[303rd-Talk] WW II Escape Tunnell,Sagan,Germany

[Norma Tucker]

Wow, what a lot of information, and thank you for sharing it.  I have that 
movie on DVD, and it is one of my favorites.  I also have the movie Stalag 
17 on DVD and watch it just as frequently.  My dad was in Stalag 17 for just 
over 26 months.  When that movie first came out, he and my mom went to see 
it.  When he mentioned to the ticket seller that he had been in Stalag 17, 
and in fact, had met the guy who wrote the book, she had Mom and Dad step 
aside for a few minutes while she left. When she came back, she had the 
theater owner/manager with her... along with numerous gifts.  Apparently, 
the theater had advertised anyone who had been in Stalag 17 and attended the 
movie would be honored.  Dad always said the movie characters were 
composites, the time frames condensed, but the events were portrayed pretty 
accurately.  Only the place where the lieutenant was hidden was changed in 
the movie - Dad said he was actually hidden in the latrines, and I do mean 
IN the latrines and not the water tower, before he was able to escape.  It's 
been a long time since I've spoken to Dad about that movie (he died in 78 
and it was well before that that he talked to me about it) but I think I 
recall him saying the lieutenant was hidden for several months.