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Testimony of: Lt. Donald E. Strickland, 0-1332546, Company "I", 157th Infantry.
Taken at: Pullach, Germany. (Near Munich)
Date: 4 May 1945. By: Lt. Col. Joseph M. Whitaker, IGD,
Asst. Inspector General, Seventh Army.
The witness was sworn.
99 Q Please state your name, rank, serial number and organization.
A Donald E. Strickland, 2nd Lieutenant, 0-1332546, Company "I", 157th Infantry.
(The witness was fully advised of his rights under the 24th Article of War.)
100 Q Were you present when the SS guards were shot in the coal yard?
A No, sir.
101 Q Do you know what men of your platoon were present?
A Yes, sir, I do. I can't give you their names, but they were a machine gun squad attached to my platoon from "M" Company. They are under command of a second lieutenant.
102 Q Were some of the men of your platoon there, too?
A No, the rest of the platoon were with me. They were going up to the right and that happened on the left flank. I know these machine gunners were there because the lieutenant who was in charge of them told me about it later. The way it was we got up close to a tower which had a machine gun in it and I hollered for my supporting machine gun section and it was not around, and later the lieutenant explained to me why he wasn't around by telling me about this incident. There is this possibility. The light machine gun squad, which is a part of my platoon lose their machine gun sometime back and have been going around as a rifle squad. They were lost part of the time that particular day and it is possible that they were present at the coal yard. When I finally caught up with them they were at the concentration camp on guard at the left flank.
103 Q Will you give me the names of the men in that squad?
A Yes, sir, I can get a list for you. They are; Pfc. George M. Larsen, 42074723; Pfc. John J. Lekanides, 42074729; Pfc. Charles W. Boaz, 36905128; Pfc. Angelo Cuculino, 33811351; Pfc. J. W. Birdwell, 38631705; Pfc. Adolph C. Bouchart, 38631431.