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Brian talks with 104 year old World War II vet Bob Doolan and his experiences
Bob Doolan - 104 y.o. World War II Vet
Bob Doolan - 104 y.o. World War II Vet
Joe Strecker Productions
16 MAR. 2021 · bringing back hometown hero, Bob Dolan, who is celebrating his 104th birthday, this coming weekend, March 21st, and who proudly served his country in world war II and also knows. Everything that went on at Starlog Luftthree, which is that movie, Steve McQueen was in a great escape. And I had the pleasure of meeting and having lunch with Bob Doolin a year or two ago.
Thanks to Steve Murray, who also is a veteran. Steve entered America's military because of Bob Doolan, Bob Doolin. Welcome. It's a great pleasure to have you on the 55 care C morning show, sir. And I know Steve Murray, you influenced that man's life tremendously because of you. He joined America's military and he proudly served until retirement.
So he's, he was career military and he always gave you credit for influencing them in a positive way. Bob and I know you influenced a lot of young men. Uh, you were a scout master back in the day, right? Yes. And that's after you, that's after you served your country, of course, in world war II. So let us thank you for your service to our country and let's find out what year did you enlist in, uh, in the military, Bob.
Okay. You hated the call, is that, uh, the, the, the world war two, um, or the, you know, that was before you wanted to flub as before that was before the, uh, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, wasn't it. How about that? That's right. Cause that was December seven, 1941. Yeah. You were already in, but that, but that came as a shock to you, Bob.
Yes, it was definitely, I was home and that weekend,
well, I had gone to pilot school and I wasn't good enough to go beyond shingle engine shoes. They sent me home until I was going to go back to navigation school. And you ended up, you ended up as a navigator and a B 17 right now. How many missions did you go on until? Well, sadly you were shot down because you ended up in install log low three.
We all know that cause so you're telling me the lucky number 13 is the mission you're on. When you got shot down. At that time, we had to do 25 and we could go home and get ready for the Pacific. Wow. Where were you flying over when you were shot down, sir? Thousands of Kirkland in the rural rallies, uh, Northeast over the Rhine.
And were you immediately captured when your plane landed or crashed or what happened? Uh, I, I, I told him the younger men are with me shopping that way. Get out of here. The Germans will be hearing five minutes and, uh, I did make contact with the musicians and I was listed for three weeks, Louis, but ultimately got caught by the Gestapo, I guess.
Yeah, I, we would walk with, we were walking with her. Well, she separated by a hundred feet chills. The first man was captured. I was going into what was supposed to be a shaped house up there. Um, the head and, uh, I just touched the doorknob and instantaneously the door grab was open and that shits man all over me, there was three get Xapo and three and shit.
He hit me over the head and another one's got handcuffs on me. Doesn't got a gag in my mouth and it pushed me down to the floor. Wow. Well, did they take you directly to stall log three? Oh no. I was a prisoner of the Gestapo for three weeks. They were asked her any, you know, they were know who helped me.
And, uh, I had been in two or three houses in that time that had traveled promoting into Holland to the Iraq and train, but, uh, And they say I was the first man here and then they get me down and hurt me. They hit me and pushed me down and put the cuffs on me. They hit you. I would say that that would hurt.
That would hurt. I'm certain of that Gestapo treatment. I can't imagine being pleasant at all. So after they're done with you for three weeks, is that when they shifted you over to the pow camp, they turned me over to the look loft. Yeah. And I looked awful. Uh,
I was entering into the, what they calling interrogation camp
air force was interviewing prisoners. So they want her to get any information we can get actually the German
air forces and, uh, I left there and went on a train to stylish little three, which was in, uh, actually in Germany, right at the Polish border. I was prisoner number 2,555 there. The camp was, uh, O camp, but they didn't have prisoners until just recently. So w how were the conditions if I, and I've, I know most of my listening audience has seen the great escape, the movie about and the tunnels that were dug, um,
really, uh, kept the camp and, and hashing good shit. Uh, there was no personal animosity between us in our guards. In fact, some of them had been fliers in a world war one. Uh, when I got there, the camp had 2000, 2,500 prisoners. Now we're getting more Bob group from the United States. So every week we get new men where we divided by nationality because the great escape movie seemed to think that this show that the British were on one side and the Americans were on another.
Is that accurate? When I got there, the American gender British were together together. Then today they opened a new camp and they moved all the Britain out of there. Okay. Now, whose, whose idea, whose idea was the tunneling project? When was that? How long were you there when that was hatched. And did you, did you participate or know that that was going on.
Actually act, act style and looked three. Eventually there were five different game closers, you know, because you can't even government, a thousand million, he's using 5,000. Uh, so I was not in the camp where that timer was Turner was in the North camp and I was in Shanghai camp. You get word about the tunnels being dug when you were at the South, the other camp, or did they find out about that?
Find out about that later, Bob? Not much, we didn't get much information because you don't want to put that information out. Uh, I knew the title was Canadian, you know, um, challenge that can't think of his name right now. Uh, but, uh, there was no, there was no timeliness from the Shinar camp where I was.
There were some sneaking out over at the fence at night, but that was the total of it. We did, we knew that there was a panel going on, but not much else. Now when, when the tunnels were discovered, uh, I imagine their head had been red, a rather an uproar at the camp of what was the response from the Germans after the tunnels were discovered, at least in so far as you and the rest of the prisoners are concerned.
Well, they, they may have been a little more strict, but, uh, there wasn't much, should I just say we were in a different section of the camp and, uh, of course it was hard on Berlin diner, the German Colonel, he was court-martialed immediately. And he was a, uh, an old air force man. And, um, by enlarge, uh, he created a sh um, Well, he ignored as much of the time.
I would, I, it, when you're dealing with the Germans, the Nazis and that situation, Bob, I would think that's a good thing. You get ignored. It sounded to me like, not as bad as many prison camps could have been. No one wants to be in a prison camp, but we did this. Relationship with the guards and the men there.
Did that help facilitate getting these toggle tunnels done? Because when I've seen the great escape, I always wonder how in the heck did they get cameras to take pictures? Where did all this equipment come from and in clothing items and all the stuff that they needed to fake their way out. The clothing was furnished by the red cross.
They didn't pay for it, but they'd go only one who could deliver it. Uh, we had a rag press parcel, weighed seven pounds, the food parcel. It was intended to keep women alive for a week. But they had 12 ounces span, 12 ounces, a quarter pound of margarine. We can fry, um, before some chops with some cheese and five packages of sugar to, into a coherent year and still currency in Europe.
When, when trains could move in, ships were being shocked. We were supposed to get a red cross parcel every week and they never happened. The 2 cent generic companies helped us a lot. United States playing card company was in Norwood. We wanted maps, escaped maps, show that there's 52 cards in a deck. What are your cards?
Two jokers and two, uh, Eagle or bicycle advertising. And they would print. A map. I go showing the best routes of escape and where there was Germans. And then they like cut him up into, I mean, you would cover it up with it. And then kind of up into cards, I guess it was a mapping, a deck of cards, the posted three attached stamp on it for the Bob was planning.
We didn't want to play with those cards when it got to the camp, we can choke them in water. And then car numbers came off that we didn't set up a fat mapper is good.
There was a baseball come in. I mean, ladies, come in, come in pick goals with sons. They made basketball every, Oh goodness, sporting goods, but they made baseballs and, uh, Washington came down and said, we want you to do that little capsule in the middle of a baseball. We want you. Put a mapping new,
uh, radio park so we can build a radio. So little by little, you accumulate this stuff and you had everything you needed once you dug out and got outside the wall, which of course it before we part company Bob and I, I really enjoyed our time talking again today. Um, uh, in terms of accuracy of the movie, the greatest game, what would you say?
Is it accurate? Is it half accurate or is it complete other than the motorcycle ride? Okay. So Steve McQueen riding a motorcycle and jumping a fence was done for Hollywood purposes. Only, not shocking. That's right. He wouldn't do the movie if they didn't let him, that ever happened, listeners to you. God bless you, sir.
Thank you for your service to our country. Thanks for spending time with us today and a very happy birthday coming up. March 21st, I have a feeling it's going to be a birthday to remember, sir.
Brian talks with 104 year old World War II vet Bob Doolan and his experiences
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