05. Honorary debt

The wounded prisoner went to Breslau, where he was cured. However, the scars on his hands remained until the end of his life. This is an important piece of information, because these wounded hands saved his life later. In the hospital in Wroclaw, he met Polish and Russian prisoners. Meeting the Poles, reminded him of the promise of a great-grandfather and family tradition. Cooper decided to pay off his debt from 140 years ago. He realized that the situation of the Polish society devastated by war to an extent incomparably greater than in Western Europe, is dramatic. He joined the activities of the American Aid Office, headed by Herbert Hoover.

“I immediately got on the train to Przemyśl. I collected a load of flour and other food products […] and the railway line, and the road were cut off by the Ukrainians. However, I moved forward and fought together with the battalion of Poles from Poznań. After a few days of heavy fighting, we managed to open a railway and road connection, transported food and flour […] I found that Lviv was really starving, but it did not break the spirit of Polish residents.” The heroism of the Lviv inhabitants made a huge impression on the young airman.