THE ERWIN NINE
Hilda Padgett

In the early days of World War II, nine young men from the small town of Erwin, Tennessee (population 3,350), volunteered for service in the United States Army Air Corps, proud to defend their nation and democracy. None of them served together, and all were shot down at different times in different places. Yet, incredibly, with more than fifty prison camps scattered throughout Nazi Germany, all nine captured airmen were sent to the same one—Stalag Luft IV.