By James J. McGrath II
Shortly after World War II, Bill Wilson and George Damato of the Connecticut National Guard were on temporary duty in Germany, and spent their free time one afternoon on a trip to Heidelberg Castle. The men couldn't find the road to the castle, so they parked their car in town and took a shortcut through some backyards. They were approached by an angry farmer whose tone suddenly changed when he realized the trespassers were from the U.S. military.
Wilson and Damato told the landowner they were from the U.S. Air Force, and the farmer asked where they were stationed. They told him they were stationed at Bradley Air Field. The Bavarian told them he was a prisoner there during the war. He remembered his good treatment as a prisoner of war in America, and gave the two men a grand tour of the town.
This story was told to me by Thomas Palshaw of the New England Air Museum, who is the author of "Bradley Field: The First 25 Years." At the museum, he shared details with me about the POW camp at Bradley Field in East Granby during the last year of World War II.
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