I just finished reading "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand. It is quite possibly the best book I've ever read. It's about Olympic runner and WWII bombardier Louis Zamperini whose plane was shot down by the Japanese over the Pacific Ocean. He survived more than a month on a raft in the middle of the Pacific only to be rescued by the Japanese and held as prison of war in absolutely horrific conditions.
Reading "Unbroken" sparked me to ask my mom about her dad's brother who was prisoner of war in Germany. She gave me this 2004 "Villager" article.
Uncle Tom was an aerial gunner during WWII whose plane was shot down by the Germans near Amsterdam. After surviving the crash, he was captured by the Germans and held at a stalag near Vienna, Austria. Although the Germans abided by the Geneva Convention, there was little food to be found. Uncle Tom was fed only sawdust bread and lost 50 lbs. At that time Vienna was on the verge of being captured by the Russians so the Germans moved his stalag via a 27-day march along the Danube. The war ended shortly thereafter and he was freed. Uncle Tom earned the distinguished flying cross and was credited with downing two German planes.
What an amazing man, what an amazing generation. With my recent learnings, the word "greatest" is taking on a whole new meaning for me.
Today at lunch I told this woman about Unbroken. She said she couldn't get into it. I told her she had to try! Oh, but she told me that she is very involved with the local library and has rented a veggie plot at a community garden for a couple of years. yay!
ReplyDeleteOn another note, I also felt really close to this book. My grandpa was at Pearl Harbor and then Guadalcanal where he was lost in the jungle for a very long time stringing telegraph lines through Japanese territory. We went to some award ceremony for that at the 50th anniversary. He had a lot of the problems that the POWs faced when they came home.
She sounds like she could be your new best friend. :) Hope things are off to a good start in Rochester.
ReplyDeleteWow to that story about your grandpa. Just amazing what they did and what they saw.