World War II veteran Don Shearer recounted his nine-month experience as a prisoner of war in German concentration camps, reminding his audience of more than 100 ROTC students and other Cornell community members that there is a human price for freedom. Shearer spoke at the university's Veterans Day Ceremony Nov. 11 in Sage Chapel.

Following an introduction by his grandson Midn. Nick Johnson '13, Shearer said that for him, "Veterans Day is more than a legal holiday with parades, speeches and social events. It is a day to think of what freedom means ... a time to realize our debt to soldiers for their bitter sacrifices to ensure our freedom."

Shearer grew up in a small town near Charleston, W.Va., and enlisted in the U.S. Army Sept. 18, 1942. He became a gunner for the 391st Bomb Group, 573rd Bomb Squadron, and flew 46 missions totaling 146 hours in the air before being shot down in 1944 during a routine air combat mission over France.

Shearer said he parachuted, landing in a tree. Two Frenchmen gave him refuge in a farmhouse. Three houses later, he and two other soldiers in hiding were betrayed to the Gestapo. Shearer was interrogated and put in solitary confinement for 30 days before being loaded in a boxcar with at least 70 other people and sent to the concentration camp at Buchenwald, Germany.

At Buchenwald, Shearer and the other prisoners were shaved and disinfected for lice. They slept on the ground for two days in pouring rain before being moved to a building where they could sleep on wooden shelves. Meals consisted of bread made from beets and sawdust and a thin soup.

As the Allies' bombing neared, the prisoners were interrogated again and shipped by train to a POW camp for officers, Stalag Luft 3. Of the original 70 that had come to Buchenwald, only 28 remained. Here, "life became more normal," Shearer said. He and the other prisoners received Red Cross food parcels that included Spam, prunes, instant coffee, cigarettes, chocolate and preserves. Music was provided on Saturday evenings and church Sunday mornings.

On Jan. 29, 1945, the 2,000 prisoners and guards at Stalag Luft 3 were ordered to leave because Russian troops were nearing. They marched for 26 hours through snow and ice, then spent 30 hours in a warm factory before spending 15 days marching. Another three days travel in a cattle car landed them at Stalag 7A, an army prison camp meant for 17,000 that contained 130,000 people. The camp was not heated, and food was scarce until the Red Cross was allowed in.

On April 29, Shearer heard guns outside the camp and joyful cheers as Patton's Third Army liberated the prisoners. "When I saw the American flag instead of the swastika, I knew I was free, I was going home," he said.

How did these experiences change him? Shearer said that he learned to avoid conflict. He learned that he was a survivor. And, when he was in Buchenwald, he promised himself that when he got out, whenever he was really cold, hungry or scared, he would not complain. That promise has served him well, he said.

"You are in the land of the free because 400,000 American soldiers didn't come home. They are the reason we are free," Shearer concluded. "I remember. I can't forget."

The Veterans Day ceremony was sponsored by Cornell's Reserve Officers' Training Corps.