In 1943, Buffalo, New York, native Bob Stromberg went to the draft board to see when he'd be called to serve in World War II — a question he says caught them by surprise.
"'Well, here's a live one!' They're usually coming there saying, 'Please don't take me,'" Stromberg told News4 during an interview at his Rockville, Maryland, home.
Stromberg trained as a medic and he was shipped off to Marseille, France, where he joined his unit and began the march toward Germany.
He said he still remembers the many villages in ruin and the countless casualties.
“I was there treating the ... wounded soldiers," he said. "It was pretty bad, you know."
At the Siegfried line between Germany and France, Stromberg said he ate matzah — his way of sticking it to the Nazis.
“Sometimes we made friends with the civilians, especially in France," he said.
U.S. & World
“What I remember are the inmates that left an impression on me, and they were in concentration camp clothing, you know, with the stripes and they could hardly walk. I remember that," Stromberg said.
At 97, Stromberg still gets around. He said one of his favorite places to go these days is Mission BBQ in Rockville, where they have his photo on the wall.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. >Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
"I'm proud to have served. I really am," he said.
