Bud Gahs

Prepared by the Witnesses of War team

Lockered “Bud” Gahs Jr. was born in 1924 in Parkville, Maryland. After finishing high school, he worked at the Glenn L. Martin aircraft plant before entering the United States Army in 1943. He served in the Anti-Tank Company, 222nd Infantry Regiment, 42nd “Rainbow” Infantry Division, working as a truck driver responsible for moving antitank guns into position.

Deployed to France in November 1944, Gahs fought against the German Operation Nordwind offensive in Alsace. On 25 January 1945, during fighting near Schweighausen, he defended his position for hours against repeated attacks, using an M3 submachine gun. His actions earned him the Bronze Star Medal.

On 29 April 1945, Gahs reached Dachau with his regiment on the day of the concentration camp’s liberation. Assigned to secure nearby woods, he expected to encounter fleeing SS guards. Instead, a liberated prisoner crawled toward him and kissed his boot. Gahs remembered the encounter as the most moving moment of his life. His duty that day kept him outside the main prisoner compound; he first entered through the camp’s front gates during a return visit in 1972.

The following day, his regiment advanced into Munich, before continuing into Austria. Decades later, Gahs returned to the places where he had served, sharing his memories with soldiers, students and survivors. In 2022, he received France’s Legion of Honour during a visit to the region where he had fought.

On 4 May 2025, Gahs returned to the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site for the eightieth-anniversary commemoration. Representing the liberators, he joined survivors and their descendants in remembering the victims and preserving firsthand testimony of the camp’s liberation.