D . C . Wimberly Duvall Cortez Wimberly , Sr . ( September 14 , 1917 - January 27 , 2007 ) , was a United States Army soldier taken prisoner of war in the European theater of World War II and a past national commander of American Ex - Prisoners of War , a veterans organization based in Arlington , Texas . He was also an educator and school administrator for thirty - seven years in Bienville and Webster parishes in northwest Louisiana . Wimberly was a cousin of Lorris M . Wimberly , a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from Bienville Parish who also served on three occasions as Speaker of the House between 1936 and 1956 . His brother , Lucian McDade " Dade " Wimberly ( 1922 – 1990 ) , was a Louisiana state trooper from Minden , the seat of Webster Parish . Biography . Wimberly was born to Dempse Wimberly and the former Arvie McGinty in Ringgold in Bienville Parish . He graduated from Ringgold High School in 1934 and received a bachelor ' s degree in 1940 from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches . He obtained a Master ' s Degree in education from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge in 1946 and post - master ' s instruction thereafter from Auburn University . Wimberly first taught in Bienville Parish and then in neighboring Webster Parish , where he was principal in four different schools : Sibley High School ( 1947 – 1949 ) in Sibley , Shongaloo High School in Shongaloo ( 1949 – 1954 ) , and thereafter Springhill Junior High School and Browning Elementary School , both in Springhill . Wimberly retired from professional education in 1975 . While he was still a principal , he ran unsuccessfully for the Springhill City Council . In a heated contest for the Louisiana State Senate in 1967 , Wimberly signed a public letter of endorsement of Springhill native John Willard " Jack " Montgomery , Sr . , who unseated incumbent Harold Montgomery of Doyline in south Webster Parish . In 1943 , Wimberly married the former Inez Gamble , a native of Grand Cane in De Soto Parish . They had three children : Sandra ( born 1949 ) , Duvall , Jr . , ( born 1952 ) and Virginia " Bess " ( born 1955 ) . Wimberly died of a blood disorder in Springhill , where he had lived since 1954 . Mrs . Wimberly moved to Bossier City in 2011 . Wartime service . Wimberly recounted his wartime exploits : " On Thanksgiving night 1944 in Luxembourg , the members of the German Army counterattacked my battalion . Companies E and F were wiped out . I was the Third Platoon sergeant . . . . I lost forty - six men from my fifty - man platoon . Three others and myself were captured . That night and the next few months [ we were ] starving , freezing , walking over lots of Germans from southwest Germany to northeast Poland and back to south of Berlin . I felt , and to this day feel , [ that ] I am living on borrowed time . I have assisted my fellow Americans as a school teacher , administrator , Mason , and Shriner , [ having ] dedicated my life to the Christian effort of ' helping those who cannot help themselves . ' This is also the motto of American Ex - Prisoners of War . " Wimberly was held in Stalag XII and several other camps . He was liberated by the Russians on April 22 , 1945 , escaped on May 9 , and discharged from the military on December 12 , 1945 . He received the Purple Heart , Bronze Star , and two Battle Stars . He headed the American Ex - Prisoners of War in 1974 - 1975 , having been elected at the national convention in Las Vegas . He was involved in budget ing , membership , publicity , and as judge advocate for the group . He is interred at the Wimberly south of Ringgold .