SYLACAUGA, Ala. – This Wednesday’s fall lecture series continues at B.B. Comer Memorial Library with author Denise George as she presents “Behind Nazi Lines: The Unbelievable True Story of a World War II Alabama Hero.”
In 1944, hundreds of Allied soldiers were trapped in German Prisoner of War (POW) camps in occupied France. The odds of their survival were long. The odds of escaping were even longer, but one man had the courage to fight the odds.
Andy Hodges, a 28-year-old man from south Alabama, had been excluded from military service due to a shoulder injury from his college football days. Devastated but determined, Andy refused to sit at home while his fellow Americans risked their lives, so he joined the Red Cross, volunteering for the toughest assignments on the most dangerous battlefields.
In the fall of 1944, Andy was tapped for what sounded like a suicide mission: a desperate attempt to aid the Allied POWs in occupied France – alone and unarmed, matching his wits against the Nazi war machine. Despite the likelihood of failure, Andy did far more than deliver much-needed supplies. By the end of the year, he had negotiated the release of an unprecedented 149 prisoners, leaving no one behind. Don’t miss hearing this true story of one man’s selflessness, ingenuity, and victory in the face of impossible adversity to negotiate the release of a record-breaking number of POWs.
Denise George is author of 31 books and recently Penguin Random House is publishing her major narrative nonfiction collaborations on WWI and WWII military history and heroes. Denise is married to Dr. Timothy George, founding Dean of Beeson Divinity School, Samford University. The couple has two adult children, Christian and Alyce.
Visit the SouthFirst Bank Adult Lecture Series at the Comer Library this Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2017. Refreshments are served at 11:00 a.m. and the program will begin at noon. For more information, visit www.bbcomerlibrary.net or email [email protected].
Kim Ellison for SylacaugaNews.com | © 2017, SylacaugaNews.com/Marble City Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
