Louis Pape returned from World War II with stories he rarely talked about. Years later, his daughter and son-in-law opened a box he left behind and found a diary of his life as a prisoner of war written on toilet paper.<\/p>\n
It started with a visit to the family farm in Illinois in the late 1970s. Cheryl Denslow and her husband David had come to see her parents. Her father, Pape, had served in World War II as a P-38 fighter pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps and was a prisoner of war (POW).<\/p>\n
Like many Veterans of that generation, he didn\u2019t talk about it much.<\/p>\n
That day, Pape brought out an old cardboard box. It was one of the Red Cross boxes sent to Allied prisoners during the war. These boxes were packed with food and basic supplies, such as powdered milk, cigarettes and canned meat. Most prisoners reused the empty tins. Pape used his to make a cover for a diary written in pencil on sheets of toilet paper.<\/p>\n
David remembers Pape showing a few items and quietly putting the box away.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was humbled by some of the stories he told,\u201d David said. \u201cCheryl told me I should feel privileged. She had never seen some of those items herself.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Cheryl\u2019s mother died in 2013, the box was given to them. They didn\u2019t open it for years.<\/p>\n
In 2024, Cheryl and David took a cruise that stopped in Norway. At a war museum, David met a woman whose father had also been a POW at Stalag Luft III, the same camp where Pape was held.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we got home, I told Cheryl, \u2018I want to go through the box again,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
David built a phone stand from scrap wood and began photographing each page of the diary. He enlarged the images on a screen to read Pape\u2019s writing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was slow work,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I didn\u2019t want to miss anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Sept. 2, 1943, Pape was flying a mission over Naples, Italy, escorting B-25 bombers when more than 200 German fighters attacked. He shot down two enemy aircraft before taking hits from enemy and friendly fire.<\/p>\n
He lost both engines and crash-landed in the Mediterranean Sea.<\/p>\n
He regained consciousness underwater. After freeing himself from the cockpit, he floated for hours before being picked up by a German-controlled, Italian flying boat near the Isle of Capri.<\/p>\n
He was processed in Italy through Naples, Capua, and Rome, and in Germany through Munich, and a transit camp called Dulag Luft, near Frankfurt. He was eventually moved by boxcar to Stalag Luft III in what is now \u017baga\u0144, Poland.<\/p>\n
Pape spent the next 20 months as a prisoner of war.<\/p>\n
Stalag Luft III held thousands of captured Allied pilots. Inside, prisoners called themselves Kriegies\u2014short for Kriegsgefangener, the German word for POW.<\/p>\n
Each day began with Appel, the roll call.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach person had a specific spot in line, and we were not to move under any circumstances,\u201d Pape wrote. \u201cThe guards would walk in front and behind to count heads. Some liked to count using their rifles.\u201d<\/p>\n
Appel happened twice daily, at 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe lived Appel to Appel,\u201d Pape wrote. \u201cIt was a vicious cycle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prisoners taught each other to stay focused. They used hip-pocket classes\u2014short, informal teaching sessions\u2014to stay sharp. Pape taught agriculture and electrical engineering. Others covered languages, mechanics or whatever skills they could offer.<\/p>\n
Prisoners built stoves out of tin cans. They carved toothbrushes by hand. Pape kept writing because it helped him hold on.<\/p>\n
Delicately written on toilet paper, he wrote: \u201cThis little book should contain a few notes and diagrams that sort of describe my life and experiences since I was shot down.\u201d<\/p>\n
In late January 1945, the prisoners were ordered to evacuate Stalag Luft III ahead of the Soviet advance. Pape and thousands of others were forced to march over 58 miles through snow and subzero temperatures, pulling their gear on makeshift sleds.<\/p>\n
They slept in barns, churches and empty buildings\u2014often without food or firewood. Many became ill. The journey ended at Spremberg, where they were crammed 52 to a boxcar and transported to Moosburg, Germany.<\/p>\n
Pape described the conditions as \u201cdeplorable.\u201d Still, the men stuck together. Every mile of that march was survived the same way they had survived captivity\u2014side by side.<\/p>\n
Pape was liberated on April 29, 1945, when American forces reached the camp.<\/p>\n
Soon after, he and a group of fellow POWs visited the Dachau concentration camp, where over 41,000 people perished. Pape never said much about that day.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll he ever said,\u201d David recalled, \u201cwas that he saw things no one should ever see.\u201d<\/p>\n
He returned to Illinois, took over the family farm and raised a family. He lived to be 91.<\/p>\n
Cheryl said she wished she\u2019d asked more questions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a part of his life that wasn\u2019t discussed,\u201d she said. \u201cI regret not asking more questions of both my parents.\u201d<\/p>\n
After her father passed, Cheryl came across a reunion newsletter from his old squadron. It mentioned a commemorative brick program at the National WWII Museum in New Orleans, so she ordered one in Pape\u2019s name.<\/p>\n
During his time as a prisoner, Pape had been listed as missing in action. For a while, no one knew if he was alive.<\/p>\n
When Cheryl visited the museum and followed the directions to her dad\u2019s brick, it wasn\u2019t where it should be.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Emotional, she went to the front desk and said, \u201cHe appears to be MIA once again.\u201d<\/p>\n
They eventually found it, but the moment stayed with her.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt reminded me how easy it is for someone\u2019s story to disappear if no one keeps track of it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Cheryl and David have shared the diary with their son and are still deciding whether to donate it. For now, it stays with them\u2014kept safe.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve gone line-by-line through Pape\u2019s handwriting. Each page brought new understanding\u2014about the war, the man he was and the silence he lived with after coming home.<\/p>\n
Cheryl emphasized that Pape\u2019s service is part of their family\u2019s and our country\u2019s history and wants America to learn of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis story doesn\u2019t belong in a box,\u201d Cheryl said. \u201cIt belongs to the country he fought for.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pape didn\u2019t talk about the hard parts. A lot of us don\u2019t. If you\u2019re carrying something, you don\u2019t have to do it alone.<\/p>\n
Find mental health support at VA<\/a>. You can also\u00a0contact your local Vet Center<\/a>\u00a0to speak confidentially with another Veteran\u2014no service connection or medical record is required. Help is here. Healing is possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Louis Pape returned from World War II with stories he rarely talked about. Years later, his daughter and son-in-law opened a box he left behind and found a diary of his life as a prisoner of war written on toilet paper. The visit It started with a visit to the family farm in Illinois in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":421961,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,64,129,439],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-421959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-inside-veterans-health","category-pow","category-wwii"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=421959"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":421962,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421959\/revisions\/421962"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/421961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=421959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=421959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=421959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![<\/a>Louis Pape<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nSoon after, he and a group of fellow POWs visited the Dachau concentration camp, where over 41,000 people perished. Pape never said much about that day.<\/p>\n\u201cAll he ever said,\u201d David recalled, \u201cwas that he saw things no one should ever see.\u201d<\/p>\nHe returned to Illinois, took over the family farm and raised a family. He lived to be 91.<\/p>\nCheryl said she wished she\u2019d asked more questions.<\/p>\n\u201cIt was a part of his life that wasn\u2019t discussed,\u201d she said. \u201cI regret not asking more questions of both my parents.\u201d<\/p>\nThe brick<\/h2>\nAfter her father passed, Cheryl came across a reunion newsletter from his old squadron. It mentioned a commemorative brick program at the National WWII Museum in New Orleans, so she ordered one in Pape\u2019s name.<\/p>\nDuring his time as a prisoner, Pape had been listed as missing in action. For a while, no one knew if he was alive.<\/p>\nWhen Cheryl visited the museum and followed the directions to her dad\u2019s brick, it wasn\u2019t where it should be.\u00a0<\/p>\nEmotional, she went to the front desk and said, \u201cHe appears to be MIA once again.\u201d<\/p>\nThey eventually found it, but the moment stayed with her.<\/p>\n\u201cIt reminded me how easy it is for someone\u2019s story to disappear if no one keeps track of it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\nThe story continues<\/h2>\nCheryl and David have shared the diary with their son and are still deciding whether to donate it. For now, it stays with them\u2014kept safe.<\/p>\nThey\u2019ve gone line-by-line through Pape\u2019s handwriting. Each page brought new understanding\u2014about the war, the man he was and the silence he lived with after coming home.<\/p>\nCheryl emphasized that Pape\u2019s service is part of their family\u2019s and our country\u2019s history and wants America to learn of it.<\/p>\n\u201cHis story doesn\u2019t belong in a box,\u201d Cheryl said. \u201cIt belongs to the country he fought for.\u201d<\/p>\nFor those still carrying it<\/h2>\nPape didn\u2019t talk about the hard parts. A lot of us don\u2019t. If you\u2019re carrying something, you don\u2019t have to do it alone.<\/p>\nFind mental health support at VA<\/a>. You can also\u00a0contact your local Vet Center<\/a>\u00a0to speak confidentially with another Veteran\u2014no service connection or medical record is required. Help is here. Healing is possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Louis Pape returned from World War II with stories he rarely talked about. Years later, his daughter and son-in-law opened a box he left behind and found a diary of his life as a prisoner of war written on toilet paper. The visit It started with a visit to the family farm in Illinois in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":421961,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,64,129,439],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-421959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-inside-veterans-health","category-pow","category-wwii"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=421959"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":421962,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421959\/revisions\/421962"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/421961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=421959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=421959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=421959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/04\/Lt.-Louis-E.-Pape-and-Virginia-Shaw-married-December-24-1942-Facebook-X_r1.jpg\"){kind=link}