NewsNM: Swickard - this true story has floated around for several years and is appropriate on this Seventh of December when we think about World War II. From
ABC News.com - By
KI MAE HEUSSNER - It's a story that will forever change the way you think of the phrase, "Get Out of Jail Free." During
World War II, as the number of British airmen held hostage behind enemy lines escalated, the country's secret service enlisted an unlikely partner in the ongoing war effort: The board game
Monopoly. It was the perfect accomplice. Included in the items the German army allowed humanitarian groups to distribute in care packages to imprisoned soldiers, the game was too innocent to raise suspicion. But it was the ideal size for a top-secret escape kit that could help spring British POWs from German war camps. The British secret service conspired with the U.K. manufacturer to stuff a compass, small metal tools, such as files, and, most importantly, a map, into cut-out compartments in the Monopoly board itself. "It was ingenious," said Philip Orbanes, author of several books on
Monopoly, including "The World's Most Famous Game and How it Got That Way." "The Monopoly box was big enough to not only hold the game but hide everything else they needed to get to POWs."
Read more
Get Out of Jail Free: Monopoly's Hidden Maps
On December 7, 1972 in the first ever night launch, Apollo 17 lifted off from launch pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center on a 12 day mission to the moon. It was the final manned mission for the very large Saturn V rocket. This was a three day on the lunar surface mission that was the third time a Lunar Roving Vehicle was used. The mission set records for time on the moon's surface and time outside of the lunar capsule. New Mexico's Harrison 
"Jack" Schmitt (on right) was the Lunar Pilot and was the only non-military astronaut to go to the moon. He was a trained geologist and had worked with the other moon astronauts on geological issues. Before entering the Lunar Module for the last time Astronaut Gene Cernan said, "I'm on the surface; and, as I take man's last step from the surface, back home for some time to come, but we believe not too long into the future. I'd like to just say what I believe history will record. That America's challenge of today has forged man's destiny of tomorrow. And, as we leave the Moon at Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return: with peace and hope for all mankind. Godspeed the crew of Apollo 17." We are NewsNM say, "Amen!"
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