Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 17, 1994 TAG: 9402170048
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
DATELINE: DELRAY BEACH, FLA. LENGTH: Medium
After a five-year letter-writing campaign, Sohmer is a decorated veteran at age 72. Armed with the typing skills of his wife, Ros, and his own determination, he was finally awarded the medal promised to him during World War II.
In 1942, while the United States was still reeling from the attack on Pearl Harbor, Sohmer embarked on a top-secret mission with the U.S. Army Air Corps.
Sohmer and 35 other troops were ordered to participate in the Army's $7 million Civilian Emergency Defense Aid to Russia campaign, the CEDAR Project. They received special passports for the relief effort.
The unit flew to the Persian Gulf to escort a group of civilians with the Douglas Aircraft Co. The federal government contracted the technicians to assemble and test airplanes for the Russians at a plant on Abadan Island in Iran. The airplane parts were hidden in crates around the desert.
"It was hotter than Death Valley. If you picked up a metal tool during the day, you could get blisters," Sohmer said. "We did most of our work at night. The Russians knew that their lifeblood was in those airplanes."
While crews worked on airplanes, the Air Corps and Russian troops protected them from enemy fire. Some of the planes assembled on the island were used in the battles of Leningrad and Stalingrad.
"A Russian airfield marshal told us, `When this is all over, you will receive some sort of reward, probably a medal for your bravery,' " Sohmer recalled. "I've been looking forward to that medal for over 40 years."
Sohmer left Iran in 1943 when he became ill. He returned to the United States as a flight cadet and married his childhood sweetheart, Ros Weiss, now 69.
In the 1980s, Sohmer read that several U.S. veterans received the Russian Medal of Victory celebrating the 40th anniversary of World War II. Immediately, he wrote the Russian Embassy in Washington.
"I just hope that this medal by your government will be awarded to me before I die. You see, I am 70 years old and would like to have this very soon. A promise made is a promise kept," Sohmer said in a 1992 letter to Ambassador Vicktor Kompcektov.
He sent the ambassador CEDAR Project history and a copy of his passport, now crumpled and frayed, with several pages stamped from wartime visits.
"There were a lot of phone calls to Washington, D.C., and Moscow. It was an expensive proposal, but I was determined to receive this award," he said. "If it wasn't for the passport, they would have never believed me."
Sohmer's request for a medal was finally cleared in Moscow last year. The award arrived in December, a few days before his 50th wedding anniversary. It came with a letter from Vladimir Lukin, a Russian diplomat, thanking Sohmer for his work "on behalf of President Boris Yeltsin and the entire Russian people."
Sohmer lost contact with his Persian Gulf regiment. He said he is probably the only member of his unit to receive the award.
Yuri Menchikov, a spokesman with the Russian Embassy in Washington, said the medal has been awarded to about 2,800 U.S. veterans. "We are trying to repay our debt to them and to recognize their contributions to the Allied victory."
by CNB