Haig Derderian sat in his M-4 Medium Tank in Herrlisheim, France, just across the border from Germany. It was a foggy winter morning January 9th, 1945, and Haig was fighting for his life in Company B of the 714th Tank Battalion. They were fighting the Nazis and this was World War 2.

Crammed inside 34 tons of American steel, this 27-year-old Armenian-American who was born in Woonsocket, R.I., had operated a tank and a Half-track armored personnel carrier since 1942 for the United States Army’s 12th Armored Division, called the Hellcats. They were battling Adolph Hitler’s German war machine in Operation Nordwind, which was Hitler’s plan to take over Strasbourg, France, about 19 miles south of Herrlisheim. If Strasbourg had been taken, it would had severed supply lines for American troops in France. Haig had trained with his division for 3 years, but war was unpredictable and you could die in seconds.

The Battle of Herrlisheim featured some of the most intense fighting in northern Europe and lasted from Jan. 9th-17th, 1945. After the battles had ended and the smoke, blood, and stink from the battlefield dissipated, the 12th Armored Division had lost 1700 men and dozens of U.S. Army M-4 Sherman tanks. The 12th lost two-thirds of its combat forces, 2 infantry battalions, and two tank battalions were either killed wounded or captured by the Germans.

Haig’s Company B Tank Battalion had been in the first wave of the assault against the Nazi’s superior Panzer and Tiger tanks and had retreated from Herrlisheim before the slaughter of the 12th began.

The entire battle was so well documented because, after the battle, the Seventh Army Historical Section spent several weeks interviewing hundreds of officers and soldiers, including Haig, who participated in the initial assault on Herrlisheim. Accounts from the soldiers make it one of the most accurately documented battles of World War 2.

Why am I telling you about Haig Derderian? He’s the father-in-law whom I never met.

I married his only daughter Susan on Aug. 31st, 2007. She loved her dad with all her heart and she lost him too soon from prostate cancer in March 1990, just around the time she was graduating from Grand Valley State University.

Unfortunately, I never met Haig, but from what Sue has told me, he was a lot like my dad: they both were talented, smart, everyone loved them. They weren’t only the life of the party, but they were the party. There wasn’t a bad trait about either man. And unfortunately, Sue never met my dad because he passed away in 1998 — 8 years before Sue and I met.

“Everyone loved my dad and he did so many things for people. He loved his family, his students, he was a very loving and caring dad,” Sue told me.

Haig was a teacher at Avalon Elementary School in Saint Clair Shores, MI, for 17 years. He was a professional banjo player for almost 50 years and entertained thousands of people in his years playing concerts. Music ran in the family because his sister Suzanne Derderian sang professionally in the New York Metropolitan Opera for several decades.

About a week ago, Sue and I began talking about her dad’s military service in World War 2. She said he never talked about it. All she knew was that he fought in Germany, he was in a tank unit, and she heard he helped liberate some concentration camps.

“He never talked about it. I just saw the photos of him from the war and I remember going to some of the Hellcats Army reunions,” Sue told me. “I remember we went to one of the reunions in Nashville and one in Kentucky. I got to dress up and go to a ball.”

Sue got to know Haig’s old Army pals and their wives. She said she called them “aunt” and “uncle” and always had a great time going to the reunions.

But she never knew what he did in the war — until now.

The old news reporter in me came out and I did what I do. I began researching the life into Haig Derderian’s wartime past. And what a story I found.

Stored in a plastic crate in our basement and almost perfectly preserved are 17 wartime letters that Haig personally wrote to his parents in Detroit and mailed from either the battlefield in Europe or while stationed state-side in Tennessee, Texas, or Kentucky where he was undergoing training. Most of the letters are from 1943 and 1944 and a couple from 1945.

He also created a scrap book (that literally says “scrap book” on the cover) full of army and war photos that he took, plus reunions from the 1950s with men whom he served with.

Haig’s letters peek into the life of a U.S. serviceman training for war, the daily activities, mundane tasks, and some of the funny moments. He also wrote about the oddity of capturing German soldiers and getting ready to release them after the war ended in 1945.

Here are excerpts from some of those letters:

January 7, 1944

Dear Folks, ….We haven’t been doing anything out of the ordinary since New Year’s day. There is quite a lot of work to be done on the tanks since the last problem (drill). We’ve had much more trouble with them than when we were in Tennessee. I guess it is because of the sand out here (in the Texas desert). Several of us went to the firing range today. Most of the men fired the carbine, while 5 of us fired the machine gun. I hit the target 34 out of 35 for a score of 102 out of a possible 105….A lieutenant Roberts wants to see me about playing in an orchestra they are starting in our 14th Tank Group. We are to have a weekly radio program starting Jan. 22. Get both of my banjos and guitar ready to send….That’s all for now. Write soon. Love, Haig.

May 18, 1944

Dear Folks….Thursday, noon, and we just got word that we are going back into camp this afternoon. That sounds swell….The last day of (a drill) we had a blackout drive. We pulled into an area and a man was guiding me into a place to park. I ran over a large stump and it bent my frame and tore a hole in the radiator. My assistant driver and I had to stay there while the whole rest of the company moved out and finished (the drill). We took off the radiator to maintenance to be soldered and then put it back on….We had a beer party for our company last Monday night out in the field. Tommy (Hand) was master of ceremonies for half the program and then someone else took over. Of course, your’s truly played a couple of solos (on guitar) and later on for singing. It was one of the best beer parties we ever had…That’s all for now. Write soon. Love, Haig.

June 16, 1944

Dear Folks….We just got back from the field and have cleaned up our barracks and at least have more free time. I got the package of clothes from you O.K. and also the candy, cigarettes, birthday cake, etc….The wording on the cake was half broken, but I could make out what it said. We were tactical, so we couldn’t make much noise, however, I lit the candles, and several of the boys sang happy birthday to me very softly….Something very odd happened while we were in the field. Wednesday evening, they stopped (the drill) completely and took in everyone except drivers and made them scrub and clean all the barracks, kitchens, day room, motor shed, and everything else you could possibly think of. It seems that two 2-star generals had inspected while we were away and did not like the way we had left camp. That’s all for now. Write soon. Love, Haig.

Aug. 31, 1944 (2 months before deployment to Europe)

Dear Folks….Things are moving along quite rapidly now and I cannot write too much. We had an inspection today by division on everything. They picked out several groups of men and quizzed them on several different subjects, such as gas attack, maintenance, map reading, etc….All 3-day (furlough) passes have been cancelled now. That’s all for now. Write soon. Love, Haig.

June 25, 1945

Dear Folks….The package with the birthday cake, pipe, candy, tobacco, and cards arrived yesterday and I celebrated my birthday last night. The boys sang happy birthday for me while I cut the cake. It made a very cheerful day for me….We don’t know where we go or what we will be doing soon as we have finished (the war). These Germans have been discharged and this is one of the stops on their way home. It seems to me very funny helping these men get home when we were fighting them such a short time ago….Some of the boys got motorcycles and a few horses from the German army. I rode a motorcycle for the first time yesterday and I hope to ride a horse today. They have been trained and quite gentle, so don’t worry about me. That’s all for now. Write soon. Love Haig.

That’s the final letter that I could find that Haig sent home as World War 2 was virtually over . Germany surrendered to the Americans and allies on May 8th, 1945. Japan wouldn’t surrender until September when the United States would drop two atomic bombs and obliterate Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

By the end of the war, the entire 12th Armored Division had liberated several PoW camps in Germany. It had also taken 70,166 German soldiers as prisoners of war. The biggest haul was on May 1, 1945 when the 12th captured 12,055 Nazi soldiers, including nine generals.

Among the prisoners whom they rescued from German camps were two former French premiers, a couple generals from the French army, and many other French statesmen and dignitaries.

I’ve uncovered a treasure trove of artifacts left by my father-in-law. He not only sent the letters during wartime, but saved them when he returned home and documented some of the action that he witnessed.

I’m sure with what he witnessed on the battlefield, he didn’t want to tell his daughter or family. It may have been terrible memories, seeing his friends die, or just the horrors of war. But whatever Haig’s memories of the war were, they remained with him or only relayed as stories that he told those friends of the 12th Armored Division. I’m sure that he came home from the war a very different man than he was before. But he chose to live his life with his love, undying faith in God, generosity, compassion, empathy, and love and excitement for life.

“It’s incredible what my dad must have gone through in the war that he came out such a loving and caring man who loved his family and everyone around him,” Sue told me.

I wish I had met you Haig. I know when I die, I will meet you in the afterlife and I would love to sit down and chat for a century or two. Cheers to you Haig — the greatest Father-in-Law I never met.