 Seventy-nine years ago, hundreds of thousands of allied prisoners of war, many malnourished and weakened from long, in some cases even years, of captivity, were forced to walk hundreds of miles through snow, ice and bitter cold. They were driven by their German captors fleeing the Russian Army's advancement on the eastern front of Europe during the last winter of World War II. This year, on the anniversary of this incredible and deadly ordeal, thirty-two U.S. Army soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division, attached reserve units and Poland Garrison, recreated that long march from the POW Memorial in Zagan to Spremburg, Germany from January 26 to January 28. Because of the hellish conditions, an estimated thousands died from these prison evacuations. Most that survived did not find their freedom, even as the Nazi defeat neared, but instead found themselves hurted onto cattle trucks and train carps and shipped to other prison camps throughout inter-Germany. On 27 January 1945, imprisoned Allied airmen of the 3rd Reich's notorious POW camp, Stahlung Luft III, began their long march to Spremburg, Germany. They didn't know what fate awaited them as they stepped into the freezing darkness. Many feared they would be executed by their captors. I'd like to welcome you and first of all, thank you for being here to commemorate 17 miles anniversary of the evacuation of Stahlung Luft III. You think about the soldiers being here, listening to the sounds of war, which was supposed to bring them freedom, to bring them liberty, but unfortunately, what was tragic in their moments that they were taken from this place to the unknown, they were walking into the unknown, they didn't know that they were going to be free or not, but the craze for freedom was much stronger in many of them, and this is what you can commemorate today. Thank you very much for being here. For three days, nearly 12,000 U.S. Army and Royal Air Force evacuees of Stahlung Luft III marched 60 miles with inadequate clothing, many without boots and only rag bound feet, shuffling along frozen cobblestone roads. They suffered and died of numerous maladies, frostbite, hypothermia, disease, broken bones, or they succumbed to starvation, exposure, or exhaustion. Their resilience teaches all of us a lesson, particularly those at the craft of arms can learn a lot about what they stood for, what they fought for, and what the lessons that they handed down to us, and you are marching exactly in their footsteps. You are the current holders of that very, very precious gift, and I hope you think about that during the march. You are marching in the footsteps of the greatest generation, and they are sitting on our shoulders and looking at what we're doing today and are very, very proud of us. More than two dozen of these re-enacted marches have been conducted since 2003, mostly by British Royal Air Force members, but these are the first American military members to participate since the original torturous march in 1945. The soldiers were led by Captain Brandon Wayne, a logistics officer assigned to 87th Division Sustainment Support Battalion, 3rd Division Sustainment Brigade, and the training organized by Howard de Wester, head of training for the organization that developed the arduous educational tour and his team. Wayne and the other 3rd Infantry Division soldiers deployed to Europe from Fort Steward, Georgia months ago to engage in multinational training alongside U.S. allies, bolster security, and deter aggression on the continent. On day one, their first objective is Ilova, 10.5 miles from Stalak, Louis III. There, they visited an elementary school named in honor of the Allied Airmen that marched through the town eight decades ago. It's an honor and privilege for the school to carry the name of the Allied Airmen. We have a quote from Les Browne, American, aim at the moon and even if you miss, you'll end up among the stars. After a tour, a break and some refreshments, the group heads to the sacred heart of Jesus Church a few short blocks away where a number of the prisoners slept and a marker informs visitors so in Polish and English. As the group nears the end of Ilova, Howard pulls them all into the parking lot of a transportation company building. It was originally the Nazi Haubau Labor Camp site and Howard leads a frank discussion on the Holocaust and war crimes committed by the Nazis. This camp held over a thousand people that suffered indescribable torments, all forms of abuses, forced labor and countless murders. The march continues. So far we're looking at about 13 miles so far, 21 and a half, we're over half way so we're going to do a little bit of what we've already done. A steady but moderate rain soaks the marchers, the sky brews as the forested road curves and climbs upwards. They are now beginning to show strength and weariness. Soldiers have walked nearly 18 miles. Two and a half, three miles left out left to get to the barn to the completion of day one. Still very highly motivated, it's good to go, it's a good first day, a trip for the night, run through like a little bonfire at night and relax, refit and get ready for day two. The group reaches Lippmann. There the barns in which hundreds of the Allied POW sheltered their first night have long fallen apart. However, a small but growing fire greets them, along with the landowner and his family who asked they call him Bobo. Bobo and his spouse purchased the barns a few years ago and have managed to save two of the barns' roofs. Unfortunately, the third has already collapsed. Nonetheless, he says they are working to restore the site and turn it into a museum honoring the prisoners that sheltered amongst the cows 79 years ago. Initially, there are boards in there which they have done themselves and the site is going to be restored. There is hope and Bobo will tell you, they'll both tell you about what they hope to do in the future here. I expect that you are quite tired after this 31 kilometers. He jokes that there will be no cows to warm them tonight. There is also no plumbing. You've marched a very, very long way in the footsteps of those heroes and I know it was tough for some of you and it was just absolutely superb. You should be really proud of yourself for what you've achieved today. It's fantastic. What's up, buddy? Having time. Hey, welcome home. Welcome home. Basically, here's your funk over there, OK? Just thinking about what they had to go through. Just thinking about different sites, places where they were living at, conditions. It's just remarkable how they were able to do that. If they can do it, then I can do it. That's what I was telling myself. I should be able to get some decent amount of sleep. I would say it's a lot better than what other people, especially the POWs, they had. The barn keeps out the rain and the group unloads, resting and performing foot care. Some soldiers already have blisters and separating skin from their soles after walking 21 and a half miles. They tape and bandage them and sleep as best they can in the chilled night air, closing day one of the long march. Day two dawns cold and gray, but no longer raining. Slowly the soldiers rouse from deep within their sleeping bags. One starts the fire going again. Vabo and his family join them, chatting quietly as the group coalesces in the yard. Before heading out, Vabo shows them the dedication plow that's been placed on the lead barn and he shares his family's ambition toward preserving the site to educate others of the heroic feats of the thousands of captive airmen that sought sanctuary from the brutal winter there. So it was the 26th of January. That was the beginning of the marches 79 years ago. Next year it will be 80th anniversary. And the American troops yesterday were sleeping in one of the barns. Almost like POWs did it. The difference was that today we have really beautiful weather comparing with that from 79 years ago. It was minus 20 around and full of snow, so it was very cold. This time it was much warmer, happily. Families of the marchers were visiting us, but they haven't been sleeping here, of course. It's a great thing that we can cultivate the history. It's a great thing that we can remember what was happening. That we're not going to forget it. And that it will be sort of reminder how it could be. The night at the barns in 1945 was the coldest of the year by an account of the marchers. After a night most spent huddled in sleeping bags on the concrete floor with erratic sleep, the majority begin the second day of the march wearing their cold weather gear. The group now turns down the road heading toward Germany. Today's nearly entire 20 mile route runs alongside the current day German-Polish border. They will cross the international border today and then stop for the night at Bad Moskow. We're going on a 14 mile stretcher. We're going straight through all the way. We're crossing the border into Germany. We're going through a town. A lot of support from the people there. Kids coming outside, waiting through the windows. Knowing that we're here, knowing what the march is. We've been commemorated every year. It's good to see us for the first time. As the miles pass, feet and legs already tender from yesterday's march protest as the smooth road cuts under the cobblestone. 79 years ago, thousands of U.S. Army and Royal Air Force prisoners would have had to choose between walking on the icy cobblestone or on the snow packed by previous waves of marchers on the sides of the road for the entire route. And soon the terrain is rolling. For this group having completed three quarters of their day's march, the weariness and pain show to some degree in everyone. We just finished the major leg of the second day. So about five, six miles away from the end point. It makes me a good time. I think we're about 30 to 45 minutes ahead of schedule. Chocolate bars, this quick energy replenishment supplied to us by the great folks who coordinated this march. Howard, Merrick, Simon, Helen, all of them have done a great job taking care of us along the route, making sure that we get all the nourishment that we need. As the group rests, Howard shares more harrowing accounts experienced by the POWs. It was icy as hell on those roads. One of the Kreeges who did the march, he only came on the one occasion to Stalingrad 3 in 2008. And he told me that the guy next to him fell and had broken his ankle on the ice and he kept marching and he got just before Sprenberg and he fell again and he broke his other ankle. He tells of a British chaplain that comforted a dying American football player. Now nutrition, cold, snow. Illustrating how a physically powerful athlete was susceptible as any to death in the horrific conditions. I stayed with him until he died. Closed his eyes and ran to catch up with the main column three miles away. This summons came again and again but thankfully it wasn't the fine length. If you need to drop your ruck, drop your ruck. No one's going to think different about you. If we see you falling behind too heavily even with the drop in pace, we're going to tell you to drop your ruck at that point, all right? It's impossible to really comprehend the horrors and inhumanity of this anniversary, 79 years ago. Stiffen, frozen bodies laid on the ground along the route. One American medical officer described how the ever-worsening conditions resulted in countless cases of trench foot, frostbite, gangrene, amputations, dysentery, tuberculosis and other diseases. These people who came here in 2009 from the United States, children of these POWs who walked exactly the same route, they came here in 2009 and to commemorate their fathers, they did the same. They did a walk from Zagran, from the Museum to Spremberg. There were older people, 60 plus. And of course they didn't march the whole route. They did some parts, but again, they really walked the same path, the same route as their fathers did in 1945. Some of these people, they still had their original fathers' overcoats or some parts of the uniforms, cups, you know, and the t-shirts with the portraits of their fathers, which was really something big. Our mission as a museum and duty to teach, to educate especially younger generations what war means, what POW means and all this. I'm impressed. I'm really proud and really makes me smile. When I see people who are involved in this, they do this not because somebody told them to do this, but they just want to do it. Finally, the group crosses the Lusatian Neath, the river that serves as the modern-day border. We're very happy we made it this far in the long ruling day, everybody is once again made it to the destination about 200 meters out from our bed down side of the barn. We're very happy and motivated to be here. So far, 41 and a half miles down, 17 and a half to go for tomorrow. The soldiers halt at horse stables that had served as shelter for the marchers. Today, the stables are modern and recently renovated. The heated building and running water is a welcome reprieve from the conditions of the last two days. The first troops, Americans, will be in here since the war. The soldiers now have the opportunity to walk to nearby restaurants for drinks. None go, and all of the exhausted troops are asleep by 9.30. They walk nearly 21 miles again today. Tomorrow, they'll step off for the last leg of the long march. Frost covers everything and bells call parishioners to Sunday Mass. Staff Sergeant Savin Thapa, a medic, prepares feet for the last leg of the march. Every night and every morning, as others rest, Thapa has inspected and tended to others' feet. Can I get some normal skim? Normal skim? Yeah. Quite a bit. I'm gonna cover some of my toes and stuff. So who's participating in the march as well as being the primary medic on the march as well. So in between stops, every night, every morning, he's double checking everybody's feet and his overall wellness. Issuing his medicine that he has. This one is strong, though. He's just taking care of everybody from everywhere. He's killing it every day, every morning, every night. He's not lying. Last night, we crossed over the bridge into the border of Germany after trailing it for about five miles. As soon as we crossed over, we immediately into the country as the barn that we're staying in now, in Lechneke. But after that, everybody came in, got settled in, conducted some proper hygiene. They accommodated us with showers and everything. And now we've got pizzas for everybody to celebrate a successful day of marching. Pretty grueling, but we made it through. Yeah, it's a short day. A 17-mile short day. But we're ready to get to it. Yeah, I knew what signing up this was. I knew what it meant. Just for myself personally. Just trying to give more, immersing the history. So everybody's in it for December. Everybody's the goal is for everybody to finish together. So just look to my left, my right, my front, my rear. There's somebody there at all times. So if they're moving, I'm moving. So what is that? We're going to march off by to the final destination of Spremberg as they did in World War II. Formed up outside, the Soldiers watch as Captain Wayne thanks the property owners and again bestows Third Infantry Division patches as tokens of appreciation, just as he has to others they've met throughout the march. The march will end at Spremberg Bonhoff, the train station where the POWs were shipped out for imprisonment deep inside the core of the Third Right. Gradually, the landscape changes again from fields to forests, villages to towns. Residents greet the passing soldiers with smiles and waves. Right now we're walking through the town of Elbendorf. We're just passing through. It's a slightly populated area, but we're about a third of the way through a little over maybe. So people come outside, take pictures, wave at us, you know, hunk the horns, you know, just in support of us being here. So it seems to be pretty warming. Everybody says we're doing fine, everybody's all together, no wallouts, you know. If you can hear, everybody's motivated. It's a beautiful day outside, so not too much to complain about. What's remarkable about the last three days that the soldiers have been experiencing here is they are literally walking in the footsteps of those heroes in World War II. Every footstep they make forward, every place they put their heads to sleep is where their forefathers, those who fought and secured our freedom in World War II, actually were. And what is most remarkable about this is this is the first time that United States soldiers have marched this route since World War II, and that is an extraordinary honour, mostly for all of us involved and especially for them. And we're sure that that greatest generation are looking down on this with huge amount of pride. One of the benefits of Exercise Long March is it shows soldiers young, longer serving, how all of these pieces together for what we do today, it gives a real reason and underpinning as to why forces are here today and those enduring relationships that were formed at the end of World War II are still happening to this very day. As a military organisation, we are nothing if we don't have our heritage and we don't have our history. That is the foundation block of what we are here for. That's what we stand for, those are the badges we wear. And that's the whole reason that we're doing this. It's really to reinforce that the soldiers who have their everyday jobs and they're busy and we all lead busy lives, but we have to keep remembering what underpins the reason people put a uniform on. This will be the 26th Long March we've completed. As a historian, as a military guy, I get the knowledge that we are keeping this story alive. It's very, very important for me. What we want to do, me and my team, the military training team, is we want to keep this alive for the future because I firmly believe that this gives us such great lessons for all of us. It brings together people in an incredible way. The camaraderie, the togetherness of people who previously haven't had that. Along with us, you know, in a very quick period of time, we gel as a team. And that teamwork and that personal endurance and resilience, all these things that we know are there, but we don't see every day. And when you bring people on this, I see that and I get an enormous amount of pleasure. The veterans aren't alive anymore. Those that we did bring on this trip, I feel them sat on my shoulder watching what we're doing and I can hear their voices and I try and transmit their voices to the people on the march as well. And I'm always a bit deflated when I go back home. We're always going to be another one and we look forward to meeting the people on the next one. But if you're seeing US soldiers on this route, it's the first time and that for me is an incredibly special moment. I hope it's the first of many that they come on. Finally, as the sun slips low over the horizon, the group reaches Spremburg. They've walked nearly 18 miles today, a total of 60 miles over three days. It was go time. The warm wasn't with the last stretch. It was feeling good. I just got back from the train station looking at it. We're looking mighty fine on time too. Pace is good. Everybody's still here with us. So happy to be bringing it in. I can hear the motivation behind me. It's a culminating event for one of the hardest things. If not the hardest thing, a lot of people in the formation have done up to this point in their careers. 60 miles is nothing to turn your nose up at. So just excited to get it done. Rock of the mark. Sadly, the World War II POWs that survived their three-day ordeal did not find liberty or relief at Spremburg-Banov. There, the POWs were loaded up and taking for detention throughout inter-Germany. Many would not survive to experience liberation when the war ended. A large crowd has gathered to witness the soldiers' arrival at the train station built in the 1860s. And their long-marge concludes with the knowledge that they have completed the monumental task. Stand up. Hey. How are you doing? Alright, cool. Absolutely astonishing treatment. You have followed exactly in their footsteps as we've said many times before. And this is from the exact spot that the Allied Prisoners' War went off to different locations many, many hundred miles away in the middle of Germany. The most terrible war that we had known in the 20th century had finally ended. And out of the ashes of that terrible war, that terrible conflict came friendship. And friendship with our friends here in Spremburg, friendship with Germany, a great bond that exists between our nations. Not only militarily, but socially in every other way. We started as enemies. We have been firm friends for many, many longer years and that will continue. Congratulations from me on making this incredible march. It's a real credit to the United States, to the United States forces, and to yourselves. That night, the training team hosts a commemorative dinner for the soldiers at Castle Klitschko, just south of Zagan. The road weary soldiers in their feet get a bus ride to the castle. Master Sergeant Kevin Bryant stands and recites the code of conduct for members of the armed forces of the United States. It's a powerful reminder of who they are and of what could be required of them in service to the nation. More congratulations and words of appreciation for the team members follows a meal of traditional Polish fair and several courses. Please just enjoy a cherished because I know tomorrow a lot of us are going back to work and never forget this, alright? Thank you guys for your time. The meal and the environment is a stark contrast from their experiences over the last three days. It serves to recognize the soldiers for an extraordinary accomplishment. It also serves to promote a newly formed camaraderie as developed through shared hardship. I'll say that they will never forget this experience for the lessons they've learned from the long march.