farm outside the small town of Golden Valley, North Dakota. At 18, he was drafted into the U.S. Army. His deployment was delayed so he could keep farming until after one of the war’s bloodiest battles.
“The guys I was trained with all got killed at the Battle of the Bulge,” he said.
Barker landed in France with the 89th Infantry Division in 1945. Under the command of Gen. George S. Patton, he marched into Germany, running telephone lines and switchboard as a wireman.
“I knew how to pray and boy that came in handy,” he said.
Barker’s first near-miss came as the Germans attacked. There was an explosion, and he heard a blood-curdling scream and saw the soldier next to him go down.
“His leg looked like hamburger,” Barker said.
That image still sends chills up his spine.
After that, Barker took a pistol off a fallen German soldier to use for extra protection. He often had to set down his rifle to do his work.
The 165-pound soldier carried a pack that weighed almost as much as he did. He endured a year and a half of melee.
During his tour of duty, he defied death a second time thanks to a fellow fighter who pulled him out of the line of machine-gun fire, in the nick of time.
On another mission, Barker stared down the barrel of a rifle when an Allied fighter mistook him for a German. The GI aimed the firearm, pulling back the hammer.
Quickly, Barker blurted out a password in perfect English, proving he wasn’t an enemy.
But he wasn’t safe for long. Two days before the Allies declared victory, he was almost killed again.
This time a sergeant was spinning a Luger on his finger and accidentally fired. The bullet whizzed past, barely missing Barker and another soldier.
After the war, Barker went to school to become a bookkeeper. He met and married his wife of 66 years, Marilyn, 84. They raised four children in Snohomish County.
On Wednesday, Barker plans to ride through downtown Arlington in the Veterans Day parade. Almost 70 years after serving in the military, he’s still able to climb aboard the float and share his pride for his country.
“I’ve been lucky all my life,” Barker said.
Amy Nile: 425-339-3192; anile@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @AmyNileReports.
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