Hickernell Honors Mount Joy Resident and Last Known Malmedy Massacre Survivor at the Capitol

HARRISBURG – Harold W. Billow, a resident of the 98th Legislative District and the last known survivor of the most infamous war crime committed during WWII’s Battle of the Bulge, was honored during an auspicious ceremony on the floor of the House on the 75th anniversary of the Malmedy Massacre, said Rep. Dave Hickernell (R-Lancaster/Dauphin).

Billow a member of the U.S. Army's 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion, was among was among the prisoners of war captured by a German SS unit on Dec. 17, 1944, near Malmedy, Belgium. Billow said the German’s shot 86 unarmed soldiers, but he narrowly escaped by falling among his dead comrades and being counted among the dead.

The Mount Joy resident, who just turned 97, still remembers the slaughter as vividly as it happened 75-years-ago. Every Veterans Day, Billow places 86 American flags in his front lawn as a memorial to the friends and fellow warriors he lost that freezing December day thousands of miles from home.

Video of Mr. Billow being introduced to the House can be viewed on Hickernell’s YouTube channel by visiting RepHicknernell.com.

Representative Dave Hickernell
98th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Charles Lardner
717.260.6443

RepHickernell.com

Speaker Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny), Rep. Dave Hickernell (R-Lancaster/Dauphin), World War II veteran Harold W. Billow and Chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, Rep. Steve Barrar (R-Chester/Delaware) present Harold W. Billow with a House Citation on the 75th Anniversary of the infamous Malmedy Massacre.