Boston Native’s War Exploits and Time as a POW Featured in Newark Advocate
NEWARK – Warren Decker grew up in the Boston community along with his sister, long-time Barnesville resident, Bea Decker Howell, the children of Mr. and Mrs. Mack Decker.
He graduated from Somerset Township High School in 1937. Like the other men of his time, he became part of “America’s Greatest Generation,” defending the world against the Axis powers of Germany, Italy and Japan.
Decker was a paratrooper who the Barnesville Enterprise reported “was one of the first three soldiers to overtake Bizerte, North Africa, only to be taken prisoner by the Axis forces.”
Imprisoned at Stalag Luft IV, he later joined the Italian guerrillas nearer the end of the war.
Niece Helen Jane Howell Johnson said this past week that her Uncle Warren never spoke of the horrors he experienced at the hands of the Nazi’s until just before his death when he shared the details with his son.
Following the war, he relocated to Newark, where he and his wife Ruthanna Brown Decker, spent the rest of their lives.
Recently, the Newark Advocate, a member of the Gannett Newspaper chain, did a six-part series on Decker and his life after the war.
Portions of it with links to the newspaper’s paywall may be found on the publication’s Facebook Page.
Decker died in 1998 at the age of 77. A copy of his obituary may be viewed here.
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