ISTRES, France – The Air Force airlifted a World War II-era rail car, historically used as a prisoner-of-war troop train, to the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
The boxcar, donated by the French National Railroad Company and the American Prisoner of War Association, will be used to complete a POW display at the museum.
“When the American POW Association offered the donation, it took us about two seconds to say ‘yes,'” said retired Maj. Gen. Charles D. Metcalf. “What better artifact could there be to recreate the POW experience than an original rail car?”
Using train tracks, theatrical lighting and actual memorabilia, the museum will incorporate the vehicle as a walk-through exhibit.
September commemoration. The museum plans to celebrate the arrival of the car in conjunction with POW/MIA Day Sept. 21, Metcalf said.
Downed American pilots were sent to Germany and Poland on this type of car during World War II, said Gen. Fran
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