Was there an American involved with the "Great Escape"?

I have posted about the passing of Tokyo raider 'Davey' Jones in the Honor and Memories forum. The Obit brings up a question . I seem to recall either here or on another site where some people were pointing out that there were NO Americans involved in the "Great Escape". That it was just a "Hollywood" addition. So were they inncorrect as this article states that this American was involved? Or is the article wrong?

Tokyo raider 'Davey' Jones, WWII hero, dies in Tucson


By Danielle Sottosanti
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 11.30.2008



World War II hero David "Davey" M. Jones — one of the famed Doolittle Tokyo Raiders — died Tuesday in Tucson at the age of 94.
Jones, a University of Arizona alumnus, retired from the Air Force as a two-star general in 1973 after a long and decorated military career. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart and numerous other honors.
He was one of the raiders who used B-25 bombers to hit targets in Japan in April 1942, a few months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor.
"Medium bombers had never been flown from a carrier, and sailing so far into enemy territory endangered the U.S. Navy task force," the U.S. Air Force fact sheet on the raiders says of the high-risk operation.
Jones, who was 28 at the time of the raid, recalled the one-way mission in an April 2004 Arizona Daily Star article.
"You knew when you started that we didn't have enough fuel to make it, period. But you couldn't think about that," he said.
After the raid, Jones bailed out in China, where the Chinese helped him return to the United States, the U.S. Air Force's biography of him says.
In 1944, Hollywood paid homage in the film "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo," starring Spencer Tracy as Doolittle.
Another Doolittle Raider, retired Air Force Master Sgt. Ed Horton Jr., died last week at age 92, the day after Jones. He died in Florida, The (Panama, Fla.) News Herald reported.
The U.S. Air Force's biography of Jones tells of other events in his military career:
In December 1942, he was shot down over Bizerte, North Africa, when he was second in command of a light bomb group.
He spent 2 1/2 years as a prisoner of war in Stalag Luft III and led the digging team on the tunnel "Harry," the basis for the movie "The Great Escape," starring Steve McQueen.
"He was so modest he didn't even try to be modest," said Tom Collins, a close friend of Jones, who had lived in Tucson since 1998. "He was calmly in command of himself and everything around him."
Jones would often talk about his experiences in a "joking way," Collins remembers. "He had quite a sense of humor."
Jones' survivors include his wife, Janna-Neen Jones. Plans for services are pending.

http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/metro/269556.php

 

Great story. I think what people meant to say is the real Great Escape had Americans involed but they we not the main persons of the Great escape,while Hoollywood protrays the main persons of the film as being American, they were actually soildiers from the other Allied country that were the main persons,with some Americans involed in the real Great Escape.

 

Interesting find, JC..... thanks for the share.

 

It's been a few years since I have read Paul Brickhill's book, but from what I recall, yes - there were several involved in the tunneling process itself - but not the famed "Great Escape".

Virgil Hilts (McQueen's character) was supposedly based on Alvin Vogtle - but while he was at Stammlager Luft III, he did not escape with the other men.

 

Check out this site. WWII Stalag Luft & POW Camps

 

Thank you for the link, Jerome.....

 

The Americans helped with the escape but where transfered out to a different part of the camp..none went out as of the 76....source The Tunnel KingCM Magazine: The Tunnel King: The True Story of Wally Floody and the Great Escape
a very good read on the great escape and life of wally flood