Join us at the U.S. Army Airborne and Special Operations Museum on the eve of National POW/MIA Day for our Distinguished Speaker Series event with local author, Howard Simkin. Click here to register for this event.

All active-duty service members are free upon registration. 

About the Author: 

Howard R. Simkin has over 40 years of combined experience in military, law enforcement, and business. During his military service, he had 16 Years of intensive Special Operations experience. He has conducted Special Reconnaissance, Foreign Internal Defense, and Unconventional Warfare Missions. He received a Masters of Administrative Science from the Johns Hopkins University. He is also a U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command proclaimed “Mad Scientist.” He lives in North Carolina with his wife of 48 years, in a multi-generational home. In addition to “Home Run”, he has authored articles in Naval History Magazine, Small Wars Journal, the Strategic Multilayer Assessment Forum, and the Mad Scientist Blog.

About “Home Run”:

Imagine that you are deep behind enemy lines. Your plane was shot down or perhaps you have just escaped from a prisoner of war camp. The enemy is hunting you, seeking to throw you behind barbed wire for the duration of the war. What will you do? Do you have a plan, and the skills, to make it to friendly territory?

During World War II, the Germans and Japanese held over 306,000 British and 105,000 U.S. service members as prisoners. The number of successful evaders and escapers, both U.S. and British, exceeded 35,000. Many of these were aircrew, who received intense training because of the high risk that they would have to evade or escape. This book will relate how they fared in enemy hands or managed to remain free.

This book provides a complete overview of U.S. and British escape and evasion during World War II. It tells the story of the escape and evasion organizations, the Resistance-operated lines, and the dangers faced by the escapers and the evaders in a logical and compelling narrative. Heroism, betrayal, sacrifice, and cowardice are all elements of this fascinating part of the rich tapestry of World War II.

To purchase from the Museum Store, click here.