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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Powerful and Terrifying, This Book Will Also Make You Angry, July 17, 2001
This review is from: Black Hole of Wauwilermoos: An Airman's Story (Paperback)
Dan Culler headed off to war, the son of Quakers, because he felt it was his duty to his country. He put love of country and the ideals of democracy and freedom above his own faith, and in so doing, ended up in a situation where he was abandoned by the nation he loved, and left to die in a hell-hole of a Swiss prison, Wauwilermoos. This is Dan Culler's story. No one who reads this will come away from the experience unchanged. No one will ever read about Wauwilermoos or the miscarriages of justice Culler was forced to endure in a typical history book. The story should make the United States and Swiss hang their heads in shame. The truth about some of the hardships endured by American airmen interned in Switzerland during World War II has been supressed by publishers and editors for years. Dan Culler's book does a lot to shatter some of this official silence. The first part of this well-written, sensitive book describes Culler's training as a B-24 flight engineer. It follows Culler and his crew from the States over to England, where they almost immediately fall afoul of the operations officer, who tries to appropriate their sleeping bags. Failing this, the man makes sure that Culler's crew flies the oldest, most decrepit B-24's in the squadron, and in the worst position in the formation. This is Culler's first intimation that things are not as they seem Stateside. Their lives hang on the whims of higher-ups. Culler's plane, crippled by flak, limps into neutral Switzerland. Life as an internee is not terribly harsh, but Culler takes the command of his superiors seriously--it is an airman's responsibility to escape and return to his unit to fight another day. So he escapes. He is caught. And for his trouble, he is sent to a Swiss federal prison, Wauwilermoos. Wauwilermoos is a maximum security prison meant for the worst criminals in Europe, both Swiss and those who have escaped to Switzerland. Culler's crime-trying to escape and return to his unit. He is thrown into a barracks which approaches Dante's Hell, where he is tortured by his fellow inmates day after day. When he goes to the commandant for help, he finds his own government has abandoned him. The U.S. military attache', Gen. Legge, has sent out a message commanding US troops not to escape, and furthermore, has decreed that any who try will be sent to Wauwilermoos, where the Swiss can deal with them as they see fit. In addition, according to the U.S. government, officially there is no such place as Wauwilermoos, and there are no Americans held there. If not for a kind British sergeant who comes to check on his own nation's troops imprisoned in the camp, Culler would never have emerged alive. As it is, the story of his incarceration and escape is every bit as intense and thrilling as anything Hollywood could concoct. The reader is kept frantically turning the pages, empathizing with Culler and rooting for his success. Once Culler makes it back to England, he finds he has been abandoned again. There is no such place as Wauwilermoos. He has never been there, so he has never been a POW. Therefore, he doesn't qualify for any POW benefits or medical or mental treatment for his many physical and emotional wounds. He tries to continue in the military, first as a highly-qualified techinican and then as a pilot cadet, but all his attempts are foiled by the military and he is discharged. It is my hope that the reader's interest is aroused by this review, short as it is. You will come away from this book feeling Culler's sense of hopelessness and betrayal at the hands of the US and Swiss governments. You will be angry to learn the fates of the US military attache, Gen. Legge, who countermanded official military policy, and of the Swiss commandant of Wauwilermoos. And you will be angry along with Culler as he attempts to get recognition and medical treatment for the hell he has endured in the service of his country--a country that, sad to say, let him down when he needed it. This is a powerful book, carefully and sensitively written. It deserves to be read by anyone interested in the air war, in POWs and their fates, or in the strength of the human spirit. I recommend it very highly.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
POW, August 26, 2008
This review is from: Black Hole of Wauwilermoos: An Airman's Story (Paperback)
My belief is that all American internees of Wauwilermoos Prison in Switzerland deserve the POW medal. They suffered the same harsh conditions as in any German POW camp. This is a fact. American Internees held in Russia are recipients of the POW medal (the law passed in 1992) and the USA was not "At War" with Russia. WW 2 POW status is not just for men held by combatants such as Japan or Germany. Please take the time to contact your Representatives in Congress.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Book - An Absolute Must Read About the Horrifying "Reality" of War, July 7, 2007
This review is from: Black Hole of Wauwilermoos: An Airman's Story (Paperback)
Dan Culler is a Great American Hero. He is incredibly brave, having gone against his own religious convictions to fight for America, the country he loves, in World War II, at the ripe young age of 17 - too young at the time but he got his mother to sign the papers because he wanted to serve his country. Dan risked his life as flight engineer/top-turret gunner on B-24s in WWII. After enduring many of the most harrowing and horrific missions imaginable (I mean, pause for a moment and try to imagine doing battle at 26,000 feet against enemy aircraft and ground-to-air anti-aircraft fire or "flak" exploding all around you in a largely experimental aircraft), Dan's B-24 "Hell's Kitten" was shot down and forced to land in Switzerland, where he and his crew were interned. As a prisoner of war in a supposedly "neutral" country, it was Dan's duty to try and escape and that he did. He was only doing what his country told him to do. For that, he suffered unimaginable torture. Dan Culler is a great man not only because he is brave, but because he is a loving man and he overcomes. To this day, Dan continues to fight for what he believes in through his writing, inventing and flying his American/POW flags proudly in his front yard. This book should and will make you cry. It will scare you, but it will also make you laugh at times as Dan manages to keep a sense of humor despite the difficulties he experienced. Most importantly, this book will educate you, teaching you about the 'reality' of war and even how a country that you love and believe in can let you down. This is one of the most important books I have ever read. Aside from the fact that it is important from a historical perspective, it reads like a great novel. Highly recommended!
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