2019 | 3 minutes
Violin
Piano
The inspiration for this piece comes from the story of my great-grandfather Jesse Rostron, who was a paratrooper in the second world war. The particular story which brought me to this piece was of a time he was dropped behind enemy lines and captured. His mission was to work his way back to friendly territory with as much information as he could gather, but between him the allies lay a German camp, where he was captured and imprisoned. He became friends with the man that guarded him and the other prisoners and they would bond over cigarettes regularly. The days passed and while the guard was doing his rounds, he informed my grandfather that all the prisoners were to be shot the following day. He continued by saying that he would turn around and wanted my grandfather to take off running. He pointed the direction that would lead him back to the allies and turned around. Unsure whether or not this was some kind of trick, my grandfather hesitated; but after deciding he would be killed regardless, he took off running. He made it back to ally territory, continued his military career, and became one of the most highly decorated WWII soldiers in Indiana.