The Forgotten 500 Chapter Summary

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The Forgotten 500 told the miraculous story of the rescue of 500 almost all American airmen in Yugoslavia during World War II. These men bailed out of airplanes and landed behind enemy lines and defied all expectations by staying alive. To do this they had to hide from enemies for weeks or even months. That is what made this book very interesting because the Germans were always close by and if found, the men would all be killed. What kept these men safely in hiding was Yugoslavian Serb General Draza Mihailovic and his followers. The Serb peasants risked their lives by helping the downed airmen. They welcomed the airmen and loved them as their own people. If Germans found Serbs helping these men, they would destroy a whole village and take all the people prisoner. The author portrayed this by describing the extremes the villagers took to hide the men. General Mihailovic made sure that his guerilla forces always protected the Serbs and the airmen. They followed the men …show more content…

This was apparent when talking about the Allies abandoning General Mahailovic. He included telegrams, letters, and speeches to show how Mahailovic was wrongfully accused of collaborating with the Germans. Letters from London or Washington showed how the Allies were siding with the Croat leader, Tito. They trusted that he would help these downed airmen and provide a way for them to come home. Even though the Allies abandoned Mihailovic, he felt it was necessary to keep the downed airmen safe. During briefings before missions, the Airmen were told that they would be turned over to the Germans if found by Serbs. This was not true and the author in turn told how the Serbs welcomed these airmen with food and a place to stay. Meanwhile in Washington D.C, the OSS, a predecessor of the CIA, was at work. They sent agents into Yugoslavia to begin the preparation for the rescue

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