<p>Please take a moment to remember the 50 who were murdered, as well as the other POWs at Stalag Luft III (and all POWs.) Thank you.
<a href=“'The Great Escape' commemorated in Poland - BBC News”>http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-26706141</a></p>
<p>My sisters FIL, was a POW on Bataan during WWII.
<a href=“Home - Sur-Bata AnVivor”>http://www.bataansurvivor.com/content/the_bataan_death_march/2.php</a></p>
<p>Thank you for the reminder, Silpat. I remember seeing the movie as a child and becoming terribly upset at the ending credit, which reads something like “This picture is dedicated to the fifty,” and realizing that it had actually happened, and that those 50 brave men were gunned down so heartlessly. I will remember to think of their sacrifice, and the sacrifices made by our other POWs.</p>
<p>My father didn’t talk very much about his POW experience, but he was glad to have helped with the escape.
It was a way that the POWs could contribute to the war effort by tying up enemy resources near the stalag. The killing of the 50 triggered a deep depression and was the only time, prior to the Death March, that he lost hope for a while. </p>
<p>It’s remarkable to me that most of the POWs who returned home, from both the European and Pacific theaters of war, resumed quite ordinary lives and didn’t think there was anything special about what they’d done. </p>
<p>In a Navy town where we lived for a while, I had a jr. high social studies teacher for one semester who was an ex-POW. He talked a bit about his experiences in Japan but most of the students didn’t care; I was the only one who asked any questions. I remember mentioning him to my dad who got very quiet for a few minutes, then just said, “They really had it rough.” I thought of the photo I’d seen of my dad taken right after he returned and how emaciated he was, and knew that I could never imagine what they’d endured.</p>
<p>The movie is terrific, as long as you don’t mind the silliness of Steve McQueen’s motorcycle ride. My kids love the 4th of July celebration, especially knowing that some prisoners did ferment potato peelings. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve watched the movie, and I still tear up every time.</p>
<p>I work with seniors, several of whom were POWs during WWII. One served with a unit in the South Pacific that was on Iwo Jima and had a horrific casualty rate. He is 92 now and becomes depressed every February, remembering the awful things he saw. Like so many of the other vets, he doesn’t talk about it except in very general terms.</p>
<p>“The Great Escape” is a movie I’ve got to watch every time it’s on. I seem to remember a “Making of” documentary that says it’s a pretty accurate representation - kind of remarkable for a Hollywood studio film.</p>