Local High School Honors WWII Veterans

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Columbia , S.C. (WOLO) — September 2nd marks the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII. To celebrate, Richland Northeast High School held a ceremony to honor local veterans and hear some of their stories. “They interrogated you intently, they abused you, they beat you,” said Lou Fowler, a prisoner of war for 13 months. WWII veteran Lou Fowler recalled 70 years ago when he was a prisoner of war. He said a fighter jet carrying him and 9 others went down in Austria and he was captured by the Germans. “If you think for a moment about all the abuse that we are giving those detainees at Guantanamo Bay, I will tell you that‘s Sunday school compared to what the Germans did to American prisoners of war,” explained Fowler. After 13 months of enduring the horrific interrogations and several POW camps, Fowler escaped regaining his freedom. “I was free! I was a free man! I lost my freedom but through the grace of my God and my savior they gave me my freedom back,” said Fowler. Freedom Fowler said he didn‘t realize the value of until he lost it. That‘s the message he shared with students at Richland Northeast High School where he encouraged them to take advantage of the freedom they‘ve been given. “Freedom is something they should cherish, appreciate, value and do something in their life with,” said Fowler. A message that was not lost among students in the crowd. “It kind of brings in perspectives of the hardships of what they had to endure and it really makes you think and be grateful for everything you have,” said junior, Carrie Junius.