Narrative Essays: The Few Who Escaped Alcatraz

914 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Alcatraz information essay

The Few Who Escaped Alcatraz Alcatraz was one of the most notorious prisons during the early 1930’s to early 1960’s. All the well known gang members like Al “Scarface” Capone and Robert “Birdman of Alcatraz” were convicted and sent to live the rest of their life in Alcatraz. The U.S. praised Alcatraz for being inescapable. Everyone thought Alcatraz was “escape proof”, but they were proven wrong. Three men did the impossible and managed to escape the hell hole called Alcatraz.However, I don’t think they could survive the escape due to the information I read about accounts after their escape. Alcatraz was located in the middle on the cold waters of The San Francisco Bay. It was made sure that nobody could escape. Alcatraz held the smartest victims, but it was very difficult to find a way to escape. About 36 men in total attempted to escape from Alcatraz. Twenty three were caught, six were shot and killed, and two drowned. Except three random inmates did the impossible. These inmates that escaped were Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin. Nobody expected these three random inmates to crack the code and do what no one could. …show more content…

Everyone thought Alcatraz was “escape proof”, but they were proven wrong. About 36 men in total attempted to escape from Alcatraz. The three men who actually escaped and did the impossible were Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin. Frank Morris was seen as the mastermind behind the escape. Frank Morris and The Anglin Brothers escaped from Alcatraz on June 11, 1962. To travel on water, the inmates used a raft made of raincoats. The biggest part of the escape was that the three men created fake dummy heads of themselves to use as decoys. The FBI discovered that there might be a chance that the inmates didn’t survive. The escape of these three men will forever go down in

Show More
Related

  • A question of Freedom a Memoir of Learning, Survival, and Coming of Age in Prison by R. Dwayne Betts

    2042 Words  | 5 Pages

    In this critic, I will be analyzing and comparing two books. The first book is “A question of Freedom a Memoir of Learning, Survival, and Coming of Age in Prison” by R. Dwayne Betts. The second book is “Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing” by Ted Conover. In this comparison will first give a short summarization of both books. Second I will be answering the fallowing questions, what prisons are discussed? What types of prisoners are there- age, race, sex, level of crime? How current is the information? What are the conditions of the prisons? How are the prisoners treated? How are the guards and their viewpoints represented? How are the prisoners and their viewpoints represented? What forms of rehabilitation are there? What are the social relationships with other inmates? What opportunities are available to occupy prisoners? What point of view is the author taking – critical, Positive, does she/he write from the viewpoint of a guard, a prisoner? What evidence is/are the author’s points based on and how is the evidence presented - for example, first hand observations, Statistics? Also what changes, if any, are proposed or discussed by the author? How does the information in this book compare with what you’ve read in the text and articles and what you have observed on a class trip? Lastly what is your opinion of the information and viewpoint expressed in the book?

    Read More

  • How Did Al Capone Influence Chicago

    681 Words  | 2 Pages

    The New York Times writes, “Al Capone was found guilty here tonight on five of the twenty-three counts contained in the two indictments brought against him by the Federal Government for income tax evasion from 1924 to 1929,” (1). Capone was later sentenced to the Atlanta U.S. Penitentiary in May of 1932. Upon his arrival at Atlanta, Capone was officially diagnosed with syphilis and gonorrhea. He was also suffering from withdrawal symptoms from his cocaine addiction. Capone was then sent to the newly opened Alcatraz prison, located off of San Francisco Bay, on January 6, 1939. Capone was released on parole later that year and spent his last years retired from crime at his mansion in Palm Island Florida. Capone suffered from a stroke on January 21, 1947. Following his stroke, the big boss of Chicago died in his home on January 25, 1947. Chicago’s king had retired

    Read More

  • The Yuma Territorial Prison As A Beacon Of Civilization

    1433 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...from stories of the time. While many sources say that they argue with the wild perpetuation in their first paragraph they then maintain an indefinite description of the prison and attempt not to give a detailed look at the components and history of the prison before it lost life when shutting down aside from those stories describing how wild the west was. With this I was also not able to talk to any true experts of the prison, nor visit the prison or those surviving the ones who lived there on either side of the law causing my knowledge and research to be limited to the web, which as before mentioned is limited by lack of fresh or widely varied information. Had there been more sources that went into detail about the prisons other features aside from its capacity I would have been able to give more than an educated, generalized guess on how the some of the prison was.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Alcatraz Island And Pearl Harbor

    1378 Words  | 3 Pages

    When people talk about Alcatraz, they usually remember it is an island with a prison on it, but many do not know what is included inside the prison. Two common places inmates were in most of the time were either the dining hall, where the prisoners and staff would eat their meals, or a library in which inmates could check out books and magazines. The Models Industries Building contained a laundry facility, and the New Industries Building contained a clothing factory, dry cleaning plant, furniture plant, and a brush factory where prisoners could work and earn money. Prisoners had the chance to make items such as gloves, furniture mats, and army uniforms. Military officers were found in the dining hall since that was where they ate their meals, but they were also found in the other places as well. Former Military Chapel was a small building, where the ground floor had quarters for the officers and their families who worked at the prison. In 1920, when the building was first built, the top floor of the building was used as a school and chapel, but in 1934 when Alcatraz became a Federal Penitentiary, the building became a Bachelor Quarters for unmarried officers. Later on, the officers and their families eventually stayed in Building 64 which was a three story apartment building. The best part of living in the prison for

    Read More

  • Al Capone Thesis Statement

    658 Words  | 2 Pages

    Capone lived in Alcatraz for 11 years and when he got out he fell ill with Neurosyphilis and died from his disease on january 25 1947.

    Read More

  • Al Capone Thesis Statement

    1357 Words  | 3 Pages

    Al’s temper began to rise. The man pulled a knife and cut him three times in the face. The young man told Lucky Luciano what happened. Then Luciano went to Frankie Yale. Then Frankie, Luciano and the young man came together to dispence some justice on Capone.

    Read More

  • Alcatraz Case

    784 Words  | 2 Pages

    Well known inmates of Alcatraz include gangster Al Capone, George “Machine Gun” Kelly, and Alvin “Creepy Karpis” Karpowicz. Capone spent 4 ½ years in Alcatraz. It was the only place where the guards wouldn’t be bribed and the only place where he couldn’t carry out his business in the gang. Capone once said, “It looks like Alcatr...

    Read More

  • Al Capone And Organized Crime In The 1920s

    1052 Words  | 3 Pages

    No other single gangster could be as infamous as Al Capone. Al Capone was the most powerful gangster to ever live. No one could stop his reign of crime, and anyone that got in his way, he would take out, even when it came to his friends. He was never convicted for any of the hundreds of crimes he committed; this is one of the most important facts that showed how many connections Capone had. It was until the 1930’s when Capone was convicted of tax invasion when he did his first jail sentence. He was transferred though many jails across America until he finally landed in Alcatraz. While serving his jail time Alphonse Capone became a victim of the deadly disease Syphilis. Al Capone died but his crime legacy will always live on.

    Read More

  • The Ghost Of Haunted Alcatraz

    1082 Words  | 3 Pages

    The description of Alcatraz is sinister and quite mysterious. Many people describe it as a haunted attraction,

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Alcatraz

    1670 Words  | 4 Pages

    Al Capone once said about Alcatraz " Don't mistake my kindness for weakness, I am kind to everyone, but when someone is unkind to me, weak is not what you are going to remember me about." One of the most dreaded prisons in America was Alcatraz, it was built on an island in the San Francisco Bay. Alcatraz was made for the United States most dangerous and difficult people during its years of being operated. Even though Alcatraz was built as a top end prison it was possible to escape, however it seemed prisoners never made it off the island alive.

    Read More

  • Al Capone

    887 Words  | 2 Pages

    In August 1939 Capone was moved from Atlanta to Alcatraz in San Francisco. Capone’s health took a turn for the worst when he caught Tetiary Syphilis and became disoriented and confused. He was released after six and a half years on god behavior where he returned to Palm Island estate. His wife Mae took care of him until the end. Capone died on January 25, 1947 when he suffered from a cardiac arrest. He was 48 when he died.

    Read More

  • Alcatraz

    641 Words  | 2 Pages

    There have been several famous inmates who served time at Alcatraz. A short list would include Al Capone, George "Machine Gun" Kelly and Robert "Birdman" Stroud.

    Read More

  • Al Capone And The Prohibition Era

    1351 Words  | 3 Pages

    Alphonse Capone, spent the entirety of his life working to improve his life from immigration status. He started working odd, low profile, legal jobs before steadily climbing his way up the gangster food chain. Capone used force, bribery, and any other ways possible to achieve the means to any end that he so desired. Until his arrest, Capone laid claim to the title Public Enemy No. 1, and continued to work his dark magic throughout the country and in prison until he was incarcerated in the most notorious federal prison to date. Capone, albeit slightly evil and conniving, decidedly took his own fate into his hands as a young boy to earn the title of America’s most notorious gangster.

    Read More

  • Biography of Al Capone

    1274 Words  | 3 Pages

    Al Capone was a child from an Italian immigrant family, And was one of the most Notorious and infamous Mafia leader in the world during the Prohibition Era in Chicago. Also he was known as "Scarface," Al Capone was sent to Alcatraz Prison in Philadelphia in 1931 from a tax evasion conviction. Al Capone had a personal fortune estimated at $100 million and was responsible for countless murders, His most famous one was the St.Valentine’s Day Massacre.

    Read More

  • The History of Alcatraz Island

    4107 Words  | 9 Pages

    Alcatraz Island has quite a distinct history. Many people know that Alcatraz served as a federal prison, but most are reluctant to know that this island served as fort. Built before the Civil War, it served two main purposes. First, that it was to guard the San Francisco bay area from enemy ships against a foreign invasion, and second, to hold hostage prisoners of war or POW's as they were called. In this report, I'll show you how this fortress came to be a federal prison, why it is no longer in operation today, and most importantly, to show why it was built in the first place. When the great "Gold Rush" of 1849 first started, California grew from what would be considered a small, unpopulated state, into what it is now. California is now one of the most populated states and it was mostly the gold rush that brought attention to California. As the government saw all of this happening, they realized that California was much more important than they ever realized. In their realization, they decided that California must be protected. San Francisco has one of the largest bays in all of California, and so this was where enemy countries would most likely to try to invade the country. So this is where Alcatraz was to lie, to serve as a military fort. It was supposed to serve as a secondary base in companionship to another base located on the other side of Golden Gate Bridge. But with severe problems trying to build this other base, Alcatraz was to remain alone. "Out in the middle of the San Francisco Bay, the island of Alcatraz is definitely a world unto itself. Isolation is just one of the many constants of island life for any inhabitant on Alcatraz Island. It is the most reoccurring theme in the unfolding history of Alcatraz Island. Alcatraz Island is one of Golden Gate National Recreation Area's most popular destinations, offering a close-up look at a historic and infamous federal prison long off-limits to the public. Visitors to the island can not only explore the remnants of the prison, but learn of the American occupation of 1969 - 1971, early military fortifications and the West Coast's first and oldest operating lighthouse. These structures stand among the island's many natural features - gardens, tidepools, bird nests, and bay views beyond compare." (1) Fortress Alcatraz ran in operation from 1850 - 1933. It served as San Fr...

    Read More

More about Narrative Essays: The Few Who Escaped Alcatraz

Open Document