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To: R. Scott
The crew of the captured boat was held as POWs at a very fine hotel, their captures picking up all the tabs they ran up for room service. They had guided (guarded) tours around the city and actually enjoyed themselves for the first few months. One of them later joined my crew after release. He seemed embarrassed to admit he had been a POW. The Cambodians had to take the boat to show their support for the Communist forces, but they also treated them very well because they had to show their support for the US.

Well, actually, since Cambodia was neutral at the time, he was legally an "Internee" in Cambodia and not a POW.

Under international law, when belligerent forces end up inside a neutral country and are "caught" by the neutrals, the neutral have an obligation to keep them inside the neutral country until the war is over. However, since the neutral country wants to stay friendly with both sides, the treatment during internmemt is usually Club Med or as close to it as wartime conditions will allow.

During World War II, many damaged U.S. aircraft were flown to Switzerland so that they would not crash land in Germany. All those American airmen were "Internees" of the Swiss until the end of the war unless they "escaped".

As you can see from the link of the Swiss Internees Association Website, these guys did not have a "Stalag 17" experience........."Am wondering if any Internee from the Palais Hotel or Bel Air Bar winter of 1944/45 remembers a young chambermaid/waitress whom you nicknamed "Betty"? "

An Internee can brag about being on the mission, about the combat and about his service but, when an Internee meets a "real" POW, it is best not to brag about his internment at the Palais Hotel and "Betty" the waitress. :-)

One amusing aspect of the Swiss internment was that the town chosen as the internment site for American airmen was right next to a Swiss resort popular as a German R&R area. So, Amerticans and Germans in uniform would bump into each other on the neutral Swiss streets. The Fourth of July was celebrated by aiming fireworks and rockets at the German consulate. :-)

Life in Switzerland.

303rd BG(H) Switzerland Internees

496 posted on 04/22/2004 7:46:18 AM PDT by Polybius
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To: Polybius
I think that at the time they were classified as POWs, as Cambodia was nominally on the side of the Communists but they didn’t want the war to spill over into their country any more than it already had.
498 posted on 04/22/2004 8:10:30 AM PDT by R. Scott (Humanity i love you because when you're hard up you pawn your Intelligence to buy a drink.)
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