Glenn McDole’s drive to survive was insatiable.

Captured in 1942 by Japanese troops in Corregidor, the U.S. Marine was marched without food and water to a prison camp. He was worked as a slave to build an airstrip out of dense jungle in the Philippines.

Video reports¢ 6News video: Dole puts focus on leadership¢ 6News video: Giuliani ‘humbled’ by award¢ 6News video: Air parade kicks off Monday’s festivities¢ 6News video: Dole meets with veterans at Circle S Ranch¢ 6News video: 40s fashions take the spotlight¢ 6News video: Military members help keep events running smoothly¢ 6News video: Flags fly as memorial¢ 6News video: Protesters take to the streets¢ 6News video: USO show an exercise in staging¢ 6News video: Laser show lights up the night skyPhoto galleries¢ Monday event photos¢ More photos from MondayArticles¢ Spotlight on leadership¢ ‘Salute to Heroes’ program pays tribute to veterans¢ B-17 co-pilot’s memories swell at air parade¢ Safety concerns keep parade at snail’s pace¢ Dedication brings together all kinds, including heroes, artists, politicians¢ Tales of heroism in plentiful supply at Medal of Honor Memory Tent talk¢ For Russell residents, it’s time to celebrate with one of their own¢ POWs, women of WW II relate stories in Memory Tent¢ Live C-SPAN broadcast focuses on new institute¢ Fashion show steps back into style¢ Protest against dinner ‘elitists’ results in scuffles, arrests

McDole, of Des Moines, Iowa, nearly died after his appendix was removed without medicines or proper implements. The incision was closed with buttons from an old shirt.

In 1944, while the prisoners were digging trenches to protect themselves from U.S. air attacks, guards began pouring gasoline on the men and setting them afire.

“They went to one trench after another murdering everybody,” McDole recalled Monday while reminiscing with four other men who were prisoners of war in World War II.

McDole hid in a garbage pile, coral outcrops on the shore and a fishing trap in a bay before friendly Filipino fishermen took him to safety. He was among 11 men to reach freedom. About 140 were massacred.

The Memory Tent panel was part of dedication activities for the Dole Institute of Politics. McDole was joined by Jaroslaw Piekalkiewicz and Richard Schiefelbusch, former prisoners of the Germans.

Another panel featured “Women of World War II,” including U.S. Army nurse Virginia Visser of Danbury, Iowa. She served in England, France and Germany in 1944 and 1945.

Delayed with a group of nurses attempting to transfer to a new hospital in Germany, an officer asked if the group wanted to visit Buchenwald.

“We went up, having no idea what we’d see,” Visser said of the concentration camp. “There were bodies stacked outside like cord wood.”

At 22 years old, she said, war had shown her the kindness humanity possessed and the cruelty that lurks in the shadows.

“It was the most searing experience I had.”