Happiness is Sometimes a Choice We Make

After his forced bail out & subsequent capture on 8 April 1944, Co-Pilot Vernon Dicke of the 447th Bomb Group was sent to Stalag Luft I, Barth, Germany. There he met Otis Montgomery who had flown as a Pilot in the 381st Bomb Group until he was shot down & captured on 5 January 1944. At Stalag Luft I Vernon & Otis shared a room with sixteen other men. Reminiscing about his POW experience in 2000 Vernon wrote, “Life was never all bad in any situation for those of us who chose to be as happy as we could be.” The eighteen roommates at Stalag Luft enjoyed a number of group activities & often played cards, especially bridge. Vernon & Otis played together as partners & attained the accolade, “Number One team in the room.” Chess was another popular pastime. One American pilot who had been blinded by an exploding hydraulic tank in his B-24 learned this game at Stalag Luft I from the British. Although unable to see, he could play five chess games at one time keeping up with the moves on each one. Vernon & Otis decided to carve their own chess set from wood & completed all thirty-two pieces. The chess set is now displayed in the Museum’s POW exhibit.