“The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.” — President George Washington
November 11th, 1919 was the first observance of Armistice Day, it was created to honor the fallen from WW1. In 1938 it was made a legal holiday. In 1945 it was changed to honor all military veterans.
I wanted to share some stories of POW through the history of the U.S. There have been over 500,000 Prisoners of War held thru out the history of the U.S. Many did not make it home. I wanted to share this on Veteran’s Day as I feel they gave a lot more than most ever will.
Prison ships of the Revolutionary war
During the Revolutionary, War prisoner were held on prison ships on New York harbor. They were held in some of the worst conditions, and at one point, 12 prisoners were dying a night, from diseases like smallpox, typhoid, and yellow fever. By the end of the war, 11,000 soldiers would die in British ships, more than were killed in all the battles combined (4,500). Many died a slow and painful death within the confines of the HMS Jersey and other prison ships. During the evacuation of New York, British forces abandoned and set fire to all the prison ships in the harbor. Eight thousand prisoners were still onboard when it was set on fire. For years after the war, bones continued to wash up on the Brooklyn shore. In 1902, while extending one of the docks, workers at the Brooklyn Navy Yard unknowingly pierced the hull of the ship. Her resting place was finally discovered.
www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/the-hms-jersey
U.S. Civil War- Andersonville
Andersonville Prison, formerly known as Camp Sumter, was a Confederate military prison that only existed for 14 months during the American Civil War. It opened in early 1864 near Andersonville, Georgia, and closed in April of 1965. The prisoner’s lack of food, poor sanitation, disease, and also praying on each other, made Andersonville the worst prison of the war. Of the 56,000 prisoner-of-war deaths that occurred during the war, 13,000 were at Andersonville Prison.
www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/civil-war-prison-camps
WW2 POW of the Japanese
There were more than 350,000 prisoners captured by the Japanese in the Philippines, more than half were native, the natives were dying at such a high rate, that the Japanese released them. They said they were releasing them for propaganda purposes. Over 140,000 allied prisoners (U.S., UK, Aussies, Dutch, Canada, and Kiwis) were held in the Japanese POW camps. Of these, one in three died from starvation, work, and punishments. The death rate was 27% compared to 4% of POW help by German and Italy. About 5 million Chines died in captivity; over 25 million died at the hands of the Japanese.
Korea and Vietnam
As we started to fight communism, a new type of prison of war camp was encounter. Now, prisoners began to be “reprogramed.” North Korean, the Chinese and North Vietnamese guards, used extreme torture to try and “reprogram” the prisons. The most notorious prison during the Vietnam war was the H?a Lò, a name loosely translated as “hell hole.” It was nicknamed the Hanoi Hilton by the POWs. It is infamous as one of if not the worst prisons in history. From the beginning, U.S. POWs endured miserable conditions, including inadequate food, unsanitary conditions, and torture. Although North Vietnam was a signatory of the Third Geneva Convention of 1949, which demanded “decent and humane treatment” of prisoners of war, severe torture methods were employed, such as rope bindings, irons, beatings, and prolonged solitary confinement. The North said that since the US never declared war, they didn’t have to follow the Geneva Convention. In 1972 jane fonda visited the Hanoi Hilton. While she was there, she called out some of the prisons as faking being mistreated and being hungry. She also posed on an NVA anti-aircraft gun. When she returned, she called out returning POWs “hypocrites and liars,” adding, “These were not men who had been tortured. These were not men who had been starved. These were not men who had been brainwashed”.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/500710.Two_Souls_Indivisible
mohmuseum.org/you-are-not-forgotten-national-pow-mia-recognition-day
Jane Fonda is a traitor and an embarrassment to our society. This can not be forgotten because she continues to carry on her ‘politcal work’
Looking forward to pissing on her grave someday.
Well, it’s a good thing that the USA quit taking POWs and only captures “enemy combatants,” so we can detain and torture them at will.
That’s right Bob; enemy combatants. Calling them POWs would indicate that we were at war with them when they slaughtered thousands of innocent men, women & children in their lands as well as ours.
So, take your terrorist sympathizing & virtue signalling & stick it up your ass…Bob.
Bob, the USA has never done anything to terrorists that we didn’t use on our own people going thru SERE school and this post is about what the US and our allies have gone thru. So please save your political stuff to a different website.
If you don’t wear a uniform, you aren’t a lawful combatant. All of civilization agrees on this point. Perhaps you aren’t civilized?
So our Kurd allies and their non-state actor group status… are unlawful combatants per that criteria?
Turkey unilaterally thinks so…
Only governments with uniforms can legally wage war?
Minutemen do not apply due to lack of uniformity?
No I’m not talking about justification for using human shields or suicide bombers, kidnappings or beheadings.
Jane Fonda can burn in Hell along with Bin Laden, but that legal definition seems awfully convenient for the boot of the powerful…
Perhaps we need a better definition.
But our Kurdish allies wear uniforms and even tho Kurdistan isn’t a country. It is a state the fighter that we fight with over there are basic a national guard unit. They are training to protect their state. Everyone we train to fight we put them in some type of uniform. Lastly like every thing a lawyer rights is up for your own interpretation. Lastly our minute man where state sponsored militia. Making them part of our now nation guard.
Sorry used two lastly
SSD,
were the French Resistance fighters lawful combatants? Were they civilized? How about our buddies, the Mujahideen? Were they lawful combatants?
Bob, you’re in the deep end of the pool. French Resistance Fighters accepted the risk of being treated as unlawful combatants, but generally wore distinguishing marks. The Muj? For the majority no, and they were treated as such as per international treaties.
bob It is obvious you are trying to prove a point but you are using the wrong ammo. I like the two examples you choose . The French resistance and the Muj, one fought the Nazi that had a shot on site commando order that they used on the FR, and the Muj who fought the Russians. The Russian had land mines that looked like toys so kids would pick them up and A bring them home and kill the whole family or just blow the legs or arms off of the kids. The theory being that the dad couldn’t fight now because he had to stay home and take care of his kids now that they had no arms or legs. And yes the Germany’s and Russian sign the GC of 1906 and 1929
Yeah, that’s definitely in direct contradiction to the Law of War. Civilians who take up arms in the face of the enemy are not required to be in uniform to be afforded the protections for other armed combatants. The rule is that anyone fighting is to be treated as and afforded the same protections on capture.
Unlawful combatant is a bullshit term used to get around legal protections. If someone isn’t a “lawful combatant” then they are a criminal and all the legal standards for criminal suspects should apply. A certain administration didn’t like that and came up with a new definition, which now bites us in the ass. An enemy combatant is subject to indefinite detention, until the end of hostilities. If you’re involved in an endless war, they never have to be released or shown a courtroom. Blurring the line between soldier and criminal, as the Geneva Conventions was meant to prevent, leads us to needless military tribunals.
RE: treatment of Maquis and Mujahadin, those were war crimes under the then current or later conventions.
That’s untrue. They must be organized and wear distinguishing marks.
Thanks for sharing. This was a good reminder that I needed.
Thanks. I am glad it helped
I appreciate that jane fonda’s name was not capitalized. Nice!
It’s the little things in life that make me happy