LAGO VISTA, Texas — Archie Barrett rifles through the pages of a book about a hero he’s heard many times before.
The main character is crawling through a ditch, trying to stay hidden from the enemy.
“It's where he's escaping from a German prison camp,” Barrett said. “I expected to be discovered any moment and to feel machine gun bullets ripping into my body."
It sounds like the plot of a Hollywood film, but Barrett says this story about his friend Harvey Gann is all true.
“There are lots of veterans, and they all need to be appreciated, but [Gann] was a special, special veteran,” Barrett said.
According to loved ones, Gann was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1920 before moving to Del Valle as a toddler. He was drafted into the United States Army Air Corps to fight in World War II in 1942. During a mission, Barrett says Gann's plane was attacked and he had to jump out.
“Harvey was a gunner in a B-24,” Barrett said. “I think about the time that the chute opened, the plane blew up and everyone else was killed."
Barrett says Gann was captured by the Germans right after and held as a prisoner of war. According to Barrett, Gann escaped four times but was recaptured three.
Gann escaped the first time he was captured within 30 days, according to Barrett. He said Gann told him no one else had been able to do that. Barrett says Gann also successfully escaped into Russia at the end of the war, leading a few other men to safety.
“Made their way down to what is now Ukraine. [Gann] said the Germans had been through there and destroyed it, and the Russians came back through and destroyed it,” Barrett said.
Barrett says Gann was more than a veteran. He was a husband, a father, a former Austin Police Department major, and his friend. The two met 24 years ago when Barrett moved into their Lago Vista neighborhood.
“In the last few years, I've driven him to coffee every Monday," Barrett said. "We have a Lago Vista men's coffee, and that was one of the most enjoyable times of the week for me."
Barrett says Gann spoke at events, to kids in schools, and even wrote a book about his story. He says Gann had a secret to his long life.
“He'd say the secret is an optimistic outlook and he always had one,” Barrett said.
Sadly, Gann passed away last week at 103 years old. His family says he helped build the Bergstrom Air Force Base before being drafted and served as a major for APD for more than 20 years in the VICE and Narcotics Unit.
Barrett says he'll miss his friend, but Gann's story will live on.
“He lived a full life ... I'm not grieving. I'm just thinking about him and what he meant," Barrett said. "It hurts that he's not going to be here to continue to inspire us that way, but I know he's in a better place. To think of his service and the level of it, and how he was obviously very special.”
Barrett says people should take away from Gann is the philosophy behind how he lived.
“Find optimism and escape whatever the problem is in your own way," Barrett said. "That's what he did."
Gann was married to his wife, Evelyn, for 77 years. He also had two daughters, four grandkids and 15 great-grandchildren. Gann will be laid to rest on April 5 in Austin.