How a German boy came to love America during WWII

How a German boy came to love America during WWII

(Tom Smart/Deseret News)


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

Editor's note: Anonymous Thank Yous is a website that allows people to submit notes of gratitude to strangers who anonymously gave service. Michael McCarlie, its founder, contributes every other Wednesday. SALT LAKE CITY — A few weeks ago I attended a funeral in Salt Lake City of a man I didn’t know very well but who made an impact on my life because of his optimism. His name was Peter Prier. Anonymousthankyous.com received permission to share his story about why he loves America.

This is his story as told by his son Martin. Peter was born in the early 1940s in Neumarkt, Schlesien, Germany.

His father was killed in World War II when he was 4. With the Russians advancing from the east, Peter’s family was given a three-hour notice to abandon their home. They became refugees fleeing with all the other Germans on a cattle train as the Russians moved through. Their home was forfeited; they had to leave it behind. The evacuation was so chaotic that Peter’s mother attached a rope to the children that was attached to her as they boarded a cattle car west, so she wouldn't lose them in the crowd.

They moved from town to town looking for food and work, but both were in short supply. Eventually, they landed in Schweinfurt. The family hit a particularly hard spell, and Peter remembered going three days without eating. He was already a malnourished skinny little boy. He was starving. He told his son that the worst part was to try and sleep when he was truly hungry.

After three days without food, the very next day American military trucks pulled up in the town square. These service men didn’t know the people in this town. They didn’t know their names. They were far from home and personally sacrificing the comforts of home to help a people in need and serve the country they loved.

The GIs boiled water and handed out American hot dogs. Peter said he stuffed himself that day and that it was the most wonderful meal he had ever eaten.

From that point on Peter loved American hot dogs and Peter loved America.

He eventually came to the United States. He started a company, Prier Music Company, which is still being run today by one of his sons.

To the American servicemen who anonymously served people they never knew and to those who still serve, we salute you. We honor you. That service long ago provided a young starving boy from Germany and all of us an opportunity in this the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Happy Independence Day


Anonymous Thank Yous: Have you ever wanted to say thank you for something a stranger did? Tell us your story at anonymousthankyous.com or follow along at Facebook and Twitter.

Related links

Related stories

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

UtahUplifting

STAY IN THE KNOW

Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

KSL Weather Forecast