We were inspired by: Sandra
Happy Rotarians this week were: Carole, Joanie, Carol
Announcements:
Wells Group forcast - March 26th - 7:00 p.m. Town Hall
Rick Smoth will be coordinating programs in April - Thank you Carol for a great job in March
RYLA - Is anybody interested in Chairing this - Carol B will take this on and coordinate with nominated member - Stephanie H.
Exciting Happenings:
Carole McWilliams won the flowers this week.
Don't forget to wear your Rotary pin and enter!
Be sure to Thank Fantasy Floral for their generous donations
Program:
James Arnett (Jim) Gore was a B17 Navigator with the 379th Bomb Group, 524th Squadron, during WWII. His plane went down, June 25th 1943, over Hamburg Germany. At 92 years old, he is here today sharing his story as he has done so many times. He is accompanied by his bride, Dorothy (of 63 years), his Daughter Evelyn, and Son-in-Law Kirk.
Jim shared with us in a very candid and factual manner. He talked about his life in Colorado, becoming a pilot, his enlistment and training, the events that led to his mission and capture, as well as some of the details contained in the dossier the Germans presented to him on day 2 when he arrived in Frankfurt. He told us of his journey to the Camp in Sagan, Germany and what a typical day was like in Stalag Luft III (SL III). He shared the events of the Great Escape, where 80 POWs attempted to escape through a tunnel into the forest.
At the end of the war, the Germans started moving their POW camps away from the front. On January 27th, 1945, prisoners were evacuated from SL III at 11:00 p.m. this began the “Forced March”. After walking for 2 hours, they reached an overlook where they turned to see their "home" of almost 2 years in flames. This was the coldest winter in history and after marching for 4 days, they were loaded onto train cars built for 40 men or 8 mules. They were packed in numbers of 50-60 and taken to a Concentration Camp, another 3 day journey.
On April 23rd, 1945, Patton’s 3rd Army rescued them. Jim talked about his “cruise” home where they traveled down to the Caribbean and watched as the swordfish and dolphins accompanied them, jumping through the water. He arrived in New York to a loud and boisterous welcome home. Jim then had another train ride across the country to return to Colorado. With a sparkle in his eye, Jim described being thoroughly examined by his mother who wanted to be sure everything was in its place with him.
Jim and his family have been active with POW Conventions where they have met and maintained relationships with other POW’s and their families. In 2005, Evelyn and Dorothy accompanied Jim to Germany and Poland to visit the camps where he was held. Just last February, Evelyn and Kirk joined 16 others who reenacted the Forced March 64 yrs to the day after it had taken place.
Evelyn had displayed detailed photo boards of both the 2005 visit & 2009 reenactment. She has also collected photos from the 1940’s, some of which were taken by Prisoners using homemade cameras.
I cannot do justice to Jim and Evelyn’s stories as I was more intent on listening and not keeping up with notes. To fill in some of the details, I visited their blog and encourage you to do so also: http://cloudcorridor.blogspot.com/
Jim shared with us in a very candid and factual manner. He talked about his life in Colorado, becoming a pilot, his enlistment and training, the events that led to his mission and capture, as well as some of the details contained in the dossier the Germans presented to him on day 2 when he arrived in Frankfurt. He told us of his journey to the Camp in Sagan, Germany and what a typical day was like in Stalag Luft III (SL III). He shared the events of the Great Escape, where 80 POWs attempted to escape through a tunnel into the forest.
At the end of the war, the Germans started moving their POW camps away from the front. On January 27th, 1945, prisoners were evacuated from SL III at 11:00 p.m. this began the “Forced March”. After walking for 2 hours, they reached an overlook where they turned to see their "home" of almost 2 years in flames. This was the coldest winter in history and after marching for 4 days, they were loaded onto train cars built for 40 men or 8 mules. They were packed in numbers of 50-60 and taken to a Concentration Camp, another 3 day journey.
On April 23rd, 1945, Patton’s 3rd Army rescued them. Jim talked about his “cruise” home where they traveled down to the Caribbean and watched as the swordfish and dolphins accompanied them, jumping through the water. He arrived in New York to a loud and boisterous welcome home. Jim then had another train ride across the country to return to Colorado. With a sparkle in his eye, Jim described being thoroughly examined by his mother who wanted to be sure everything was in its place with him.
Jim and his family have been active with POW Conventions where they have met and maintained relationships with other POW’s and their families. In 2005, Evelyn and Dorothy accompanied Jim to Germany and Poland to visit the camps where he was held. Just last February, Evelyn and Kirk joined 16 others who reenacted the Forced March 64 yrs to the day after it had taken place.
Evelyn had displayed detailed photo boards of both the 2005 visit & 2009 reenactment. She has also collected photos from the 1940’s, some of which were taken by Prisoners using homemade cameras.
I cannot do justice to Jim and Evelyn’s stories as I was more intent on listening and not keeping up with notes. To fill in some of the details, I visited their blog and encourage you to do so also: http://cloudcorridor.blogspot.com/
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