Andrew and Paula McCrea pose with Tom Crosby and his wife Nancy at the Veterans Museum in San Deigo.

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It is difficult to imagine the conditions for POWs like Tom Crosby in the weeks leading up to their camps liberation. Some had already died from malnutrition, and now they feared they might lose their life in the American forces attempt to free them…

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In January of 1942, eight year old Tom Crosby, along with his brother, mother and grandmother, Americans living in Manilla, were taken prisoner by the Japanese who had invaded the Philippines. For the next three years we would experience life as a child POW…

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Life was good for eight year old Tom Crosby, an American living in Manila in 1941. Then December 7th came, and his life changed forever…

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Most prison camps wouldn’t want their detainees digging tunnels to freedom, but at Ed’s camp, it was a way to keep the prisoners occupied…

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Ed believed he was a well informed pilot flying for the United States. Then the German captured him and told him things about himself that he’d never known.

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Ed Davidson got to cross the Atlantic on the Queen Mary, but his trip wasn’t for pleasure…

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They were prisoners of war, yet they were paid for their work; many of them forged friendships with the locals that would last for the rest of their lives….

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Stu Hedley may have believed that once he left his ship, the West Virginia, in Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 7, 1941 that he was out of harm’s way. More obstacles were still to come…

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We’ve heard of the events of December 7, 1941 at Pearl Harbor. Today, we meet one of the men who survived aboard one of the battleships stationed there…

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Jerry Coleman served his country as a pilot during World War II, then returned home to play professional baseball. 1949 marked the first of five consecutive World Series Championships for the New York Yankees; Jerry Coleman was on those teams and remembers some of the biggest names in baseball…

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It is difficult to fathom the changes that took place in everyday life in the United State, yet alone Hawaii, after December 1941. Sports took a back seat to the war, of course, yet professional teams still played with depleted ranks…

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Jerry Coleman was a high school senior when the Japanese hit Pearl Harbor. He was drafted the very next year, but not by the military. Here’s his unique story of service to country and America’s favorite pastime…

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Al Bodenlos can tell you plenty about building airport runways. Of course, most of those he helped build were on surfaces like coral, under the threat of attack by the Japanese…

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Al Bodenlos was in Honolulu on the morning of December 7, 1941. Like many people there, he didn’t immediately realize the story that was beginning to unfold. Soon, he found himself in the middle of the conflict…

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Al was about to witness the most realistic military training exercise he had ever seen. As he got closer to the action, he quickly realized this was not practice, but one of the most significant events of the 20th Century…

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Sunday was a day of worship in Hampshire, Illinois…both for the American residents and their friends, the German POWs. The American Countryside is brought to you by the place where the Pony Express began and Jesse James ended…St. Joseph, Missouri. Plan you trip at stjomo.com…

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When John Fenzell was struggling with English at his Illinois elementary school, he got a tutor…a tutor that just happened to be a German POW. The story is today brought to you by one of my favorite places to visit…St. Joseph, Missouri. Plan you trip to museums, parkways, riverwalks and more at stjomo.com…

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John Fenzell, like many young boys, delivered papers growing up. However, some of his customers happened to be German POWs picking crops in Illinois. Today’s American Countryside is brought to you by the place where the Pony Express began and Jesse James ended…St. Joseph, Missouri. Plan your trip at stjomo.com…

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During World War II, young working men left the Midwest to fight for their country. In some cases, it was the enemy soldiers that came here to harvest the crops. This week’s broadcasts are brought to you by the place where the west officially started getting wild…St. Joe, Missouri. Plan your trip at stjomo.com…

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