2RHPZ
06-05-2005, 06:21 AM
Eyes in the sky
Having been a videographer for more than 70 years, Doug Morrell can say he’s “been there and done that” — and he has the video to prove it.
by 2nd Lt. Adrianne Michele
opening photo by Master Sgt. Lono Kollars
Our planes were set on fire; it was a sad affair. We had to grab our parachutes and bail right out of there. We dove out through the hatches — it was the worst of times. We hit the ground eight hundred miles behind enemy lines!
Dozens of veterans sing these words, karaoke-style, at their prisoner-of-war reunions each year.
The German troops were waiting to take us on the ground; they hauled us into Bucharest and walked us through the town. The people jeered and shouted — they spit as we passed by. We thought that in those city streets, we were sure to die.
Leading them in the simple tune is Doug Morrell, who wrote the song — and produced the karaoke presentation — based on the experiences he and other prisoners had in 1943 and 1944.
Morrell is a retired chief master sergeant whom you might say has done it all over a 30-year military career. He served in World War II as a combat cameraman and flew 32 combat missions before being shot down over the “Iron Gates” of Romania. He evaded the enemy by walking across Yugoslavia and Albania for 27 days and bribing an Albanian fisherman for a ride to Italy.
Back in action, he was flying his fifth raid over the Ploesti, Romania, oil fields when he was shot down again.
“ ‘Oh, no! Here we go again!’ That’s exactly what I said when I bailed out,” he said. “I was really thinking about having to walk back again.”
He parachuted to the ground. This time, the Germans were waiting. He spent four-and-a-half months as a POW in Bucharest before the advancing Russian army freed him and other captured troops.
Article (http://www.af.mil/news/airman/1103/eyes.html)
Having been a videographer for more than 70 years, Doug Morrell can say he’s “been there and done that” — and he has the video to prove it.
by 2nd Lt. Adrianne Michele
opening photo by Master Sgt. Lono Kollars
Our planes were set on fire; it was a sad affair. We had to grab our parachutes and bail right out of there. We dove out through the hatches — it was the worst of times. We hit the ground eight hundred miles behind enemy lines!
Dozens of veterans sing these words, karaoke-style, at their prisoner-of-war reunions each year.
The German troops were waiting to take us on the ground; they hauled us into Bucharest and walked us through the town. The people jeered and shouted — they spit as we passed by. We thought that in those city streets, we were sure to die.
Leading them in the simple tune is Doug Morrell, who wrote the song — and produced the karaoke presentation — based on the experiences he and other prisoners had in 1943 and 1944.
Morrell is a retired chief master sergeant whom you might say has done it all over a 30-year military career. He served in World War II as a combat cameraman and flew 32 combat missions before being shot down over the “Iron Gates” of Romania. He evaded the enemy by walking across Yugoslavia and Albania for 27 days and bribing an Albanian fisherman for a ride to Italy.
Back in action, he was flying his fifth raid over the Ploesti, Romania, oil fields when he was shot down again.
“ ‘Oh, no! Here we go again!’ That’s exactly what I said when I bailed out,” he said. “I was really thinking about having to walk back again.”
He parachuted to the ground. This time, the Germans were waiting. He spent four-and-a-half months as a POW in Bucharest before the advancing Russian army freed him and other captured troops.
Article (http://www.af.mil/news/airman/1103/eyes.html)