Unforgotten hero

High atop a mountain, with deep snow under his feet, Walt Fergus knew he had about an hour until the Germans would capture him. The year was 1944, and Fergus knew that his life was about to change forever as the German soldiers searched for him.

Fergus' B-24 plane had just been shot down, along with another, and he was one of three people to survive the shooting and subsequent crash. On that mountain in Germany, all Fergus could do was wait for the Germans to capture him.

"There wasn't much you could do, because you were standing on white patches of snow and they could see you a mile away," Fergus recalls. "And the snow was so deep, all they had to do was follow your tracks anyway."

Like thousands of fellow Americans, Fergus became a prisoner of war.

Entering the Army

After graduating from high school in 1943, Fergus decided to volunteer for service in the Army Air Corps, during the height of World War II.

After enlisting, Fergus went through basic training in Amarillo, Texas, followed by gunnery training in Laredo, Texas. From there, he went to air-to-ground school in Tucson, Ariz.

"I was a farm boy, and I probably could have had an exemption, but I wanted to go," Fergus said. "My dad wasn't too happy I enlisted, but I was ready."

As part of his deployment to Italy, Fergus joined a squadron of B-24 planes.

"They didn't fly as much as they wallowed," Fergus said. "They were built to carry heavy loads a long distance. That's about all they did."

In Italy, Fergus said the base was isolated, with a valley at the end of the runway.

"You would see these planes going downhill toward the valley, and they would just disappear for a second when they left the runway," Fergus said. "Then you would see them pull up. It was kind of amazing."

Prisoner of war

Fergus was shot down one time before becoming a prisoner of war. After being shot in Greece, the B-24 in which he was riding made it all the way back to the base.

Fergus received a Purple Heart in the ordeal, but unfortunately, it wasn't the only time he was shot at.

In 1944, while flying above Austria, he was shot down by an anti-aircraft battery. Of the 12 people on his plane and 10 others in a second, he, along with two other men, were the only ones to survive the crash.

The other two soldiers were wounded, and couldn't get around easily. So they sat on the top of the mountain, waiting for the inevitable -- to be captured.

"The Germans pointed their guns at us, we put our hands in the air, and became a prisoner of war. That's about all it was," Fergus recalls. "I don't even remember if they searched me or not. They took us to a little cabin, and the next day, they took us off the mountain on the train."

Fergus, along with other prisoners of war, was transported to the town of Wetzlar, where a POW camp was established.

It was the start of 93 long days of captivity for Fergus, days spent wondering if tomorrow would come, days spent wondering if he would ever make it out of the prison camps alive.

"You learn to live life one day at a time," Fergus said. "That's the only way you get through it."

Fergus remembers everything leading up to the day he was captured, and everything since. But the 93 days in captivity as a prisoner of war have long blank spots for Fergus.

"There is a lot of time in there that I don't remember. I don't remember them well, and I don't try to remember them, either," Fergus said. "I don't know what was done to me -- if anything -- but I don't want to know, really."

Fergus does remember being transferred to NŸrnberg, where he had to stare at a Nazi swastika on a stadium, every day.

He held out hope, and at last, it was rewarded with action.

"The Allies were getting closer to us, so they got us on the road for about 10 days," Fergus said. "We subsided on stolen potatoes and one day, horse meat. It was a feast. We weren't being abused, but they were starving us.

"I weighed 160 when I got shot down. When I was free, I got down to 95 pounds," Fergus said.

Freedom at last

Ninety-three days after being taken captive, Fergus was a free man at last. There were no celebrations or victory parades as he made the transition from prisoner to free American, however.

"We were in a prison camp and I remember the tanks started coming through, and we all started walking around," Fergus said. "I went to one of the MPs [military police], and I was free. That's all it was. We just started walking."

After returning to the states, Fergus took some R&R in Miami. Despite being a prisoner of war, Fergus decided to re-enlist.

He served 28 years, all in the U.S. Army, and earned a number of awards, including the Purple Heart, the Silver Star, the Air Medal with Cluster, as well as awards and medals for his work in the gunnery and as a parachutist.

Fergus served his country proudly, even after one of the most terrifying times of his life spent as a prisoner of war.

"I have a plaque with my awards, and every now and then, I'll look at it," Fergus said. "But that time is better left forgotten by me."

A changed man

Fergus volunteers nearly 30 hours a week at the First United Methodist Church as the secretary, and he has volunteered or worked for a number of people and organizations through the years, including the Mat-Su Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Wasilla Chamber of Commerce, the Alaska State Parks and an Internet provider.

Fergus has done many things that define him as a man, yet his long, productive life has been molded by 93 days spent as a prisoner of war, more than five decades ago.

His view of the world changed forever during those 93 days. He sees things through a different set of eyes than most Americans.

"I see a lot less innocence in the world," Fergus said. "I still have nightmares and wake up with cold sweats at night. I guess I'll do that forever."

Even with the horror of being a prisoner of war etched in his mind forever, Fergus looks forward to each and every day.

"Every day is a good day, right?" Fergus said. "I'm happy to be alive."