Chester veteran a savior to Nazi camp survivors

For Mickey Dorsey, his feeble left hand has been one of the most symbolic parts of his life.

But the deformity he brought with him into the world didn’t keep him from living well once here.

Throwing newspapers from his bicycle as a young boy, entering the military after two rejections, feeding starving people with his own hands, and starting a company are among the achievements of his 90 years of life.

His actions in World War II won him awards for his bravery – and the undying gratitude of survivors of a Nazi death camp he helped liberate. As one survivor wrote: “To Sergeant Mickey Dorsey . . . Without whom my story of survival could never have been written. Thank you forever!”

Dorsey’s career started at 10, delivering The Evening Herald newspaper, now The Herald, to 106 people every day except Sundays. .

Each week, Dorsey collected 12 cents to hand over to the newspaper and six cents to keep for himself.

“He would save every penny,” said his grandson Andrew Dorsey. During the Depression, Dorsey loaned money to the men working at his father’s mill, who didn’t make as much as the youngster, Andrew Dorsey said.

One year at a newspaper employee banquet, 14-year-old Mickey won carrier of the year – along with ten crisp one-dollar bills, something he had never seen.

“I received the award for being the best all-around carrier with the least amount complaints,” he said.

His hard-working spirit led him to Clemson University on a scholarship through Sears. But war interrupted his studies.

“I want to fight,” he told a military recruiter.

The teenager tried to enlist in the Marines to become a pilot but was turned down. His hand was of no use, they told him.

He tried the Navy. They told him no.

He told an Army officer he scored the highest possible in marksmanship, and that officer finally said yes.

Dorsey was assigned to Gen. George Patton’s Third Army, 71st Infantry Division, as a reconnaissance trooper. The 71st traveled farther east than any other division, reaching Lambach, Austria. As a reconnaissance trooper, Dorsey scouted ahead of other soldiers.

In May 1945 the division liberated the Gunskirchen Lager concentration camp near Lambach with 15,000 starving Jews – and 3,000 dead ones.

“We had never heard of this concentration camp, and it was a big shock to us to see the dead bodies,” Dorsey said.

The emaciated people lining the fences shouted, “ich habe hunger,” – I am hungry.

Dorsey and other soldiers gave the survivors k rations and cigarettes, and the division began to requisition supplies and transportation from the town to provide survivors with food and water.

“We just took things as they came,” Dorsey said. Some of the survivors even ate cigarettes.

Dorsey later received awards for his bravery, Andrew Dorsey said.

Dorsey became close friends with some of the survivors about 20 years ago, after a reunion in Washington and a trip to Europe to visit the camp sites.

“Thank you for saving me and others and given me the opportunity to live again,” wrote one friend in a letter.

After the war, Dorsey returned to Clemson to study textile engineering. He later began a company, Lumbromation, Inc.

He donated his letters, photos and biographical information to the College of Charleston.

On his 90th birthday, Dorsey received letters of congratulations from the president of Clemson, state attorney general Alan Wilson, U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy, and Command Sergeant Maj. Robert Brickley of the S.C. National Guard. The South Carolina House of Representatives passed a resolution in honor of his accomplishments.

“It’s inspiring to hear about his sacrifices,” Andrew Dorsey said. “It makes you proud to be an American.”

This story was originally published August 8, 2015 at 6:42 PM with the headline "Chester veteran a savior to Nazi camp survivors."