Determined to serve in the Army Air Corps during World War II, 20-year-old Doane Hage enlisted and set out to be a fighter pilot. He wound up an armament man with a bomber squadron and then caught a break when a vacancy opened up on one plane’s crew. Shot down over France in November 1942, he was sheltered for a time by a family of Spanish refugees. He was captured trying to cross into Spain and confined to the famous Stalag 17B, where he sharpened his drawing skills for the other prisoners, recreating scenes of their own planes going down. The above sketch is by Doane Hage depicting a view from outside the plane of his own escape above St. Nazaire, France.
We honor you, Doane Hage Jr.
