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Maintaining Your Health - 14325_452
After You Escape - 14325_454

Basic Military Requirements (BMR) Revised Edition
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15-29 Student Notes: Save Save  what you can in a POW camp—clothing, pieces of metal, cloth, paper, string anything! A piece of twine may mean success or failure when the time comes for you to break out. Hide these items under the floor or in a hole in the ground. Since they appear harmless, little or nothing will be done to punish you if they are discovered. Wear  as  few  clothes  as  possible  during  your  imprisonment.  SAVE  your  shoes, underwear,  shirts,  jacket,  and  any  other  items  of  clothing  that  will  protect  you  from  the elements to wear during your escape. Save any nonperishable foods you receive from the Red Cross or your captors. Candy, for example, comes in handy as a quick source of energy when you are traveling. If no candy source  is  available,  SAVE  each  issue  of  sugar  given  you  by  the  enemy.  When  you  get enough, boil it down into hard candy. SAVE it until you build up your supply. Store any canned foods you receive. The enemy might puncture the cans to prevent you from saving them. However, you can recook some food into another form that preserves it. Other foods to hoard against the day of your escape include suet (a hard fat), cooked meat, nuts, and bread. Save pieces of metal no matter how insignificant they may seem. Nails and pins can serve  as  buttons  or  fasteners.  You  can  use  old  cans  to  improvise  knives,  cups,  or  food containers. If you are fortunate enough to have a razor blade, guard it. Use it for shaving only. Devise ways of sharpening it; rub it on glass or stone or some other hard surface. A clean shave is a good morale booster. Save  your  strength  but  keep  active.  A  walk  around  the  compound  or  a  few  mild calisthenics will keep your muscles toned. Sleep as much as you can. You will not get much rest on your way back. Add to Use your ingenuity.  Select  those  items  that  you  cannot  get  along  without  and supplement  them;  for  example,  your  rations.  There  is  more  to  eat  in  and  around  your compound than you think. When you are allowed to roam around the prison campgrounds, look for natural foods native to the area, such as roots, grasses, leaves, barks, and insects. If possible, ADD these foods to your escape cache (supplies). They will keep you alive when the going gets tough. Supplement your clothing so that the more durable garments are in good repair when you escape. A block of wood and a piece of cloth make good moccasins; that saves wear on your  shoes.  Substitute  rags  for  gloves;  weave  straw  into  hats.  Do  not  forget  to  salvage clothing from the dead. Take care of Probably the most important part of any plan for survival is the take-care-of phase. Maintain what you have. You won’t receive a reissue of shoes or clothes that you wear out or lose. Also, maintain your health; it is not easy to regain once you lose it. Put some of your clothing into your escape cache. Watch the rest for early signs of wear, and repair them with improvised material if needed. Use a needle made from a thorn, nail, or splinter and thread from unraveled cloth to mend a torn pair of trousers. Wood, canvas, or cardboard bound to the soles of your shoes will save them from wear. Even paper will suffice as a reinforcing insole if your shoes do wear through.







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