This four-pocket uniform coat was worn by Corporal Augustus A. ‘Steve’ Sansone upon his return to the United States following his captivity.

Corporal Sansone served with the 1st Division from November 1944 to November 1945. He was a Squad Leader and ‘BAR man’—armed with a Browning Automatic Rifle.

On November 28, while fighting in the Hürtgen Forest, an enemy shell smashed into his right thigh. Sansone took shelter in a woodshed, where German panzer troops discovered him. He was captured and held at Stalag VI-G, a prisoner of war camp in Hoffnungsthal, Germany.

Wartime shortages and Germany’s impending defeat led to poor conditions for the camp’s prisoners. Sansone was there until April 12, 1945, when the US 13th Armored Division liberated the camp. They freed 800 prisoners, including 177 Americans.