12-11-2002, 03:11 PM
I have not had a chance to read the book. I was able to watch the C-SPAN show. It featured both the author and the subject of the book speaking.
I will try to summarize what he said about his story.
He was parachuted into Normandy on D-Day. He ended up a POW. Having tried to escape several times, he was loaded onto a train and sent East. Escaping again, he headed further East - towards the sounds of artillery.
When he first encountered the Red Army they told him (English speaking comisar) that there was a processing center for liberated POWs that he would be sent to. His reply (this is a rough paraphrase, as I am doing this from memory) was that he had come to fight the Germans, not run away from them. (At this point the entire audience stood up and applauded with tears in their eyes - as did most of us at home - The Greatest Generation! ). The Russians must have been either impressed or thought he was plain nuts - in any case, he ended up in the unit.
As to the ultimate outcome of the unit he joined -
His son is a Russian expert (not sure of his actual job) living in Moscow. He has been in the military archives and has verified that the unit was pretty much wiped out during the final push to Berlin. He is still trying to research individual commanders - the unit leader was a woman major - her fate is still uncertain.
I will try to summarize what he said about his story.
He was parachuted into Normandy on D-Day. He ended up a POW. Having tried to escape several times, he was loaded onto a train and sent East. Escaping again, he headed further East - towards the sounds of artillery.
When he first encountered the Red Army they told him (English speaking comisar) that there was a processing center for liberated POWs that he would be sent to. His reply (this is a rough paraphrase, as I am doing this from memory) was that he had come to fight the Germans, not run away from them. (At this point the entire audience stood up and applauded with tears in their eyes - as did most of us at home - The Greatest Generation! ). The Russians must have been either impressed or thought he was plain nuts - in any case, he ended up in the unit.
As to the ultimate outcome of the unit he joined -
His son is a Russian expert (not sure of his actual job) living in Moscow. He has been in the military archives and has verified that the unit was pretty much wiped out during the final push to Berlin. He is still trying to research individual commanders - the unit leader was a woman major - her fate is still uncertain.
