Biss Peterson, the son of Henry H. and Rittie (Peterson) Peterson, was born 8/12/1920 in the Poplar community in Mitchell County.  He enlisted in the army in March 1943; he was promoted to Corporal and was engaged in the European Theater of Operations.

Biss Peterson was a Prisoner of War in Stalag II B, a work camp west of Hammerstein, a village in Pomerania; it is now the town of CzSarne in Poland.  Germany had used the camp for Russian POWs during the First World War and as a concentration camp for German Communists in 1933.  Polish POWs arrived in 1939, then Belgian, French, and Soviet POWs.  The first American POWs were brought to Stalag II B in August 1943.  The camp was segregated by nationality in different compounds, and most of the inmates were on work details on nearby farms.  The greatest number of American prisoners of war was about 7200. The camp was liberated by the Soviet Red Army in April 1945.  Peterson, who received a Purple Heart, a decoration for those wounded or killed while serving in the US military, was released from the Army in August 1945 and returned to Mitchell County.  On December 7, 1946, he married Leone Bennett (6/21/1923-5/5/1993), the daughter of John Melvin and Jennie Griffith Bennett. Biss Peterson worked at Henredon Furniture.  He died 3/12/1984 and was buried in Ridgeview Presbyterian Cemetery.  He was survived by Leone, sons Larry, Darrell, and Sherrill, and daughters Davenia Tipton and Jo-Lynn Peterson.