female tank officer of that rank in World War II) to allow him to fight with them. He is believed to be the only American serviceman to have actually fought in a Soviet unit. Wounded during a German air attack, he was evacuated to a Soviet military hospital, from where he was sent to Moscow to the U.S. Embassy. (His son, John Beyrle, returned there to serve as United States Ambassador to Russia 2008–2012.) Walter Mehlhaff was captured 19 September 1944 while fighting with the 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, on the German border. Imprisoned at Stalag III-C, he escaped from a work group early in January 1945. He made his way towards Poland and finally was taken to Odessa for repatriation. Cpl. Gustav Christian Brucker of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was captured near Mortain France in August 1944 and was sent to Stalag III-C until the camp was liberated in early 1945. He did speak some German and helped with translating for fellow POWs. He recalled living on mostly stale bread and turnip soup during his days in III-C. He was discharged from the US Army in November 1945. He died in 2004 on hospice at his daughter Kathy Brucker Haywood's home just outside Philadelphia. See also List of German World War II POW camps References External links Earl Chrudimsky receives medals 61 years after being wounded Kostrzyn nad Odrą World War II prisoner of war camps in Germany World War II sites in Poland