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MARTINSBURG - World War II veteran Roger Bowers holds his thumb and forefinger out to indicate something small and says he doesn't want a long article written about him.

The modest Roaring Spring native shies away from attention for his military service, but the facts add up to one huge sacrifice deserving of recognition.

National POW/MIA Recognition Day was Friday, and Bowers, 85, came to Central High School to talk to students in social studies teacher Philip Waite's classes Tuesday.

"It's humbling," junior Sarah Ormsby, 16, said after hearing Bowers and Waite tell the story of how Bowers went from sitting in a high school classroom to doing whatever he could to stop the blood flow of wounded soldiers.

Bowers received a Central High School diploma in 2001 as part of a nationwide effort to honor those soldiers who did not receive their degree because of the call to war. The Army paid him $64 a month in combat pay, he said.

A combat medic in the 28th Infantry Division, 110th Infantry Regiment, 103rd Medical Unit, Bowers arrived on the beaches of Normandy June 14, 1944.

Bowers was told out of 100 soldiers, 85 would not survive, Waite said.

With odds stacked against him, the combat medic carried sulfa powder and pills, bandages, morphine and iodine on the battlefield, Waite said. At one point, Bowers did this for 130 consecutive days, he said.

Bowers earned a Purple Heart after a piece of shrapnel ripped into his leg, a shard he removed himself.

At another point during the war, Bowers lay with his infantry in the snow in Hurtgen Forest for 18 days and nights, surviving on 2,000-calorie candy bars, which Waite pointed out is the equivalent of a box of Pop Tarts.

Bowers was captured in Clervaux, Luxembourg Dec. 16, 1944. He walked 125 miles, passing what would become known as the Malmedy Massacre where the enemy shot POWs at point blank range, Waite said.

Bowers stood in a railroad car built to hold 40 people with 69 other men for a week, Waite said.

On a projection screen, Waite brought up a photograph of the camp where Bowers was held until April 2, 1945. The POWs lived on a diet consisting mostly of German black bread, which was made from rye kernels, sugar beets, saw dust and minced leaves and straw.

The 220-pound Bowers dropped to 100 pounds, Waite said.

Bringing in Bowers to speak to the students takes the cold and unforgiving subject of war and makes it human, Waite said.

"We take our freedom so much for granted," he said.

Something Bowers can never do.

"I lost my freedom once," Bowers said about his willingness to serve again.