Freedom’s Voice The Monthly Newsletter of the Military History Center 112 N. Main ST Broken Arrow, OK 74012 http://www.okmhc.org/ “Promoting Patriotism through the Preservation of Military History” Volume 6, Number 9 September 2018 United States Armed Services POW/MIA Recognition Day Days of Observance POW/MIA Recognition Day is observed in the United States There are several Days of Observance in the month of Sep- on the third Friday in September. It honors those who were tember. We believe the most significant are Victory over Japan prisoners of war and the more than 82,000 still missing in ac- (VJ) Day on September 2, POW/MIA Recognition Day on Sep- tion. This day was established by an Act of Congress in 1998. The Military History Center has created a small portion of tember 14 and Air Force Birthday on September 18. the Flag Plaza as a memorial to honor the thirty-two Oklaho- mans from the Vietnam War, who were still MIA when the memorial was created. Each of the thirty-two bricks is en- Important Date graved with the MIA’s name, rank, branch of service, military city of record and the date he went missing. Two MIAs’ re- October 13 mains have been recovered and identified since the Memorial was created. Their bricks have been marked with an “R” desig- Military History through the Ages nating their recovery. On Saturday, October 13, the MHC will present a program featuring a visual living history of the U.S military services from the Revolutionary War to the present. The event will be on the Memorial Flag Plaza and adjoining parking lot from 10:00 am to 4:00 p.m. This will be a most interesting and informative program, especially for students, so mark your calendars and plan to attend. For more information, call Dennis Hoch at the MHC – (918) 794-2712. On Saturday, September 15, the MHC held a POW/MIA Along with recognizing POW/MIAs, during the event, the Recognition Day event on the Center’s Memorial Flag Plaza. MHC dedicated its newest brick memorial recognizing the World War II POW Bill Grisez was the featured speaker. He World War I Choctaw Code Talkers. related his expericences as a prisoner of the Germans. Choctaw Code Talker Memorial on the MHC Memorial Flag Plaza The principal speaker at the dedication was Ms. Nuchi Mr. Bill Grisez delivering his address, while MHC Docent and Master of Nashoba, President of the Choctaw Code Talkers Association. Cermonies, Ken Collins, holds the American flag that Mr. Grisez made while a POW. She is also a great-grandaughter of Choctaw Code Talker, Ben Carterby. Bill Grisez, originally from Ohio, moved to Tulsa as a young Ms. Nashoba’s efforts to preserve the legacy of the boy, where he attended Holy Family Catholic School. At age Choctaw Code Talkers have helped in many ways. France sixteen, he, with his parent’s permission, joined the Oklahoma recognized the Choctaw Code Talkers with that nation’s National Guard’s 45th Infantry Division. He later transferred to Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Merite (Knight of the National the 82nd Airborne Division. Order of Merit). A Choctaw War Memorial located on the In July 1943, the 82nd ID participated in the invasion of Sicily grounds of the Choctaw Capitol building at Tuskahoma, (as did the 45th ID). Mr. Grisez counts himself as one fo the first Oklahoma, pays tribute to Choctaw who served in America’s American soldiers to stand on Nazi controlled European soil. military. In 2005, President George W. Bush signed into law the Poor weather conditions blew most of the paratroopers off Code Talkers Recognition Act of 2008, which recognizes every course. After hours of looking for members of his unit, Grisez Native American code talker who served in the United States and several of his comrades were captured by the Germans. military during both world wars. The Choctw Nation was He was imprisoned in Stalag II-B near Hammerstein, Ger- presented with the Congressional Gold Medal, and silver medal many. In January 1945, as the Russians were closing on eastern duplicates were given to each code talker, or as most were Germany, the Germans moved the Stalag II-B prisoners west in deceased, to their families. a forced march of over 300 miles through Germany. Even- tually, as the Russians closed in, the German guards fled, and (Event photos courtesy of MHC volunteer, Lindsey Donaldson) the American POWs were on their own. They were later rescued by advancing American force. Museum Hours and Admission Fee Tuesday – Friday: 10:00 – 4:00; Saturday: 10:00 – 2:00 Closed Sunday and Monday and major Federal holidays Adults – $5.00 Members and Children under 18 – Free For more information, call (918) 794-2712 www.okmhc.org Main gate of Stalag II-B In Memoriam Commander McCain deplaning at Clark AFB – March 14, 1973 Senator John S. McCain – 2009 McCain remained in the Navy until 1981, when he retired as a John Sidney McCain, III, America’s most recognized Vietnam Captain (equivalent to a Colonel). He settled in Arizona, the War POW, was born August 29, 1936, at Coco Solo Naval Air home of his second wife, where he was elected to the House of Station in the Panama Canal Zone, where his father, a naval Representatives in 1982. In 1986, he was elected to the Senate, officer, was stationed. He entered the Naval Academy in 1954. where he served until his death. He was an indifferent cadet, graduating fifth from the bottom of He was one of the Senators who took the lead in promoting the Class of 1958. Ensign McCain chose naval aviation as his reconciliation with Vietnam. During the controversy over “en- career path. He completed his training at Pensacola Naval Air hanced interrogation” techniques used by the CIA during the Station, Florida, in 1960, qualified to fly ground attack aircraft. War on Terror, he was adamant about prohibiting what was con- In 1967, now a LT Commander (equivalent to a Major) McCain sidered torture of any kind. He often took what some considered requested combat duty. He was assigned to the aircraft carrier, controvisial positions on such issues as campaign finance reform USS Forrestal stationed in the Gulf of Tonkin. On July 29, 1967, and immigration, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. His he was in his aircraft on Forrestal’s flight deck when a rocket on most important service in the Senate may have been his work on another aircraft self-fired and struck another aircraft starting the Armed Services Committee, of which he was chairman at the fires and explosions as other armed aircraft became involved. time of his death. Throughout his Congressional carrer, McCain McCain was injured in the incident that claimed 134 lives. After was a steadfast supporter of the military. his recovery, he was posted to USS Oriskany, where he flew A-4E Captain/Senator John S. McCain, III died at his home near Se- Skyhawks. dona, Arizona, on August 25, 2018. He was interred in the Naval On October 26, 1967, on his twenty-third mission over North Academy Cemetery. His major military decorations include a Vietnam, McCain’s Skyhawk was struck by a surface-to-air missle Silver Star, Legion of Merit (2), Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze over Hanoi. The missle took off a wing, and McCain immediately Star (3), Air Medal (2), Purple Heart and POW Medal. ejected. Somehow, both arms and a leg were fractured during his ejection. He landed in a small lake in Hanoi, where locals, enraged by the American bombing, beat and stabbed him before he was rescued by local militia. He was taken to Hỏa Lò Prison, a former French colonial hotel that the Vietnamese had converted to a POW facility, and which the POWs dubbed the "Hanoi Hil- ton". Only after his captors learned that their prisoner was a son of an admiral, did they begin treating him for his injuries. Even so, the treatment was rudimentary because the Vietnamese couldn’t do any better or did only what was necessary to save the life of their famous prisoner. McCain spent six weeks in a hospital before being returned to a cell. He later spent two years in solitary confinement. His injuries did not deter his captors from torturing him until they obtained a bogus confession as a war criminal. After the United States and North Vietnam reached an agreement in 1973 to exchange prisoners, McCain was Caisson carrying Captain John S. McCain to his burial site repatriated at Clark AFB, Phillipines, on March 14. Naval Academy Cemetery – September 2, 2018 Prisoners of Germany Poland). As the Russians closed on East Prussia and Pomerania, the prisoners were moved. They were loaded onto World War I vintage rail cars called 40 and 8s because they were designed to hold either forty men or eight horses. Stalag Luft IV’s pris- oners were transferred west to Stalag Luft I at Barth-Vogelsang on the Baltic Sea in western Pomerania (now in the German state of Mecklenberg). Somehow, the prisoners acquired a radio or had scrounged parts to build one. They secretively tuned to the BBC at night to keep up with the news. By then, both the eastern and western fronts were moving fast as the German army was collapsing. Each day, a map was posted in the barracks showing the posi- tions of the fronts. On April 30, 1945, the Germans hastily abandoned the camp, and the Russians entered the next day. SSGT Thomas W. Sommers – ca. 1944 Barth had a large airport, and several days after liberation, Eighth Air Force flew transport planes from England to collect Thomas William Sommers was born at Humphrey, Arkansas, the liberated prisoners.