Cleven

“His crew, some of them comparatively inexperienced youngsters, were preparing to bail out,” Lay wrote in his report recommending Cleven for the Medal of Honor.

Masters of the Air Donald L. Miller 2006

So Frank Murphy had no idea that John Egan and Gale Cleven were at Dulag Luft at that time; and neither Egan nor Cleven knew the other was there.

Masters of the Air Donald L. Miller 2006

“There was lots”: Cleven interview, April 24, 2003.

Masters of the Air Donald L. Miller 2006

That night, Cleven and two other men had crawled through an open stockade filled with manure, with Egan providing cover by priming a rusty old pump, the squealing and scraping drawing the attention of the guards.

Masters of the Air Donald L. Miller 2006

“I was so skinny”: Cleven interview, April 24, 2003.

Masters of the Air Donald L. Miller 2006

“These Jerries must have had families in Hamburg to want us this bad,” Gale Cleven said later.

Masters of the Air Donald L. Miller 2006

“What many of us”: Cleven interview, April 24, 2003.

Masters of the Air Donald L. Miller 2006

At Sagan, two of the most powerful men in the prisoner hierarchy were Gale Cleven and John Egan from the Bloody Hundredth.

Masters of the Air Donald L. Miller 2006

“The fabulous Cleven” was back, and “everyone wanted to meet him,” recalled a veteran of the Hundredth.

Masters of the Air Donald L. Miller 2006

Cleven, March 8, 2003; Gale Cleven diary, in the possession of its author.

Masters of the Air Donald L. Miller 2006