Chester Lee Strunk was born in Benton Harbor, Michigan in December 1922. His father was a foundry worker. It was tough times during the Great Depression, but his mother always seemed to have something for the travelers who were on the road. She was a school teacher despite having only eight years of education. Strunk graduated from high school and then entered Western Michigan College. The Dean of Men aided him in finding a tutoring job for the city mayor's son. He did that in parallel with attending classes for two years. Pearl Harbor was then attacked and traveling recruiters swayed Strunk and some of his friends into enlisting. The declaration of war by the United States was the foremost provocation for him joining the military.

Chester Strunk was recruited and enlisted [Annotator's Note: in June 1942] but then told to return to college and await his call-up. He was not actually called into the military until February 1943. He set about becoming a navigator because he felt the mathematics that he learned in college would suit him best in that position. He trained in various planes but would become a crewmember of a B-17 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber]. He trained in Benton Harbor, Michigan; Plant City, Florida; and Hunter Field [Annotator's Note: near Savannah] Georgia. The latter location was where he and his crew were assigned a new B-17. Strunk navigated the aircraft to Newfoundland, then the Azores, and on to Africa before finally arriving in Foggia, Italy. Their new B-17 was transferred to a more experienced crew. The men were billeted in tents where Strunk found himself occupying the space of a navigator lost during a previous mission. Strunk flew missions from Foggia including the harrowing one over Ploesti which was a heavily defended objective.

Chester Strunk and his crewmates who were originally assigned together had flown with separate crews until they were finally reunited on their 11th mission. It was to Ploiești. Problems began with the loss of their first engine. Over the target, another engine was lost. The plane could not keep up with the squadron [Annotator's Note: 246th Bombardment Squadron, 99th Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force], but, fortunately, no enemy fighters jumped them. A third engine was lost before they had reached the Adriatic Sea. With a precipitous mountain range looming ahead, it was time to bail out. The plane was put in a wide circling descent and all ten crewmen safely bailed out with Strunk and the bombardier being the last two individuals opening their parachutes. All crewmen landed safely in close proximity to each other in a meadow.

Chester Strunk and his fellow crewmen were approached by locals on horseback immediately following their parachute landing in Albania. [Annotator's Note: Strunk's wounded Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber had lost three of its four engines in the bombing raid over Ploiești, Romania and the crew had been forced to bail out over Albania.] The horsemen were menacing looking with bandoliers crossing their shoulders. The Americans were marched through a surly crowd of locals on the streets of the nearby town and taken to jail. The officers were separated from the enlisted men. The former did not have to work but the enlisted men were expected to do so. Strunk was searched repeated times and although some things were taken, his Government Issue Bible and photograph of Pauline [Annotator's Note: the girl who had pinned the wings on Strunk] were never taken from him. The downed airmen were taken to a German jail where they were fed an unidentifiable soup. They were hungry and ate the meal. They were next jammed into a 40 and 8 boxcar [Annotator's Note: a transport boxcar that could carry either 40 men or eight horses] and taken to Budapest, Hungary where an interrogation center was located. There were air warnings along the way, but no Allied fighters strafed the railcars. While in Budapest, Strunk was interrogated several times. The enemy seemed to know quite a bit about the American base, its officers and other operational details. Strunk did not know much about it because he had only arrived there on 5 July and was shot down 23 days and 11 missions later on 28 July [Annotator's Note: 1944].

Chester Strunk was transported by train from an interrogation center in Budapest to Stalag Luft III at Zagan near Berlin. [Annotator's Note: Today it is Zagan, Poland]. Strunk's plane [Annotator's Note: a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber] lost three engines and the crew had to bail out. It was not shot down technically but lost due to engine failure. Stalag Luft III had been established years before and was well organized. Only the single Allied leader and his committee were allowed to speak to the Germans. There was a library, a theater for plays, volleyball courts, a track that circled the camp, a church, and comfortable chairs constructed from old Red Cross boxes. The barracks were like military barracks with an attic and raised flooring off the ground. Each room in the barracks housed ten to 12 men. Food was sparse. Half the Red Cross parcels were delivered to the men while the food provided by the Germans was not too hardy. The Stalag was the base of the "The Great Escape" when all the escapees were ultimately executed. The Germans continually probed for tunnels and if individuals missed daily roll call, dogs would be used to seek them out. Strunk would advise any POWs [Annotator's Note: prisoners of war] to take advantage of what is available to them to try to better themselves for life after captivity.

Chester Strunk received only half the Red Cross parcels allocated to the prisoners. The Germans supplemented that food with cabbage, sausage or potatoes. Food seemed to be adequate to him for the months he was in the prisoner of war camp [Annotator's Note: Strunk was held in Stalag Luft III near today's Zagań, Poland]. He could tell the Russians were approaching the vicinity by hearing the gunfire near the front. The Germans hurriedly rounded up the POWs and placed them in single file for a guarded marched to Moosburg through the snow. The prisoners had little time to prepare and managed only to grab candy bars and their overcoats. They marched to a rail location where they were loaded aboard railcars for the final leg of the journey. Strunk had kept a journal during his incarceration in Stalag Luft III between mid-August 1944 and mid-January 1945. He kept his mind active with that plus the fiction books he read from the camp library. The POWs were mainly hibernating and avoiding causing trouble with guards while they awaited liberation. The captive Allied officers in the Stalag could tell the war was going against the enemy through the news they heard on their makeshift radios that were kept hidden from the Germans.

Chester Strunk traveled by foot and rail to reach the Stalag at Moosburg [Annotator's Note: Stalag VII-A was near Moosburg, Germany]. With the collection of 100,000 Allied POWs [Annotator's Note: prisoners of war] there, food was always scarce. Patton [Annotator's Note: US Army Lieutenant General George S. Patton] would eventually liberate the camp and the guards fled. Patton arrived in a jeep with pistols strapped to his hips and two girls accompanying him. The POWs were more interested in food than females. Patton had outrun his supply lines so there was not much food to provide to the hungry former prisoners. Some freed POWs took off, but Strunk stayed in camp as directed. Soup and bread were the main components of their meals. The men could warm their food on "Smokey Joes" which were makeshift stoves constructed of empty cans. From Moosburg, Strunk flew to Le Havre where he boarded a ship to the United States. The air flight and sea voyage made many men sick. Stunk reached Fort Dix and was sent to a camp in Chicago which was nearer his home in Benton Harbor.

Chester Strunk had not received mail from home during his last year as a POW [Annotator's Note: prisoner of war]. When he got home, there was an emotional reunion. His father had died before Strunk had been deployed. His mother and some of his siblings were at home for the gathering. They were all very happy to see him safely home. Some of Strunk's brothers had served in the military and were not able to be there. One brother was in Hawaii manning his machine shop. Although they could not all be there to greet him on his return, most of Strunk's family had supported the war effort either directly or indirectly.

Chester Strunk views The National WWII Museum as a valuable asset to teach people about the sacrifices made not only by the ground troops but also on the homefront. The country's rapid transition from civilian to wartime production is highlighted in the Museum. The ensuing advances in technology are important to remember. We cannot forget the civilian suffering brought on by the war. Rationing is just one example. We must remember the gravity of the conflict and the numbers of people who lost their lives. Those stories cannot be lost to posterity. [Annotator's Note: Strunk becomes emotional during this discussion.] Although he fought in Korea for two years and Vietnam and other conflicts have occurred, none were as impactful on civilians as World War 2. The Museum exerts tremendous work using the latest technologies to tell that story. Future generations must remember the huge sacrifices made by military personnel and civilians so that victory could be won.