Stalag XVII-B Remembered by TSgt Rick Parker

About 400 survivors of the Stalag XVII-B Prisoner of War (POW) camp in Krems, Austria, met in Biloxi, Mississippi, for their 55th annual reunion. These veterans not only served our country and helped preserve freedoms we all share but experienced the harshest enemy treatment and endured reprehensible conditions. The ex-POWs reminisced about times long past when they were young men – teenagers at the beginning of World War II. They exchanged stories about how and where they were shot down and of treatment and conditions they experienced while POWs.

They cruised on the Natchez riverboat in New Orleans, spent a day playing golf at Keesler AFB while the ladies had lunch at the Keesler Club and briefly toured the Heritage Museum on Keesler AFB. The reunion concluded with a banquet recognizing Stalag XVII-B group commander, Gary Stein.