University of Southern Indiana

USI Alumni Association

Issue 13: March 2005
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Commencement speaker helped devise "The Great Escape"

Charles C. Huppert, an Evansville businessman and World War II pilot who, as a prisoner of war, helped engineer "The Great Escape" from a Nazi POW camp, will receive an honorary Doctor of Science degree and deliver USI's 2005 Commencement address. Huppert was one of 600 captured allied soldiers who, using handmade tools, constructed three sophisticated tunnels, "Tom," "Dick," and "Harry," under the noses of German guards at Stalag III, Luft Waffe Camp in Sagan, Germany (now Zagan, Poland). Before the escape plan was enacted, the Nazis discovered "Tom," and Huppert and other Americans were transferred to another camp.		Huppert
On March 24, 1944, 200 men planned to flee through "Harry." Only 76 escaped before the 77th was spotted by guards, and all but three were recaptured by the Nazis. Of those recaptured, 23 were returned to camps, and 50 were shot in violation of the Geneva Convention. A film about the brave men's plan, "The Great Escape" featuring Steve McQueen, was released in 1963. In 2003, Huppert returned to Zagan as a consultant with the crew of the PBS series, "NOVA," on a show about the escape plan. He was born in 1918 in Dale, Indiana, and graduated from Arsenal Tech High School in Indianapolis in 1936. In 1937, he traveled to Los Angeles, California, enrolled at UCLA, and worked in the movie industry as an electronic technician. He then joined the Army Air Corp Reserve and became a civilian pilot. In January, 1942, he was called to active duty as a B-25 pilot and flew from the US to a British Air Base on the Suez Canal in Egypt. On April 26, 1943, while flying along the coast of Tunisia, he was shot down and taken prisoner by the Germans. After enduring several camps and a death-march in sub-zero weather, he and other prisoners were liberated by the American 14th Armored Division on April 29, 1945. In 1946, he was separated from active duty as a lieutenant colonel and returned to Evansville, where he started Merchants Alarm Service, Inc, with his late wife, Betty Jean. He retired in 1982. He is a member of the Dale United Methodist Church, the Air Force Association, Aerospace Education Foundation, The Friends of the Air Force Academy Library, The Planetary Society, New York Academy of Sciences, and the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine. Commencement exercises will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 8, at Roberts Stadium. Over 1,600 graduates will complete degree requirements as the class of 2005.

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