WEBVTT - The Incredible Escape: Edouard Izac’s 120-Mile Trek 0:00:17.140 --> 0:00:23.581 Pushkin. Hey, everyone is Jared Martinez. 0:00:23.781 --> 0:00:26.220 Before we get into this episode, I wanted to let 0:00:26.301 --> 0:00:28.700 you know that you can listen to the entire season 0:00:28.781 --> 0:00:32.620 of Medal of Honor right now ad free with Pushkin Plus. 0:00:33.061 --> 0:00:36.060 Get all our incredible stories of courage with a Pushkin 0:00:36.141 --> 0:00:39.181 Plus subscription. Sign up and save on the Medal of 0:00:39.221 --> 0:00:43.220 Honor show page on Apple Podcasts or at pushkin dot fm, 0:00:43.221 --> 0:00:47.301 slash Plus. Use the code M twenty five for twenty 0:00:47.381 --> 0:00:49.541 five percent off an annual subscription. 0:00:50.060 --> 0:00:53.741 Okay, now to the episode. 0:00:55.700 --> 0:01:00.541 The passenger train chugged into Germany's Black Forest. It was 0:01:00.621 --> 0:01:05.901 July sixth, nineteen eighteen. The fourth class carriage was packed 0:01:05.901 --> 0:01:08.940 with German soldiers. They were back from the front lines 0:01:08.981 --> 0:01:13.381 of World War One, dressed in their uniforms, smoking and talking, 0:01:14.101 --> 0:01:18.541 happy to be out of the trenches. An American prisoner 0:01:18.621 --> 0:01:22.701 sat on a simple wooden bench. One German guard was 0:01:22.741 --> 0:01:26.860 on his left, another faced him, but both had their 0:01:26.860 --> 0:01:31.060 guns trained on him. The prisoner looked out the window, 0:01:31.500 --> 0:01:34.101 and he watched as the light shifted through the trees. 0:01:35.461 --> 0:01:36.500 For hours, the. 0:01:36.500 --> 0:01:41.101 Train went slowly, pushing its way uphill deeper into the forest. 0:01:42.860 --> 0:01:45.261 The prisoner ran his hands through his dark brown hair. 0:01:45.901 --> 0:01:48.821 He hadn't had much to eat for weeks. He was 0:01:48.901 --> 0:01:52.621 dressed in rags, but he was hyper focused. He was 0:01:52.621 --> 0:01:56.821 determined to find the right moment to escape, to jump 0:01:56.901 --> 0:02:00.821 off of this train. It was a totally insane idea, 0:02:01.381 --> 0:02:04.781 but that wasn't going to stop him. Then he felt 0:02:04.821 --> 0:02:09.221 the train going faster. They were heading down hill, which 0:02:09.261 --> 0:02:11.340 meant they were almost at their desk the nation. 0:02:12.421 --> 0:02:13.541 His heart was pounding. 0:02:14.701 --> 0:02:17.221 The window next to him was shut tight, but the 0:02:17.261 --> 0:02:21.741 one across the aisle was wide open. He saw farms 0:02:21.741 --> 0:02:25.661 flash by people working in the fields. The train was 0:02:25.701 --> 0:02:30.861 going around forty miles an hour, maybe more. And then 0:02:30.901 --> 0:02:33.581 the prisoner noticed that the guard across from him was 0:02:33.621 --> 0:02:38.101 falling asleep. He watched as his eyes closed as his 0:02:38.221 --> 0:02:42.341 head dropped right then the guard beside him turned to 0:02:42.381 --> 0:02:43.501 talk to another soldier. 0:02:44.301 --> 0:02:47.701 The prisoner realized it was now or never. 0:02:49.621 --> 0:02:52.461 He stood up and he ran across the aisle and 0:02:52.541 --> 0:02:59.861 went headfirst through the open window. 0:03:01.661 --> 0:03:02.221 I'm JR. 0:03:02.301 --> 0:03:07.101 Martinez and this is Medal of Honor Stories of Courage. 0:03:07.381 --> 0:03:10.101 The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration in 0:03:10.181 --> 0:03:13.901 the United States. It's awarded for gallantry and bravery and 0:03:13.981 --> 0:03:17.221 combat at the risk of life, above and beyond the 0:03:17.221 --> 0:03:21.061 call of duty. Each candidate must be approved all the 0:03:21.061 --> 0:03:24.101 way up the chain of command, from the supervisory officer 0:03:24.101 --> 0:03:25.901 in the field to the White House. 0:03:26.901 --> 0:03:28.661 This show is about those heroes. 0:03:28.861 --> 0:03:31.821 What they did, what it meant, and what their stories 0:03:31.821 --> 0:03:36.341 tell us about the nature of courage and sacrifice. In 0:03:36.381 --> 0:03:39.661 this episode, we're going to meet Edward Isaac. He was 0:03:39.701 --> 0:03:42.221 a naval officer who was captured by the Germans in 0:03:42.341 --> 0:03:46.341 nineteen eighteen. And from the moment he was captured, he 0:03:46.381 --> 0:03:51.181 was trying to escape. He plotted, he planned, He hid 0:03:51.301 --> 0:03:54.821 maps and money and yeat. He jumped out of a 0:03:54.861 --> 0:03:59.901 moving train. He tried to escape not once, not twice, 0:04:00.101 --> 0:04:05.021 but seven times, and each attempt was dangerous and honestly 0:04:05.621 --> 0:04:11.181 borderline crazy. The man just refused to give up. That's 0:04:11.221 --> 0:04:13.461 not what makes Edward's story so different from the ones 0:04:13.501 --> 0:04:17.260 I've told you before. His story is unique because he 0:04:17.261 --> 0:04:20.301 didn't risk his life to say one man, or even 0:04:20.341 --> 0:04:25.381 a group of them. He ran and ran and ran 0:04:26.261 --> 0:04:46.901 because he wanted to stop the whole damn war. Explosions 0:04:46.941 --> 0:04:52.301 were rocking the USS President Lincoln. Torpedoes skimmed across the ocean. 0:04:53.101 --> 0:04:59.341 One hit then two, then three men were shouting, racing 0:04:59.421 --> 0:05:02.861 to their post, and cascades of water and debris were 0:05:02.941 --> 0:05:06.901 raining down on the decks. It was May thirty first, 0:05:06.981 --> 0:05:10.141 nineteen eighteen, and the Lincoln was on its way back 0:05:10.141 --> 0:05:13.461 to the United States. It was a naval transport ship 0:05:13.861 --> 0:05:17.021 and it had just taken thousands of American troops to France. 0:05:17.901 --> 0:05:19.901 This was way before the time when troops could be 0:05:19.901 --> 0:05:23.101 flown overseas. They had to go by boat. 0:05:23.901 --> 0:05:28.301 Theirs is the gigantic task of delivering men, munitions, and 0:05:28.461 --> 0:05:37.501 food to Europe, battle the deadly submarines and blockade Germany. 0:05:37.661 --> 0:05:41.261 The Atlantic Ocean was full of German submarines. They'd been 0:05:41.381 --> 0:05:45.781 hunting Allied ships for months. The US Navy was desperately 0:05:45.821 --> 0:05:50.061 trying to stop them. Those subs were sinking thousands of ships, 0:05:50.501 --> 0:05:54.821 not just warships but commercial boats too, causing more than 0:05:54.901 --> 0:05:58.901 ten thousand deaths. And so here was the US S 0:05:58.981 --> 0:06:03.181 Lincoln in the crosshairs of a German submarine, the U ninety. 0:06:04.341 --> 0:06:07.341 It was nine am when the torpedoes hit, and Edward 0:06:07.381 --> 0:06:11.621 Isaac was eating his breakfast. He was twenty six lieutenant. 0:06:12.101 --> 0:06:14.981 He had thick, dark hair and a dimple in his chin. 0:06:15.621 --> 0:06:17.341 He had a wife and a baby girl who were 0:06:17.381 --> 0:06:20.101 waiting for him back home. He had grown up in 0:06:20.141 --> 0:06:23.621 a hard working family on the Iowa Frontier. His dad 0:06:23.661 --> 0:06:26.020 was a French immigrant who built wagons for a living. 0:06:26.861 --> 0:06:29.981 Edward was the youngest of nine kids, and he was 0:06:30.061 --> 0:06:34.381 always kind of stubborn, obsessed with doing. 0:06:34.141 --> 0:06:34.821 The right thing. 0:06:35.701 --> 0:06:41.021 His willpower was well, you'll find out soon the torpedoes 0:06:41.141 --> 0:06:44.701 ripped through the Lincoln. Edward put down his breakfast and 0:06:44.901 --> 0:06:46.541 raced through the wreckage. 0:06:46.861 --> 0:06:48.141 Soon the captain. 0:06:47.861 --> 0:06:52.861 Ordered abandoned ship men ran to the lifeboats, loading up 0:06:52.861 --> 0:06:55.741 and pushing off as far from the sinking ship as 0:06:55.741 --> 0:06:58.421 they could. Then they tied their boats together so that 0:06:58.461 --> 0:07:01.941 nobody would drift off and be lost. And at nine 0:07:01.941 --> 0:07:05.501 point thirty the USS President Lincoln put her nose in 0:07:05.541 --> 0:07:07.901 the air and sank to the bottom of the ocean. 0:07:11.021 --> 0:07:14.221 Almost everyone had made it off alive. A feeling of 0:07:14.261 --> 0:07:18.141 relief swept over the lifeboats. They sent up distressed flares 0:07:18.341 --> 0:07:22.301 and waited to be rescued and checked this out. As 0:07:22.341 --> 0:07:27.501 the flares went up, they sang this song. He hal 0:07:29.221 --> 0:07:39.061 his hail, Hell were full of cheer. Their ship just 0:07:39.101 --> 0:07:46.261 went down. Suddenly, the U ninety surfaced again. The Americans 0:07:46.261 --> 0:07:49.381 weren't sure what the Germans wanted, but they knew it 0:07:49.461 --> 0:07:53.701 wasn't good. Edward was in his officer's uniform and was 0:07:53.781 --> 0:07:56.981 noticed by the subs captain Walter Remy. 0:07:57.381 --> 0:08:00.501 When the submarine came to the surface. After the ship 0:08:00.581 --> 0:08:05.741 went down, Raymie spotted me and put a megaphone to 0:08:05.941 --> 0:08:08.701 his mouth and said, come alongside. 0:08:10.221 --> 0:08:12.461 Edward was in a you in nineteen eighty one, when 0:08:12.461 --> 0:08:16.261 he was ninety. He still remembered that moment like it 0:08:16.341 --> 0:08:17.021 was yesterday. 0:08:17.661 --> 0:08:22.901 Two sailors from the submarine reached down and pulled me up. 0:08:23.941 --> 0:08:27.221 So I went up to the skipper, who was in 0:08:27.341 --> 0:08:31.381 the Connie tower. He said, are you the captain of 0:08:31.461 --> 0:08:36.780 the President Lincoln. I said no, I'm only the first lieutenant. Well, 0:08:36.821 --> 0:08:39.861 he said, you point out the captain. I have orders 0:08:39.901 --> 0:08:43.141 whenever I sink a man of war to take the 0:08:43.221 --> 0:08:44.180 captain prisoner. 0:08:45.580 --> 0:08:48.501 Now, Edward wasn't about to let his captain be captured, 0:08:48.901 --> 0:08:50.221 so he lied to Remy. 0:08:50.981 --> 0:08:53.341 I turned to him and I said, I think he 0:08:53.420 --> 0:08:56.421 went down with a ship. Oh, he said, he had 0:08:56.501 --> 0:08:58.021 plenty of time to get out. 0:08:59.741 --> 0:09:02.301 Remy had to have a prisoner, so he kept Edward. 0:09:03.021 --> 0:09:05.741 He offered him a glass of sherry and gave him 0:09:05.741 --> 0:09:09.180 some nice dry clothes. It was a preview of what 0:09:09.221 --> 0:09:11.941 life would be like on board the unit. It was 0:09:11.981 --> 0:09:17.781 all weirdly civilized. Edward dined with the officers. They played bridge. 0:09:18.460 --> 0:09:21.621 The Germans spoke English. It was taught at their naval academy. 0:09:22.460 --> 0:09:22.981 And get this. 0:09:23.700 --> 0:09:26.701 One day they stopped at a remote Scottish island that 0:09:26.780 --> 0:09:30.741 had tons of wild sheep. The Germans went hunting for food, 0:09:31.060 --> 0:09:34.101 and they even brought Edward back a little lamb to 0:09:34.221 --> 0:09:37.580 keep as a ped As he later said, quote we 0:09:37.660 --> 0:09:40.621 named it Rona, and we were the best of friends. 0:09:42.060 --> 0:09:45.180 But Edward wasn't just playing cards and hanging out with Rona. 0:09:45.820 --> 0:09:49.261 He was furious about being captured and not being able 0:09:49.300 --> 0:09:52.180 to help with the war, so he decided to make 0:09:52.261 --> 0:09:55.060 up for it. He was going to spend his captivity 0:09:55.141 --> 0:09:58.701 studying the U boat. After all, this was the weapon 0:09:58.741 --> 0:10:02.101 that was winning the war for Germany. Now he had 0:10:02.141 --> 0:10:05.581 a front row seat to how this killing machine actually worked. 0:10:06.700 --> 0:10:09.381 He would learn what he could, and then he would escape. 0:10:09.381 --> 0:10:12.421 It didn't matter how it was going to be. He 0:10:12.460 --> 0:10:15.621 would risk everything to bring his intelligence to the Allies 0:10:16.060 --> 0:10:21.141 and help finally destroy the enemy fleet. On June ninth, 0:10:21.300 --> 0:10:25.141 the U ninety surfaced a cruise slowly through a channel. 0:10:25.780 --> 0:10:28.701 Sweden was on one side, Denmark was on the other. 0:10:29.700 --> 0:10:34.820 Two more German submarines appeared, then a destroyer. It was 0:10:34.861 --> 0:10:39.420 a secret rendezvous point. Now Edward had even better intel 0:10:39.940 --> 0:10:42.381 and he could see land. It was just a few 0:10:42.460 --> 0:10:47.420 miles away, so he decided to jump right there and 0:10:47.580 --> 0:10:52.181 swim for freedom. He moved towards the guard rail, trying 0:10:52.221 --> 0:10:56.461 to seem casual, and then someone shouted behind him. It 0:10:56.580 --> 0:11:01.940 was Captain Remy. He ordered Edward below deck. Escape Attempt 0:11:02.021 --> 0:11:06.021 number one was over, But the two men were gentlemen, 0:11:06.261 --> 0:11:07.701 so they never spoke of it again. 0:11:08.780 --> 0:11:12.540 Not a bad guy, as a matter fact, he treated 0:11:12.580 --> 0:11:18.780 me very well. That took us twelve days on that submarine. 0:11:19.261 --> 0:11:24.381 Eventually we got to the base of the High Seas 0:11:24.460 --> 0:11:28.621 Fleet and we went down the Kiel Canal. From that 0:11:28.861 --> 0:11:31.941 time on the course, I was at the mercy of 0:11:32.180 --> 0:11:34.700 these prisons. 0:11:34.261 --> 0:11:36.980 And Captain Remy must have known how bad things were 0:11:37.021 --> 0:11:41.101 gonna get. He secretly brought Edward some German money, a 0:11:41.141 --> 0:11:46.181 toothbrush and soap. After Remy left, Edward was moved to 0:11:46.221 --> 0:11:50.861 a place nicknamed the Listening Hotel. The Germans would put 0:11:50.901 --> 0:11:54.501 prisoners who spoke the same language together, hoping they would 0:11:54.501 --> 0:11:57.861 share secrets with each other because each room had hidden 0:11:57.981 --> 0:12:03.261 listening devices. But previous prisoners had scratched beware the dictaphones 0:12:03.381 --> 0:12:08.261 on various surfaces, so instead the men just loudly insulted 0:12:08.261 --> 0:12:12.580 the Germans. Next, Edward was sent to a prison camp. 0:12:13.381 --> 0:12:15.621 It was grim, food was scarce. 0:12:16.780 --> 0:12:22.021 After about a week starvation diet as usual, they transferred 0:12:22.101 --> 0:12:29.780 me down to carlsdru It's a distribution camp for Allied prisoners. 0:12:30.341 --> 0:12:33.580 That's where the hunger really began. All they got was 0:12:33.621 --> 0:12:36.860 thin broth and black bread, and it wasn't even bread 0:12:36.901 --> 0:12:40.901 at all. It was a mix of water, potatoes, sawdust, 0:12:41.141 --> 0:12:45.981 and sand. Edward was already determined to escape. He was 0:12:46.060 --> 0:12:49.501 dying to share his intel. Being hungry just made him 0:12:49.501 --> 0:12:53.780 want to leave sooner. Edward got along with the other 0:12:53.820 --> 0:12:58.501 Allied prisoners, particularly the ones from France. After all, he'd 0:12:58.501 --> 0:13:02.220 grown up speaking French at home, and those guys had 0:13:02.300 --> 0:13:04.381 learned a thing or two about German prisons. 0:13:05.381 --> 0:13:08.341 They had been at war two or three years before 0:13:08.460 --> 0:13:12.741 we got into it. He had quite a school there 0:13:13.261 --> 0:13:16.101 learning how to get loose finally. 0:13:18.060 --> 0:13:20.780 First, he and a few other men bribed a guard 0:13:20.820 --> 0:13:23.780 to help them get out, but the guard was caught. 0:13:24.261 --> 0:13:29.261 Escape plan number two failed. Then came attempt number three. 0:13:30.180 --> 0:13:32.181 Edward climbed a tree next to the fence in the 0:13:32.180 --> 0:13:34.741 middle of the night, planning to drop to the other 0:13:34.861 --> 0:13:38.621 side when the guards wandered away, but somehow the guards 0:13:38.621 --> 0:13:41.780 never moved. He didn't have a chance to try that again. 0:13:42.700 --> 0:13:47.100 Early one morning, after several attempts to escape, they came 0:13:47.180 --> 0:13:52.220 for me, and I had just time enough to grab 0:13:52.741 --> 0:13:56.060 a little knapsack that I had made out of an 0:13:56.060 --> 0:13:57.021 old shirt. 0:13:57.820 --> 0:14:00.180 He didn't know where they were taking him, but wherever 0:14:00.261 --> 0:14:03.460 he was going, yeah, that's right, he was going to 0:14:03.580 --> 0:14:07.060 try to escape. So with the knapsack there was money 0:14:07.101 --> 0:14:10.501 hidden in a can of shaving cream, a tiny compass, 0:14:10.621 --> 0:14:13.621 and a jar of lard, and a map and a 0:14:13.700 --> 0:14:17.221 tin of cocoa powder. The guards poked into the jar 0:14:17.300 --> 0:14:20.141 of lard and into the coco but they didn't find 0:14:20.181 --> 0:14:20.901 a single thing. 0:14:21.981 --> 0:14:27.381 Then they put a chargean and a corporal as my guards. 0:14:26.821 --> 0:14:30.781 With loaded rifles to escort me to the train. 0:14:31.981 --> 0:14:35.541 I finally got from them that we were going to 0:14:35.781 --> 0:14:41.901 the Russian and the American prison camp for officers in 0:14:42.021 --> 0:14:43.941 the Black Forest. 0:14:46.341 --> 0:14:49.741 They found spots in that crowded train car. Other men 0:14:49.821 --> 0:14:52.621 would have settled in for that ride, but not Edward. 0:14:53.341 --> 0:14:58.341 He was getting ready for escape number four. He eyed 0:14:58.341 --> 0:15:02.261 the open window across the aisle. It was tiny, only 0:15:02.341 --> 0:15:05.941 eighteen by twenty four inches, and he kept on waiting 0:15:05.941 --> 0:15:10.181 for the right chance to jump. Even when the train 0:15:10.221 --> 0:15:15.261 started going. He watched his guards until he saw his opening. 0:15:16.341 --> 0:15:19.701 One was sort of dozing, the other was looking up 0:15:19.741 --> 0:15:25.500 and talking with a soldier. And I jumped past the guards, 0:15:25.821 --> 0:15:29.341 off the train, through my head and shoulders through. 0:15:29.501 --> 0:15:30.421 I expected to. 0:15:30.460 --> 0:15:34.580 Land on that running board, you know, alongside those fourth 0:15:34.621 --> 0:15:36.901 class carriages. This didn't have. 0:15:36.981 --> 0:15:41.421 Any Edward had no foothold, so he fell straight onto 0:15:41.460 --> 0:15:43.421 the track that ran parallel to the train. 0:15:44.301 --> 0:15:46.061 Now, I kept rolling over and over. 0:15:47.141 --> 0:15:50.221 His face hid one still tie, and his knees hit another. 0:15:50.901 --> 0:15:53.701 He blacked out, and when he woke up a few 0:15:53.701 --> 0:15:57.261 seconds later, he could hear the train screeching to a stop. 0:15:58.421 --> 0:16:01.221 By that time, the guards had pulled a string and 0:16:01.421 --> 0:16:06.061 the train stopped about three hundred yards farther down. These 0:16:06.141 --> 0:16:10.821 guards came out were shooting at me. When I realized 0:16:10.981 --> 0:16:12.101 that I couldn't run. 0:16:13.421 --> 0:16:16.580 He couldn't bend his knees, so we started hobbling away 0:16:16.661 --> 0:16:20.141 as fast as he could. The guards were firing warning 0:16:20.181 --> 0:16:24.541 shots around his head, screaming at him to halt. Finally 0:16:24.861 --> 0:16:28.460 he stopped and put his hands in the air. Their 0:16:28.501 --> 0:16:31.261 response was to hit him with the rifle. He fell 0:16:31.301 --> 0:16:34.701 to the ground. They kicked him. He struggled to get 0:16:34.701 --> 0:16:39.580 to his feet, and they knocked him down again. Later 0:16:40.021 --> 0:16:42.861 one of those guards would actually be court martialed, not 0:16:43.021 --> 0:16:47.941 for beating an arm prisoner before destroying German Army property. 0:16:48.021 --> 0:16:51.021 He had Edward so hard that he broke his gun. 0:16:52.021 --> 0:16:54.941 But even after the gun broke, they kept going. 0:16:55.861 --> 0:16:59.261 They jerked me to my feet and didn't risk the 0:16:59.341 --> 0:17:03.741 other gun. They crowded me with a bayonet. We were 0:17:03.941 --> 0:17:07.741 five miles from the prison camp at the time. 0:17:09.141 --> 0:17:11.221 They made him hobble all the way to the prison. 0:17:12.061 --> 0:17:15.901 By the time he arrived, he was near death. The 0:17:15.941 --> 0:17:19.061 camp doctor tended to his injuries. He had more than 0:17:19.101 --> 0:17:20.621 a hundred separate wounds. 0:17:21.461 --> 0:17:25.861 They put me in solitary confinement in a cell, and 0:17:26.221 --> 0:17:31.741 I was there or oh, I suppose three months. 0:17:32.941 --> 0:17:35.901 It would be weeks before Edward could walk again, months 0:17:35.981 --> 0:17:38.781 before he could bend his knees, but the pain just 0:17:38.821 --> 0:17:42.421 made him more determined. He had to escape and share 0:17:42.461 --> 0:17:58.061 the intel he thought could end the war. The prison 0:17:58.101 --> 0:18:00.901 camp of Villaingen was deep in the black forest, but 0:18:00.941 --> 0:18:03.901 there was one good thing about it. It was close 0:18:03.981 --> 0:18:08.461 to Switzerland, which was neutral territory. Edward Isaac knew that 0:18:08.541 --> 0:18:10.661 if he could make it to the border, he would 0:18:10.701 --> 0:18:14.620 be as soon as he got out of solitary, he 0:18:14.661 --> 0:18:18.421 started sizing up the camp. To anyone else, the situation 0:18:18.541 --> 0:18:22.100 would have seemed impossible. The whole place was surrounded by 0:18:22.181 --> 0:18:26.461 multiple bar wire fences, plus guards with rifles, and the 0:18:26.541 --> 0:18:30.701 man could barely walk. But the prisoners got German news 0:18:30.701 --> 0:18:34.581 in the camp, and every day he heard that Allied 0:18:34.621 --> 0:18:38.421 ships were being blown up. Sure, some of this was 0:18:38.461 --> 0:18:42.181 wartime propaganda, but even if half of it was true, 0:18:42.661 --> 0:18:46.941 the situation was dire. Edward was certain his intel would 0:18:46.941 --> 0:18:51.381 save lives, maybe even stop the war, so he started 0:18:51.381 --> 0:18:54.701 getting up early, doing calisthenics and taking a cold shower. 0:18:55.461 --> 0:18:56.821 Pretty soon he was. 0:18:56.781 --> 0:19:01.261 Walking fifteen miles a day around the prison barracks. I 0:19:01.341 --> 0:19:05.061 told you he was stubborn, didn't I? Then he worked 0:19:05.101 --> 0:19:08.421 up a plan. He decided that multiple prisoners would have 0:19:08.501 --> 0:19:12.981 to escape at the same time would mean more chaos, 0:19:13.861 --> 0:19:17.741 so we recruited other prisoners, which wasn't hard since everyone 0:19:17.781 --> 0:19:20.301 wanted to get the heck out of there, even though 0:19:20.341 --> 0:19:26.141 they all knew that failure could mean death. For escape 0:19:26.141 --> 0:19:31.541 plan number wait where are we oh right? Five, Edward 0:19:31.581 --> 0:19:33.381 planned for the men to go over the roof of 0:19:33.421 --> 0:19:36.341 a workshed. It was next to a segment of fence 0:19:36.381 --> 0:19:40.701 that didn't have much barbed wire, but then overnight the 0:19:40.781 --> 0:19:45.221 Germans added more wire there, so it was on to 0:19:45.301 --> 0:19:49.181 the next idea. For escape plan number six, they would 0:19:49.221 --> 0:19:52.421 sneak out a garden door. It wasn't guarded all that well. 0:19:53.301 --> 0:19:57.341 A guy named Harold Willis, another American prisoner and Edward's friend, 0:19:57.861 --> 0:20:00.221 was trying to make a key for the door, But 0:20:00.341 --> 0:20:03.341 then a Russian prisoner tried to escape at the same 0:20:03.541 --> 0:20:06.261 exact spot and he was caught, so. 0:20:06.261 --> 0:20:07.381 The guards were doubled. 0:20:08.941 --> 0:20:12.861 Edward was almost out of ideas, as he later wrote, quote, 0:20:13.261 --> 0:20:16.861 my fortunes reached their lowest EBB, but they were destined 0:20:16.901 --> 0:20:21.261 to brighten with the never dying hope of success. Never 0:20:21.461 --> 0:20:26.181 dying hope of success. Now that, my friends, is optimism, 0:20:28.141 --> 0:20:31.821 which brings us to escape. Plan number seven. Edward would 0:20:31.861 --> 0:20:35.301 secretly build the ladder to take them over the fences. 0:20:36.061 --> 0:20:43.901 There were two long pieces of pine that the Russians 0:20:44.301 --> 0:20:49.221 used to lay out sort of a volleyball set. 0:20:50.381 --> 0:20:53.580 Yeah you heard that right. The prisoners were allowed to 0:20:53.581 --> 0:20:56.421 play games in prison, and it sounds like the Russians 0:20:56.461 --> 0:20:58.261 really liked volleyball. 0:20:59.141 --> 0:20:59.541 Anyway. 0:21:00.061 --> 0:21:02.781 The border of the court was made of long pieces 0:21:02.821 --> 0:21:05.061 of wood, and Edward stole them. 0:21:06.021 --> 0:21:10.501 I got those two flats into my barracks, where there 0:21:10.541 --> 0:21:16.181 were eight cots with eight prisoners. I seek created these 0:21:16.261 --> 0:21:18.581 two under those cots. 0:21:19.941 --> 0:21:22.821 Then he needed to make rungs for the ladder. He 0:21:22.901 --> 0:21:25.381 stole the tops of the wooden boxes their food came in. 0:21:26.221 --> 0:21:28.821 He had all the pieces. Now he just had to 0:21:28.861 --> 0:21:31.101 figure out how to put the ladder together. 0:21:32.141 --> 0:21:35.941 There were no nails, but I took the screws out 0:21:35.941 --> 0:21:39.621 of all the doors in all the barracks, enough to 0:21:40.101 --> 0:21:43.541 keep the door swinging. But I got enough so that 0:21:43.701 --> 0:21:48.181 I could have a regular ladder leading right straight out. 0:21:49.381 --> 0:21:54.301 I mean, who thinks of this. The last part of 0:21:54.341 --> 0:21:56.421 the plan was cutting the lights to the camp so 0:21:56.501 --> 0:21:59.741 the prisoners could get out in the darkness. The power 0:21:59.781 --> 0:22:03.580 came in from the neighboring town, but unlike modern power lines, 0:22:03.901 --> 0:22:08.621 these were made from raw, uncoated wire. Edward figured out 0:22:08.901 --> 0:22:11.741 that if you threw a metal chain of them, the 0:22:11.821 --> 0:22:15.101 wires would short circuit and the lights would go out. 0:22:15.301 --> 0:22:17.781 So he recruited some friends to throw the chain at 0:22:17.821 --> 0:22:21.101 the appointed hour, and then they waited for their moment. 0:22:22.141 --> 0:22:27.701 It came October sixth, nineteen eighteen. The camp announced that 0:22:27.781 --> 0:22:31.421 all the Russian prisoners would be moved. It meant two things, 0:22:32.101 --> 0:22:35.821 first that all the barracks would be searched, and second, 0:22:36.341 --> 0:22:40.061 there would be way more guards per prisoner. They had 0:22:40.101 --> 0:22:45.781 to get out now. As night fell on October sixth, 0:22:46.141 --> 0:22:49.741 Edward gave the sign. His friends threw a chain over 0:22:49.821 --> 0:22:52.301 the wire to short circuit the lights. 0:22:52.741 --> 0:22:56.781 Edward held his breath. It worked. 0:22:57.901 --> 0:23:02.021 The lights went out, and then they came on. Immediately 0:23:02.861 --> 0:23:06.781 Well I realized what was happening. The thing was swinging 0:23:06.901 --> 0:23:12.741 back and forth and releasing Finally it blew the fuse 0:23:13.221 --> 0:23:16.741 and the lights went out. 0:23:17.621 --> 0:23:21.581 Next, some Russian prisoners had volunteered to create a distraction, 0:23:22.381 --> 0:23:24.661 so as soon as the lights went out, they started 0:23:24.661 --> 0:23:27.461 a racket on the far side of the camp, and 0:23:27.501 --> 0:23:31.661 then thirteen Americans headed out into the darkness. But as 0:23:31.701 --> 0:23:34.981 soon as the guards figured out what was happening, it 0:23:35.061 --> 0:23:35.701 was mayhem. 0:23:36.381 --> 0:23:37.741 Shots everywhere. 0:23:39.061 --> 0:23:41.581 Edward was the second man off the ladder, and as 0:23:41.581 --> 0:23:45.181 he swung to the ground, the guards yelled halt and 0:23:45.301 --> 0:23:49.661 trained their rifles on him. The shots were so close 0:23:50.221 --> 0:23:54.541 that Edward's hair got burned by the muzzle flash. He 0:23:54.701 --> 0:23:57.941 ran as fast as he could, bent over and zig 0:23:58.061 --> 0:23:59.141 zagging through the night. 0:24:00.181 --> 0:24:02.021 That's how we got out of the camp. 0:24:03.421 --> 0:24:06.221 He had arranged to meet Harold Willis, that guy who 0:24:06.261 --> 0:24:09.261 made the key for escape Planned number six, but his 0:24:09.301 --> 0:24:13.221 friend was late. Edward could hear the hounds in the distance. 0:24:14.301 --> 0:24:18.141 Then Willis came crashing through the trees. They ran together 0:24:18.221 --> 0:24:21.821 through the darkness. Willis had stolen pepper from the mill tent, 0:24:22.261 --> 0:24:24.661 and he sprinkled it behind them to keep the hounds 0:24:24.661 --> 0:24:28.541 off of their scent. They sloshed through swamps with water 0:24:28.741 --> 0:24:33.021 up to their shoulders, and finally, as the sun was rising, 0:24:33.541 --> 0:24:37.421 they hid themselves under a cliff. The hounds were still 0:24:37.461 --> 0:24:41.821 behind them. They could hear their barking, first so close, 0:24:42.701 --> 0:24:49.981 and then further and further away. The Swiss border was 0:24:50.021 --> 0:24:53.141 only eighteen miles from the camp, but any of the 0:24:53.221 --> 0:24:57.821 direct routes were blocked by German soldiers. Instead, their trip 0:24:57.821 --> 0:25:03.181 would cover one hundred and twenty miles. They stole vegetables 0:25:03.181 --> 0:25:08.421 from gardens. In the dark, they slept huddled under Willis's coat. Finally, 0:25:08.901 --> 0:25:13.301 six days later they reached the a Rhine River. Switzerland 0:25:13.381 --> 0:25:17.741 was just on the other side, but there were searchlights 0:25:17.781 --> 0:25:21.221 sweeping the river banks, so they painted themselves with mud, 0:25:21.741 --> 0:25:25.981 hoping to blend in with the rocks. They slowly moved 0:25:26.021 --> 0:25:29.621 into the water. The current was stronger than they expected. 0:25:30.501 --> 0:25:34.140 One minute, Willis was right in front of Edward. The 0:25:34.181 --> 0:25:39.301 next minute he was gone. As Edward said later quote, 0:25:39.541 --> 0:25:41.741 it was as if the earth had opened up and 0:25:41.861 --> 0:25:45.741 swallowed him. But he didn't have time to wonder what 0:25:45.821 --> 0:25:49.021 had happened, because the moment he inched forward, he was 0:25:49.061 --> 0:25:53.941 swept away by the current too. He was weak and freezing. 0:25:55.221 --> 0:25:58.581 There was just seven hundred feet of water separating him 0:25:58.581 --> 0:26:01.661 from freedom, so he swam as hard as he could, 0:26:02.541 --> 0:26:04.501 but the current was dragging him into a bend in 0:26:04.541 --> 0:26:07.821 the river. He knew it was about to push him 0:26:07.861 --> 0:26:12.421 back to the German side. He was exhausted, he had 0:26:12.421 --> 0:26:17.661 no fight left, so he turned over on his back, closed. 0:26:17.301 --> 0:26:18.981 His eyes and prayed. 0:26:36.021 --> 0:26:39.461 Edward Isaac was on his back, floating in the icy 0:26:39.541 --> 0:26:43.381 Rhine River. He'd been running for six days to escape 0:26:43.421 --> 0:26:47.021 the Germans. He was freezing, hungry, and tired. 0:26:47.861 --> 0:26:51.221 He was just done. 0:26:51.461 --> 0:26:54.861 And at that exact moment that Edward Isaac gave up 0:26:55.261 --> 0:27:01.541 his feet touched the rocks. He was in Switzerland. He 0:27:01.621 --> 0:27:04.580 had been a prisoner for one hundred and thirty six days, 0:27:05.221 --> 0:27:13.941 and now he was free. Attempt number seven was a success. Unbelievably, 0:27:14.181 --> 0:27:17.621