Las Vegas POW presented Patton coin
Seventy years after he was wounded and became a prisoner of war in a mass surrender to Nazi forces during the Battle of the Bulge, Alan Dunbar credits Gen. George S. Patton’s son-in-law, Lt. Col. John K. Waters, with saving his life.
In a ceremony Wednesday at American Legion Post 8, the 96-year-old Las Vegas veteran reminisced about the experience that led to his liberation on April 29, 1945, when Patton’s 14th Armored Division rolled into the infamous Stalag VII-A camp at Moosburg, Germany.
That ended an odyssey he had endured with Waters. The lieutenant colonel, captured in Tunisia in 1943, persuaded Nazi guards not to leave Dunbar to die on the side of the road when they were forced to march from a prison camp in occupied Poland to one in Germany in the dead of winter.
To honor Dunbar, Patton’s grandson, George Patton “Pat” Waters, sent the general’s “challenge coin” along with a framed letter expressing his appreciation for serving with his late father.
“Sir, you are not only a great American but of the Greatest Generation and to you we all salute and thank you for your service past and present,” reads the letter dated Oct. 6.
Because Pat Waters was traveling, the items were presented by Thunderbirds Alumni Association President Denny Weddle and Waters’ friend, Las Vegas entertainer Dondino. Dondino, who goes by one name, had read a Review-Journal story last month about Dunbar’s POW experience and sent it to Waters in South Carolina.
After Wednesday’s presentation, Dunbar said he was thinking “about the guys that didn’t make it. They should be here. Why should I get all the accolades?”
Dondino has known Pat Waters since 2011 when they met in Dubuque, Iowa, to work a Read-to-Me Foundation fundraiser for children of Iowa National Guard soldiers.
An Italian who immigrated to the United States at age 10, Dondino learned to speak English from singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “America the Beautiful.”
“I feel close to the military after coming to the United States. It’s the spinal cord of the country,” he said.
Contact Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308. Find him on Twitter: @KeithRogers2.
