Oceanport WWII POW remembers war

Joseph Bova of Oceanport bows his head in prayer, remembering those lost during World War II. Bova was held prisoner by the Germans after being captured in Africa.

Enjoying Memorial Day ceremonies on the steps of the Oceanport Municipal building

By Patty Booth O’Neill
Oceanport — Perhaps the most impressive of those in attendance at the Oceanport Memorial Day service on Monday morning was a man sitting quietly off to the side. He had nothing to say, stood when it came time to remember his fallen comrades and bowed his head in prayer. He wore a cap that read “American Ex-Prisoner of War.”

Joe Bova, who was awarded two Purple Hearts while serving in World War II, lives in Oceanport with his wife Mary, who he met and married before he went off to war. Bova, who is 94 years old, served in the Army for four and a half years. Out of that time he spent 26 months in a German prisoner of war camp. “He was lucky, though,” said his brother Pete, who was at the ceremony and had also served in World War II. “A German guard had been a prisoner of the British, and was treated well by them. So he treated my brother well.”

 
The two brothers were unassuming, neither wanting to talk about themselves, but had no problem talking about each other. “Pete won the Service Star for bravery,” Joe said about his brother. “That’s a big deal. It’s not easy to get.” In fact there were five Bova brothers fighting in World War II at the same time. Greg and Ralph were in the Air Force, Paul served in the Marines and Pete was an Army Medic. All returned home safely, but years laster Ralph’s son Edward was killed in Vietnam.

 
After two and a half years in the Army, Joe was sent to Africa. He was on a small detail planting mines with 18 other men when one of them began to get nervous and fidgety. “I pulled him off to the side so we could talk and have a cigarette. To calm him down,” Bova said. It was about 2 a.m. when a convoy appeared down the road. “At first we thought they were other Americans, but they turned out to be Germans.” They opened fire on Joe’s unit killing everyone, including specialists there to help with the mines. Joe and the other soldier ran from the Germans and after a while Joe realized the soldier had gone his own way. “I didn’t even know he was gone until I stopped and looked back,” Joe said. “I don’t know his name. Just that he was from Connecticut.”

 
Bova hid for two days and finally fell asleep on the forest floor, exhausted. That’s when he was awakened from a deep sleep by someone speaking English. He assumed it was Americans, but it turned out to be a group of German soldiers. “The German who woke me up spoke perfect English. He was very friendly and even had relatives in the United States.” On the other hand the other soldiers yelled at him in German and jabbed at him with bayonettes. He was imprisoned in Africa, sent to Italy then finally to a work camp in Germany. “I escaped twice,” he said. He was working in the fields, and if there was an opportunity he felt he had to try. “It was easy to escape. It was just hard to get out of Germany,” he said. He was caught both times after wandering around Germany for about two days. After his second capture, was sent to a punishment camp.

 
Shortly after his second escape the war was nearing its end. “The Germans were scrambling to get away from the Russians and were trying to give themselves up to Americans,” Bova said. He said that they knew they would be treated well by the Americans and were afraid of what would happen if the Russians caught them. As chaos set in the prisoners of war in the German camps just walked away. “I’ve tried to find out what happened the other soldier who ran with me, and about the guys who were were killed in Africa,” Bova said. “I have never been able to find out anything about any of them.”