Biography of Samuel Seymour (Sy) Brenner ~~ X-POW

Born June 2, 1922 in Montreal, Canada More Articles about Sy Brenner

By Donna Cohen, his daughter

Sy’s family moved to Detroit, Michigan, when he was 9 months old. He graduated form Northern High School, where he had the lead in the Senior Play, and played catcher for the baseball team. He also got involved in radio as an actor, appearing on the Lone Ranger and Green Hornet shows, as well as some other programs, playing juvenile parts. Majored in speech and sales in college prior to entering the U.S. Army. In Basic Training he was attached to the Service Company of the 410^th where he won an expert marksman medal and appeared in radio shows for Special Services as the ‘Perfect Soldier’, Pvt. Joe Phoof. He then went into the medical detachment of the 2^nd Battalion of the 410^th Infantry of the 103^rd Infantry Division. It was also during Basic Training that Sy received his United States Citizenship.

On the night of November 29, 1944, while serving in Southern France, he was wounded and taken prisoner by the Nazis. He was involved in a two week death march from Nothalden, France, in the Vosges Mountains to Ludwigsberg, Germany at the height of the coldest winter in European History. He survived without food or water existing by eating snow. During this march, only 70% of the prisoners, most of whom were wounded, survived, either dying of exhaustion, freezing to death, or being shot by the Nazis.

Incarcerated in Stalag 5A,he was put in a hospital which had been a World War I Calvary Stable. Sy was put in charge of all Allied wounded POW’s. With little more than basic first aid training, he had to do surgeries and amputations. Sy became the Man of Confidence representing the Allied Prisoners complaints to the Commandant of the Camp. He also was recruited by and became very involved with French Underground and German Underground activities. He also became involved with the little known about German Underground, which was run by the wives of German officers helping the Allied Troops. All the while, he had to hide the fact he was Jewish. Sy was in 8 hospitals prior to being discharged in December of 1945. During the incarceration, Sy went from 160 pounds to 97 pounds and lost his hair. Upon return from his incarceration, Sy was told by the F.B.I. never to talk about any of his experiences during the war. Because of this, Sy suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome and never talked about his experience until 50 years passed.

During his incarceration, Sy developed a lasting friendship with a French couple who had been captured by the Germans and became slave laborers. This friendship has continued and in 1995, while on a trip to retrace his steps from where he landed in France to where he had been taken prisoner, Sy was able to reunite with these friends, Pol and Zaig Monjarret. Pol had become a mayor of his town, and an internationally renowned musician and author. It was during this trip that Sy was honored by the city of St. Die, France, because his battalion had saved the city. Sy was assisted by Monsieur Roland Prieur, American in charge of cemeteries and monuments. He also met with German Nazi Hunter, Willie Dresen, who told him not to look for the ‘Lady’, the German Officer’s wife who he was in contact with for the German Underground.

Sy received the following medals: 2 Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star, Combat Medic Medal (which he was the most proud of), POW Medal, Good Conduct Medal, American Campaign Medal, 2 European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medals, World War II Victory Medal, Army of Occupation with German Clasp, Expert Field Medical Badge, Honorable Service World War II Lapel Button, and Marksman Badge with Rifle Bar, and the POW/MIA National Memorial award for Honored Service and Sacrifice. He later had a medal made for his wife for putting up with him.

Married Resa Max in June of 1949 and moved to Southern California in 1951 where he entered the sales field. In 1960, he became an Executive Sales and P.R. Representative for Cinderella Fashions and moved to San Diego. He remained in this position for 25 years, until his retirement. In the 1960’s he was an outside resource for the San Diego School System, speaking to Social Studies classes on manufacturing and the interrelation of workers from the field to the factory and drawing board to the consumer. Sy received publicity for this work in t he San Diego Union and the Nationally Renowned trade magazine, Earnshaw’s Review. He produced fashion shows and provided in-service classes for major department stores and specialty shops, where he was known as the Cinderella Man. He also escorted Anissa Jones from the television show, ‘Family Affair’ on personal appearances.

During the Gulf War, Sy began talking to classes from the 5^th grade up, explaining the war that people were seeing on television. Became a speaker for 10 years to the History and War Class at U.C.S.D. Has spoken to over 68 organizations about his War experiences, including 5 times to the Leadership Classes of the Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton and to the Navy, who presented him with an Honorary Top Gun Award. He escorted High School Seniors to Los Angeles on busses, telling them his story and taking them to the Museum of Tolerance under the auspices of the United Jewish Federation.

Sy has been an active member of POW groups and the Veterans Association regarding Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. He has been given a chapter in the book ‘Men of Honor’, and has been cited in many other books and publications. Sy has been interviewed by every local television station and the FOX Cable network. His picture and his story are part of the POW exhibit in the Veteran’s Memorial Museum in Balboa Park.

He is a member of Tifereth Israel Synagogue, the San Diego POW Chapter 1, the Harry Apelman Lodge Post 185 of the Jewish War Veterans, the Blackmer Masonic Lodge and the Tuesday Lunch Bunch. Sy volunteered at La Vida Real retirement living center, as a member of the resident board and he played music for the Memory Care patients.

His family includes his wife, Resa, Daughters Donna (Leon) Cohen and Maureen Bailey, and son, Ron Brenner, grandchildren, Bill (Melanie) Cohen, Alicia Cohen, Seth Cohen, Megan Brenner, Sarah Brenner, and Dylan Bailey, and great granddaughters, Jolee and Shayna Cohen.