TSgt Richard Hamilton, U.S. Army Air Corps, WWII, POW

Richard Hamilton was drafted into the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1942. He was trained as a radio man on a B-17 bomber crew. After arriving in England, he took part in eight successful bombing missions, but often dealt with the harrowing anti-aircraft fore coming from the Germans.The ninth mission turned out much differently. The bomber was severely damaged and Hamilton and several other crew members were forced to parachute out of the plane over enemy territory. He was captured and spent more than a year as a prisoner of war in Nazi Germany. Hamilton describes the treatment he endured and the revolting conditions in which he was forced to live.About a year into captivity, life got even worse. As the allies advanced, Hamilton and many other prisoners were sent on a 77-day forced march. Hamilton tells us all about surviving that ordeal and the memorable way that it came to end.Now 100 years old, Mr. Hamilton has a powerful message for all of us on appreciating our freedoms - freedoms that he was forced to live without and has cherished since his days as a prisoiner ended.