The liberators of Plzeň and southwest Bohemia: stories of surviving US veterans
For the first time in years, American veterans are once again taking part in commemorative events marking the end of World War II. What are the stories of the last surviving liberators of the Plzeň region and southwest Bohemia?
They’re eager to make the journey – for many, it will be their first time back in Europe since 1945. One of the guests of honour is Harry Humason from Washington State, USA, who will attend the Plzeň Liberation Festival, along with other events. I learned about him last autumn and contacted him through a veteran organization.
During the war, Humason served in the 2nd Infantry Regiment of the 5th Infantry Division. In May 1945, his unit liberated areas near the village of Stožec, all the way to the Teplá Vltava River in the Šumava mountains.
“We were told that the Czech resistance had started an uprising in Prague too early, and the Germans were suppressing it. So we marched for two or three days and only slowed down when we encountered German resistance. We crossed the Czechoslovak border and eventually reached the river. The Germans opened the dam and flooded it. On the far side, there were fortified positions with artillery and bunkers. I assume infantry with machine guns were in those bunkers,” recounts the 99-year-old American.
Indeed, the bunkers on the Teplá Vltava River were part of pre-WWII Czechoslovak fortifications, built as defences against Nazi Germany. Tragically, they now stood in the path of American liberators.
“We expected to have to cross the river, which would’ve meant a bloody battle. When we arrived, we were told not to shoot at a white plane flying overhead – it turned out it was carrying a German delegation to negotiate surrender. In the end, we didn’t have to cross the river because the war was over – even though we could still hear fighting between the Soviets and Germans. We pulled back and set up a roadblock to take in German soldiers fleeing from the Russians, wanting to surrender to us. We then interned them in a hunting lodge with a large, fenced courtyard,” Humason remembers the events of May 7th and 8th, 1945.
Soon afterward, his unit returned to the US, originally slated to redeploy to the Pacific to fight Japan. That redeployment never happened – the war had officially ended.
Among the first American soldiers to enter Plzeň was Hovey Brom, a scout from the 16th Armored Division. I spoke with him last summer in Iowa, where I tracked him down. Born in November 1925, Brom joined the US Army after graduating high school in 1944. After completing basic training, he was sent to the European front.
His transport ship came under German U-boat attack twice during the Atlantic crossing, though thankfully, there were no casualties. He landed in the French port of Le Havre in February 1945 and joined the 16th Armored Division, initially under the US 15th Army, awaiting front-line deployment.
On April 17, 1945, the division was reassigned to General Patton’s 3rd Army. Two days later, they entered Germany and advanced toward Czechoslovakia. As a forward scout, Brom was one of the first Americans to enter Plzeň. He recalled scouting enemy lines in a jeep mounted with a machine gun.
Snipers shot out his windshield twice, and on one occasion, a bullet narrowly missed him. Another time, a shot damaged his jeep’s radiator, so he completed his mission on a bicycle.
Plzeň wasn’t the end of his journey in Czechoslovakia. Part of his division advanced toward Prague, but political decisions prevented them from helping liberate the capital. Brom encountered Soviet troops and briefly served as a driver for a Soviet general surveying the demarcation line – which Brom referred to as 'the future boundary between East and West Europe.'
He also recalled streams of Czech refugees and defeated German soldiers heading west, trying to surrender to the Americans rather than fall into Soviet hands – hoping, as Brom put it, “for a better chance of survival.”
After demobilization, Brom returned to his hometown in Iowa and worked as an architect in the city of Waterloo. He never returned to Plzeň, though he dearly wished to. “Czechoslovakia will always remain in my heart,” said the veteran, who sadly passed away in February 2025, just shy of his 100th birthday.
At nearly 103 years old, Eugene Kleindl is one of the last surviving American combat medics from World War II. He served in the 358th Infantry Regiment of the 90th Infantry Division – the first American unit to cross the pre-war border of Czechoslovakia near Aš, eventually ending their journey in southwestern Bohemia.
Born in June 1922 in the small town of Brown Valley, Minnesota, Kleindl originally wanted to be a dentist. But the attack on Pearl Harbor changed everything. In November 1942, he and his brother Clifford enlisted in the Army. He first served with a tank destroyer battalion, later becoming a medic in the 358th Infantry Regiment.
After intense training, he was deployed to Europe in March 1944. He landed on Utah Beach on June 8, 1944, as part of the second wave of the Normandy invasion. As a medic, he faced the horrors of war during the fighting in Normandy and the advance into inland France. He fought in Lorraine, crossed the Moselle River, and survived the brutal winter in the Ardennes during the famous battle.
In April 1945, the 90th Division was ordered to push east – first into Germany, then into Czechoslovakia. On April 18th, On April 18, the reconnaissance units of Kleindl’s regiment were the first to enter Czechoslovakia near Aš. They later returned to Germany from where the division advanced south along the Czech-German border.
Along the way, they liberated the Flossenbürg concentration camp and moved into the Šumava region to pave the way for Patton’s 4th Armored Division.
They encountered light German resistance in the mountains, suffering casualties. “I was a frontline medic – my job was to help wounded soldiers and civilians. We also set up medical aid in liberated areas and ensured the injured were taken to field hospitals,” says the war hero, who was awarded both the Silver Star and the Bronze Star for bravery.
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