Howard Towns of Lake Wales, Florida, sits back on the settee by the dining room entrance door upstairs of the Windsor Hotel with the air of a man in his thirties instead of man in his 80s. In fact, Towns, who was a staff sergeant in the 8th Air Force division, is 82.

His silver hair is short and yet, flowing, and his eyes are strong, focused, as he talks of his time as a prisoner of war.

“It was in February of 1945, and the Germans had jets that could go about 500 miles per hour, while we were still flying planes that at most could go 125 miles per hour,” Towns said.

Pausing for a moment, “And they were just shooting us out of the sky.”

“It was in February, and toward the end of the way,” Towns’ voice was firm.

“They were down themselves, and lack of food was the biggest problem,” said Towns.

When asked if he had ever thought he would be a prisoner of war, Towns emphatically said, “Gosh no. My job wasn’t one that put me in that danger, really. I had never parachuted before, but that day, I did. We were all together.”

“I busted up my knee pretty bad,” said Towns, rubbing his knee.

Reliving the experience, greeting old friends and making new friends over the past weekend in Americus and Andersonville as part of the Rolling Thunder’s Ride Home was “a wonderful experience.”

“These people,” said Towns, nodding toward the individuals roaming through the hotel, with Rolling Thunder vests and shirts on, “are the hardest working people ever.”

“This is good for all of us, to remember those times, remember those we lost, and those that are still missing,” said Towns.

“I love this area, it is a beautiful place, and the people in the community have been super,” said Towns.

Bill Norwood, another visitor to the community and a former POW, agreed, “This is a great place.”

Norwood, a resident of Cleveland, Tennessee, served in Korea, and was a POW for 2 ? years.

“I was in the Army, the Infantry,” said Norwood, continuing, “and I had numerous jobs, but mostly we supplied the troops with ammunition.”