x
Breaking News
More () »

Phoenix woman keeps father's diary he wrote when he was a WWII prisoner of war

A Valley woman walks us through her father's experience as a prisoner of war.

PHOENIX - On this Memorial Day weekend many are spending time with friends and family but some family members are remembering loved ones who are no longer here.

Marty Skagen, daughter of a of WWII Veteran who was captured and held prisoner in German camps, sat down with 12 News.

She sifted through her father's diary, he was allowed to keep even during his captivity.

“They'd march two miles, they march three or four miles. They were given like one-fifth of a loaf of bread,” Skagen said.

She shared photos and fond memories of her father, James "Dank" Skagen who proudly served our country during the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium.

Photo of James “Dank” Skagen who was held as a prisoner of war in Germany during World War II. Photo: Marty Skagen/ Special for 12 News

“They took refuge in this basement,” she said. Not knowing that would be the very place where captors would take him prisoner.

“On December 19th, 'Jerry' removed artillery, CP...upstairs where we were and we had no alternative but to give up, which we did,” Marty read from the diary, adding CP meant Command Post.

His wife, Dorothy gave him the diary before he shipped off to war in 1944. A warm reminder of family that would be waiting for him when returned.

Dorothy gave James the diary as a warm reminder of family that would be waiting for him when and if he returned. Photo: Marty Skagen/ Special for 12 News

Today, the photo album has become more a staple of security and way to sequence the experiences and hardships he and others endured.

Skagen said her father was in captivity for months.

“April 29th 12:30, Liberated," she read from the diary. "That's the end of the diary."

Now, during times like Memorial Day Weekend, Marty thinks about her father and the memories she shared with him. The two loved to fish together.

“I'm going to tear up," Skagen said. "I'm a daddy's girl and it's just hard."

Skagen did return home. He and Dorothy ended up settling in Phoenix where they raised a family.

The first home James Skagen and his wife Dorothy bought together in Phoenix after he returned from World War II. Photo: Marty Skagen/ Special for 12 News

The diary has an end but Skagen is determined to let her father's legacy live on through the letters on these leaflets.

PHOTOS: Inside a Phoenix veteran's diary he kept when he was a prisoner of war in WWII

Before You Leave, Check This Out