Samuel M. Wheeler valued freedom more than most because, when he was a young man fighting for his country in Europe, the Nazis took his freedom from him for a time.

Mr. Wheeler was a 26-year-old private in the 82nd Airborne Division in December 1944, fighting in the Battle of the Bulge, when his unit was overwhelmed by Nazi forces. He and dozens of his fellow soldiers were captured and spent the final four months in a Nazi stalag inside Germany.

The Westwood man died Tuesday at Mercy Franciscan Hospital-Western Hills at the age of 84.

As a young soldier of the 82nd, Mr. Wheeler and his unit saw combat in North Africa, Italy and in the D-Day invasion of Normandy before being called in from England to replace green troops in the first days of the Battle of the Bulge.

Mr. Wheeler earned a Purple Heart for a wound suffered in that fighting.

Christmas Day 1944 saw Mr. Wheeler and his fellow GIs, now prisoners of the Germans, on a forced march through bitter cold and snow to the rear of the German lines, where they were herded into boxcars and taken to a Nazi stalag in Germany.

“It was hard; I lost a lot of weight and saw some of my buddies die,” Mr. Wheeler told The Cincinnati Enquirer in December 2001. “But most of us got through it. We lived to tell about it. But it was the kind of Christmas I wouldn't wish on anybody.”

Mr. Wheeler, a native of Harlan, Ky., became a salesman of electrical equipment after the war. He and his wife Myrtle had been married 56 years at the time of Mr. Wheeler's death.

“Sam was very proud of his service,” Mrs. Wheeler said. “It meant a great deal to him.”

Mr. Wheeler was a member of the Cheviot Chapter of the Loyal Order of the Purple Heart and an active member of Westwood United Methodist Church.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by a sister, Charlotte Bensey of Harriman, Tenn., and nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be at 10 a.m. today at Westwood United Methodist Church, 3460 Epworth Ave., Westwood. The Bolton and Lunsford Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

E-mail hwilkinson@enquirer.com

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