Army, World War II veteran and former POW Ellis Allen Sr. recently celebrated his 103rd birthday at the Washington DC VA Medical Center.
Allen’s family made the celebration special by joining in the fun virtually. He is the proud father of nine, grandfather of 19 and great-grandfather of 13.
Born Jan. 23, 1920, in Dalton, Missouri, Allen was pursuing a degree at Lincoln University when he was drafted into the Army in 1942, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
After completing basic training, Allen was assigned to Fort Riley, Kansas where he worked at post headquarters and served as post bugler before being sent to Europe in 1944.
A member of the 957th Quartermaster Company in England, Allen helped set up the first Petroleum, Oil and Lubrication depot at Utah Beach. The unit was also tasked with gathering and processing the bodies of American service members who died when their ship was either torpedoed or hit a mine in the English Channel.
In December of 1944, Allen’s unit was sent to Nancy, France, where they took over a German Prisoner of War camp until the end of the war.
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Allen left the Army after the war ended in 1945 and moved back to Slater, Missouri, but he still felt a need to serve. He re-enlisted in 1947 and attended administration school in Fort Lee, Virginia.
Allen was assigned to the 503rd Field Artillery Battalion at Fort Lewis, Washington from 1948 to 1950, when he deployed with the 503rd to Korea.
He recalls arriving in Pusan on an August afternoon and joining his first fire mission by sunset. On Dec. 1, 1950, his unit was overrun by enemy forces at Kunu-Ri Pass, near the Chinese border. Allen became a prisoner of war.
During his first winter of internment, Allen witnessed approximately 1,200 American soldiers die of starvation and malnutrition.
The freezing temperatures made it difficult to dig deep enough graves for the deceased and he remembers helping to rebury his fallen comrades in the spring. Allen remained a prisoner of war for 33 months until he was released on Oct. 5, 1953.
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Despite his experiences as a POW, Allen continued serving and was reclassified as a communication non-commissioned officer. In 1965, he was stationed in Bamberg, West Germany, when his wife of 23 years, Arzelia, passed away. Overnight, he found himself facing a new struggle: balancing his career in the Army and being a single parent of five children.
After her death, the Army sent the Allen family stateside, to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri where he joined the 5th Construction Battalion. It wasn’t long before they were called to join the fighting in Vietnam. With two wars and 23 years of service already under his belt, Allen had invaluable leadership experience to offer in the war-torn country, but as the only non-commissioned officer in the Army at the time who was also an only parent, the Army chose to keep Allen home with his family.
In 1968, after 26 years of service to his country, Allen retired from the Army and moved to Kansas City, Missouri, where he went to work for the Bendix Corporation as an electrical inspector. During his 17-year career there, Allen worked on modifying fire sets for the Minutemen Missile and tested electronic components of the Pershing Missile, among other projects, until his retirement in 1985.
Allen married Bettie in 1971 and added four stepchildren to his family. His two oldest sons went on to become Vietnam veterans, another joined the Air Force, and his youngest, Jeffery, climbed the Army ranks to colonel before retiring.
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Allen is living with dementia and Jeffrey provides him with around-the-clock care with assistance from the Caregiver Support Program.
“Some days I feel like I’m not cut out for this,” said Jeffrey, speaking of the challenges of being a caregiver. “But he’s my dad and he supported me throughout my life, so it’s my turn to be there for him.”
Today, the Allen family tradition of service continues through his granddaughter, a commissioned Army officer who will put on the rank of captain this summer.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.