Was Shot Down Over France And Ended The War As A POW

His was a harrowing story told in the book "A Fighter Pilot In Buchenwald." But fighter pilot Joe Moser survived the brutal concentration camp and lived to tell the tale ... though he rarely did so.

Moser, who was shot down on his 44th mission over France, passed away at his home in Ferndale, WA December 2 at the age of 94 due to cancer.

The Bellingham Herald newspaper reports that Moser was shot down by German guns positioned near decoy trucks in France. While attempting to bail out of his airplane, one of his boots got caught, and he very nearly died that day.

Instead, he managed to get out of the airplane, but was captured and sent to a prison in Paris. From there, he and 82 other Americans were sent to Buchenwald, one of the most brutal concentrations camps run by the Nazis, even though the rules of war called for captured combatants to be sent to more "humane" POW camps.

Moser was in Buchenwald for two months. Early in 1945, the airmen were force-marched through winter weather to a different prison camp ahead of advancing Russian troops. The paper reports that Moser again nearly died on that forced march, but was helped by two other prisoners who carried him to the next village, where he recovered.

Three months later, Moser was among those liberated by U.S. troops at that camp.

Moser's story was told as part of a documentary "Lost Airmen of Buchenwald", as well as in the memoir "A Fighter Pilot in Buchenwald" written with Gerald Baron.

The paper reports that Moser was never comfortable with the accolades and attention he received because of the documentary and the book, but knew the importance of telling the stories.

(Images from YouTube trailer for "Lost Airmen of Buchenwald)

FMI: www.amazon.com/Fighter-Pilot-Buchenwald-Moser-Story/dp/0615221114