AMERICUS — Howard Towns of Lake Wales, Florida, sits back on the settee by the dining room entrance door upstairs of the Windsor Hotel with the air of a man in his thirties instead of man in his 80s. In fact, Towns, who was a staff sergeant in the 8th Air Force division, is 82.

His silver hair is short and yet, flowing, and his eyes are strong, focused, as he talks of his time as a prisoner of war.

“It was in February of 1945, and the Germans had jets that could go about 500 miles per hour, while we were still flying planes that at most could go 125 miles per hour,” Towns said.

Pausing for a moment, “And they were just shooting us out of the sky.”

“It was in February, and toward the end of the way,” Towns’ voice was firm.

“They were down themselves, and lack of food was the biggest problem,” said Towns.

When asked if he had ever thought he would be a prisoner of war, Towns emphatically said, “Gosh no. My job wasn’t one that put me in that danger, really. I had never parachuted before, but that day, I did. We were all together.”

“I busted up my knee pretty bad,” said Towns, rubbing his knee.

Reliving the experience, greeting old friends and making new friends over the past weekend in Americus and Andersonville as part of the Rolling Thunder’s Ride Home was “a wonderful experience.”

“These people,” said Towns, nodding toward the individuals roaming through the hotel, with Rolling Thunder vests and shirts on, “are the hardest working people ever.”

“This is good for all of us, to remember those times, remember those we lost, and those that are still missing,” said Towns.

“I love this area, it is a beautiful place, and the people in the community have been super,” said Towns.

Bill Norwood, another visitor to the community and a former POW, agreed, “This is a great place.”

Norwood, a resident of Cleveland, Tennessee, served in Korea, and was a POW for 2 ? years.

“I was in the Army, the Infantry,” said Norwood, continuing, “and I had numerous jobs, but mostly we supplied the troops with ammunition.”

“By that time, in 1951, there were so many Chinese in Korea, we were pretty much over run.”

Norwood explained, “They kept coming so fast that we couldn’t retreat fast enough.”

He whispered, “We didn’t call it a retreat though, it was a strategic movement, or so our top brass called it.”

Pausing, Norwood continued, “It was a retreat.”

“I took some shrapnel, and was injured. In the beginning, things were pretty rough.”

“They treated us pretty bad, and then after the peace talks, things did lighten up, some.”

Norwood’s gaze was toward a wall on the elegant hotel, but his mind was reflecting back to a time a number of years ago when he was in the prisoner of war camp.

“I never really had long range plans about survival,” he said, continuing, “but then, no one did. You couldn’t live like that, you had to live day by day.”

Finally, toward the end of the war, Norwood was released. “We were actually a part of an exchange of prisoners-for every 100 of their prisoners, one of us was released.”

“I was lucky, that I was one of those that survived,” said Norwood, “to be released, and I was one of the older guys.”

Norwood was 19, “We had soldiers who were younger than me. There is one here today who celebrated his 16th birthday in the POW camp.”

Watching the movement of the Rolling Thunder members among the former POWs, Norwood said, “These people are inspiring. I can’t say enough about them.”

“They are unbelievable, and their attitudes toward us, well, I am really honored to have been invited and included in this event.”

“I am actually an honorary member of the Rolling Thunder chapter back home, but have not really participated much,” said Norwood.

“But after this weekend, well, I am inspired to get back involved and be productive.”

“A lot of people talk about being patriotic, well, these people, the Rolling Thunder, this community in Americus and Andersonville, they act patriotic, they walk the walk,” said Norwood, proudly.

“I don’t think people realize that we left 8,177 soldiers unaccounted for in Korea. These are soldiers who died in the POW camps, on the battlefield or well, we don’t know what happened to them, they were never recovered,” Norwood commented.

“Events like the Ride Home, the POW recognition, and organizations like the Rolling Thunder, they help make us aware and educate the public.”

Norwood said that the potential plan is that at next year’s Ride Home event, a plaque is to be installed in honor and memory of those left behind.

Bill Norwood, 78 years old, and a former POW, said, “And I think that is just wonderful!”