Diane Henderson, SOAR interim co-executive director, always noticed her father’s white handkerchief, except it wasn’t in his pocket. Henderson’s father, Walter Matthews, had his white handkerchief framed and hanging on a wall in his home.

“My father was in a German POW camp for two and half years during World War II,” said Henderson, who is also co-coordinator of the SOAR History Book Group. “He never ever talked about it. What little we know is what little we could get out of him when we asked him about his ‘hanky map.’

“One of the men in his stalag [prison camp] had an artistic bent, and his family sent him some colored pencils. The Red Cross would send the POWs hankies. The soldiers would give this guy — we never learned his name  one of their hankies and he would proceed to draw that prisoner’s ‘lifestory’ map on the hanky.”

Matthews’ “hanky map” includes the countries of Spain, North Africa, France, England, and Germany; and provides a glimpse into Matthews’ time at Stalag III B, the POW camp where he was held. The unknown artist also included people and places in the U.S. who were close to Matthews’ heart.

Stalag III B was located near Furstenberg, Germany, and is estimated to have held a total of 24,500 American, Russian, French, and Serbian POWS. The book, Life Behind Barbed Wire: The Secret World War II Photographs of Prisoner of War Angelo M. Spinelli, features photographs Spinelli took during his time in Stalag III B. One of those photographs shows Matthews in his Stalag baseball uniform.

“My mom framed Dad’s hanky,” said Henderson, “and it hung in our house until it went to my older sister. First though, another sister had professional copies made.” Today, each of Matthews’ five daughters and 12 grandchildren proudly display the hanky in their homes.

Near the bottom right corner of the “hanky map” is a drawing of a tank with the word “Americanizer” on it, a nickname for the tank Matthews’ crew was in during a battle in Tunisia, North Africa, on February 15, 1943.

“He was captured in the Battle of Kasserine Pass,” said Henderson. “He was a gunner in a tank – the tank got hit, and he got out. My father didn’t like Army boots, so he wore penny loafers. After he was captured, he had to walk across the desert in those penny loafers. His feet were damaged in this walk, which led to him having rheumatoid arthritis.”

Henderson estimates her dad walked 136 miles… in the desert, in his penny loafers, all the way from Kasserine Pass to Tunis, the capital of Tunisia.

“The hanky is—in itself—a memorial to my father, a World War II POW, and a hero to his six daughters, until his early death in 1977, at age 56,” said Henderson.

A simple white hanky. A tribute to all who serve and served.