Hundreds of thousands of moviegoers are flocking to the big screens to see George Clooney in the new flick "Monuments Men."

Clooney portrays a World War II figure in a key role. But he's an imitation. He's an actor portraying a part.If you want to see the real deal, you need to be in Carbon County.At 410 Delaware Ave. in Palmerton, you can meet and talk with George Ashman, a native son who was a member of the 357th Infantry Regiment of George Patton's famous 90th Infantry Division.Ashman, 88, might well be one of the men portrayed in the movie, as he had a hand in what is regarded as perhaps the greatest rescue and salvage of stolen art in world history."We happened to be in the right place at the right time," says the humble, soft-spoken volunteer at the Palmerton Area Heritage Center.Ashman said it was all a matter of circumstances.Righting a wrongThe work of Ashman and 400 other military recruits and civilians essentially righted a wrong and salvaged an entire culture.That's because Adolf Hitler and his Nazis, while rampaging through Europe, had robbed the continent of its finest art and most valued treasures."They said he wanted to keep it for himself," Ashman said.Ashman's involvement the salvage operation during one of the most tension-filled and pivotal moments in history came about as a quirk of timing."I graduated in 1943 from Stephen S. Palmer High School," Ashman said. "I was only 17 and so I got in three semesters at Penn State. Then I was drafted in June 1944."At the same time, something special was taking place overseas.The Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program under the Civil Affairs and Military Government Sections was established to allow the Allied armies an opportunity to protect cultural property during World War II upheaval. Ashman was assigned to the duties.As part of the mission, Ashman and others moved into Germany and traveled to Merkers, where a large cache of artwork and some $238 million in gold ingots and jewelry had been discovered inside a salt mine. It had been hidden by Nazis."We spent a couple of days there. We helped to move things out to keep the Russians from getting them," said Ashman, who used his 6'3" frame to load dense gold ingots onto Army vehicles."They were so heavy that an Army flatbed could only carry two layers of them."Those gold ingots are depicted in the movie.World treasuresIt was a huge operation because the Nazis had looted art and finery from many nations."They melted down jewelry," Ashman said. For example, one section of the mine contained rings the Nazis had stolen from Jewish citizens.The discovery of the stash happened by accident.Ashman believes women had tried to hide to escape battle. They went into the salt mines and that's how the hidden treasures were found.The artifacts are described as being 5,000 years worth of cultural heritage.During the massive undertaking at Merkers and elsewhere, Allied Forces hunted down and protected the stolen items.The Allies returned more than five million articles, including furniture, artwork and even sculptures.For example, a bust of Nefertiti, discovered in Egypt by a German archaeologist before the war, had been stored in a Berlin museum before World War II, where it was stolen by Nazis.The artifact was retrieved by the Monuments Men and put on display in Wiesbaden in December 1945. It was later returned to the Berlin museum.One by one, piece by piece, the items were returned.The recovered booty typically was taken to Wiesbaden, a collection point, where the Army had commandeered a building now used as the Wiesbaden Museum.As for Private First Class Ashman, the job of loading trucks was simply a task at hand."I didn't do anything heroic."He said he didn't fully understand the scope of the operation during that moment in time. It was simply a matter of following orders."The commanding officers may not have known, too," he remarked.It's now generally believed that, at the end of World War II, the U.S. military had found itself in custody of the largest art collection on the planet, each stolen item representing the clandestine work of Hitler.Job well doneAshman, son of George and Ruth Valentiner Ashman, was discharged in June 1946, and returned to his home on Columbia Avenue.He continued his education in engineering and went on to work for United Technologies, Conn., for a time, and then at Honeywell in Philadelphia, for 15 years, and then in Fort Washington.On March 7, Ashman had a chance to sit back and view the movie.Clooney reportedly has said the film is 80 percent factual.Does Ashman believe that to be true?Yes, he says. The production is, overall, "an accurate representation" with, of course, added drama. He said the film utilizes a certain amount of artistic license, and some details aren't exactly as Ashman remembers.For instance, "they show a below-ground elevator. I don't recall seeing anything like that," he said.But that's show biz.However, if you want accuracy and the real thing, stop in at the Palmerton Area Heritage Center any Saturday between 10 a.m. and noon, where Ashman is an asset as good as the gold he salvaged, say local residents."He's a wonderful man. If you need to know something, call George. He's a plethora of information," said Kay Gilbert of Mahoning Valley.Another said everybody relies on Ashman's expertise."He's always there if you have any questions," said Jane Borbe of Palmerton.That's because Ashman is a genuine living historian.Film actors are fine. But nothing beats the real deal.And when it comes to Monuments Men, Carbon County wins the battle between reality versus the cinema.The final score is Palmerton 1, Hollywood 0.