I had an interesting e-mail recently from a man named John Coon, who is retired from the US Air Force. He spent the years 2000 to 2008 working for the US military near Heidelberg, Germany.
Shortly before returning to the United States, Mr. Coon was having dinner in a restaurant near Heidelberg when the English-speaking German waitress commented on his Southern drawl. During their subsequent conversation, she told him that her father had spent most of WWII at Camp Aliceville, and she knew many things about the former POW camp.
Mr. Coon plans to return to Germany and will try to find out more about her memories. If he does, I will post the information here.
He also reported the sad news that John Michael Parrish, son of Wendell Parrish, passed away near the end of September at the age of 61. Those of you who have read Guests Behind the Barbed Wire will remember that Wendell Parrish was the American airman who was interned at Stalag Luft IV and provided the contrasts for me between American POW experiences in Germany and those of German POWs at Camp Aliceville. We offer our sincere condolences to Wendell and his family.
Shortly before returning to the United States, Mr. Coon was having dinner in a restaurant near Heidelberg when the English-speaking German waitress commented on his Southern drawl. During their subsequent conversation, she told him that her father had spent most of WWII at Camp Aliceville, and she knew many things about the former POW camp.
Mr. Coon plans to return to Germany and will try to find out more about her memories. If he does, I will post the information here.
He also reported the sad news that John Michael Parrish, son of Wendell Parrish, passed away near the end of September at the age of 61. Those of you who have read Guests Behind the Barbed Wire will remember that Wendell Parrish was the American airman who was interned at Stalag Luft IV and provided the contrasts for me between American POW experiences in Germany and those of German POWs at Camp Aliceville. We offer our sincere condolences to Wendell and his family.
PLEASE NOTE: The photos in this blog entry were provided by John D. Coon and are used with his permission.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment