European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 6, 1964, Darmstadt, Hesse                              Poloi by Guenter Schuettner wanted by Bob Munich Bureau Miu Tauy men inc world Over know shut there is More to our Thun computers and this age u technical complexities bus Rattler than Dimin inc importance of the individual bad a 160pound master parachutist his dimensions Haven changed since he played end at Washington stale Sage has done things with hands and mind which few men could As a member of the office of Strate Gic services Oss during world War his exploits became at the end of the War he turned Down a promising future in inc world of Busi Ness to remain in the since then Hes held a variety of assignments which eminently qualify him to Lead the special his Job at bad Stoelz is to train men in counterinsurgency and unconventional this outfit illustrates whirl men can do instead of push Sage said during a briefing on the Mission of Spe Cial i am convinced that these men Are the finest group of soldiers Ever As and that includes the men who fought under Genghis Khan and Field marshal Erwin Rommel afrika not just the officers and lop Ihrck but each individual enlisted Man must be u Topflight instructor and Leader As Well As thoroughly skilled in his while underscoring the an articulate Man Willi a flare for words he was Phi Bola Kappa at Washington slate and received his masters degree from Columbia re cried on several occasions to his men As War Cunt find a Job too Lough for these men to tackle and they ii do ii Wilh a Quiel he theres no room for arrogance in ills our men Are physically and men Lull there morally Strong and the Cero Good and you Don i car four letter words around although he is preoccupied with the present and the Sage leans heavily on his past for the Confidence lie transmits to his few men can match his inc dra Matic part of his career began in North Africa where he commanded an Oss outfit behind enemy his Job was to blow up planes and railroads and gather one of his favorite harassment was to camouflage plastic explosives As Camel or Donkey manure and strew it along the path of German after losing a considerable number of legs and the afrika Korps had to precede convoys Wilh sages espionage were cur tailed when he was wounded and Cap tured while carrying out u Daylight scouting Mission for the British Derby Shire Afler an abortive attempt to heal a German vehicle from Bis guards and again to scale the Wall of a Camp in he used a demolition knife thai be had taped to his leg to Cut his Way out of a pow freight then jumped to Freedom with two Allied two Days later the three were recaptured when a group of arabs be while waiting to be flown to Italy by the the Trio decided they would take Over the and that the pilots would Fly it Back to the october 1964 guts and integrity fellow prisoner painted plan was failed when inc germans separated Sage from his flown to Italy Sage was confined to hospitals in Rome and Frank then transferred to stalag a maximum Security prison for Al lied fliers m Miles Southeast of Sage was the Lone infantry officer in lie Luftwaffe lie preferred pos ing Asa shutdown flier to being executed Asim Oss immediately upon his arrival in the he joined a group of Allied fliers to plot the biggest pow escape of the new zealand Pilot Paul Brockhill in his Book the great escape tells the Story of that plot which was made into a movie of the same title two years the cooler kid played by Steve Mcqueen was the Rote modelled on sages activities in the during digging operations on three escape Sage was put in charge of soil Sand was carried from tunnels in bags fitted inside the trousers of prisoners who were dubbed the penguins dumped which was worked into the during Volley Ball games and unarmed combat Sage devised another ruse for getting rid of he had prisoners Plant a cabbage Garden and every Day plants were removed and replanted in the disposal after weeks of the first of three tunnels was despite their prisoners soon resumed work on the second seventy six men finally made their Way to Freedom through ills dubbed before a German guard Dis covered the All except four were recaptured and 50 of these were although he played a leading in inc Tunnel Sage was not among the 78 who by this time he had been removed to an adjacent compound after serving in solitary confinement for his own private that escape was planned after a Fel Low Tow Lold Sage a prisoner with a bonafide Lione injury could request an xray in a Hospital outside inc the idea was to escape from the ambulance Between Camp and Sage had a South african Friend kick in his ribs during a soccer game then reported to sick when the examining physician refused to Send him to the Hospital he spat blood on the doctors desk he had Cut his Finger and held inc blood in Bis this convinced the doctor that he needed an Evroule to the Hospital he jumped through the Back door of the ambulance and with a guard shooting at fled on foot through the three Days later he was captured near the czech Border by the Gestapo and relearned to stalag Liefl Sage finally made Good his getaway in january 1045 when the commandant of the Camp Force married prisoners Westward to flee the advancing rus Karly one morning he slipped away from his fellow pos and headed eastward for a rendezvous with the bus Sian six weeks later he had worked his Way across Poland and the Ukraine by two horse Sleigh and Iro car to the Black sea port of where he boarded a freighter for port Twenty three hectic months after Sage had been captured in North Africa he was Back with the Oss and was assigned to a new group for duty in North China when the War after the War Sage was assigned Ai a staff officer to european where he used his talents in languages he has a working knowledge of 12 in problems dealing with military govern ment und displaced in subsequent assignments Sage taught three years at the West Point military took an infantry commanders refresher course at it commanded a battalion und was executive officer of the 5th regimental combat team in served in the go Section of 6th was an instructor and later commanded All student officers at the army com Mand and general staff Al alter a period of study at the army War he was As signed to the army chief of military prior to assuming his pres ent Post he served two years in the office of the joint chiefs of during his last two assignments la the Sage worked on counter insurgency and other special warfare problems at the highest level and got a firsthand look at these problems Dur ing Field trips to and Sage believes his varied experiences have helped give him Confidence in what an individual with Faith in nil country and his god can this is what we seek to build in special what we want in oar men Are guts and they must always remember that we can win with training and among sages treasured mementos i a portrait painted by fellow prisoner Donald Stenc in stalag Stone Han carried the picture to sages Home in the United Stales and it now Hangi in the colonels living sages decorations include the order of the British legion of Bronze purple heart and the medal for humane Comeri prepare to grind on the the Greal which was about life at stalag Lull Iii pow Camp near the stars and stripes