[Intolerant in NJ]

And I thought political correctness was a late twentieth-century invention...it sounds as though the Administration is wise in insisting that the Gitmo Taliban prisoners be classified as "Detainees" instead of "Prisoners of War" - with polls showing that eighty-plus percent of the people believe that the detainees are now being treated appropriately, there would probably be a wave of outrage if those murderous thugs were to end up living in barrracks more comfortable than any home they probably ever inhabited in their lives, and with PX privileges to boot.....

[onedoug]

I recall seeing German POW graves at Ft Gordon GA when I took basic there in 1967.

[Arthur McGowan]

One official who had been involved in the program admitted that pehaps it was "naive" in some instances, but the American government had hoped that by treating the German POW's well we would help obtain better treatment for our own troops held by the Germans.

Please reread this sentence from the news item.

So you are against our government's efforts during WWII to obtain the best treatment possible for American POW's?

[Razz]

What a perfect screenname.

[Mark17]

WWII German POW's in Some Camps Lived Better Than US Citizens

In a lot of cases, so do inmates in US prisons, like the guy in a California prison, who recently got a heart transplant, courtesy of the California tax payer.

[purereason]

"One official who had been involved in the program admitted that pehaps it was "naive" in some instances, but the American government had hoped that by treating the German POW's well we would help obtain better treatment for our own troops held by the Germans."

Didn't work then, hasn't worked since then, doubtful it will ever work.

[Warren]

Wasn't that a great show!

[Fred Mertz]

When I was stationed in Germany about 20 years ago, I became friends with a German. During Christmas he invited me to share dinner with his family, at his parents' home.

Turns out his father was a POW of the US during WW2. He saved some items from his POW camp as souvenirs (paper script, etc); I believe he was placed somewhere in Pennsylvania. He actually had fond memories of his POW time and America, and was happy to have this young G.I. as a guest in his home. True story.

[Ada Coddington]

Geneva convention says that POWs must be issued the same rations as the, uh, host's front line troops get. If our front line troops were getting fresh vegetables, then the POWs got the same.

[Nakota]

I had an opportunity to talk to an American POW who was captured during the Battle of the Bulge. He said that once they were out of the hands of the SS unit that captured them and held by the regular German Army, he felt that their conditions were about as good as could be expected given the condition of Germany that late in the war. He said that a German NCO, in the turrt of a tank, actually saved him by pointing his machine gun at an SS officer who was making moves to shoot the captives. This is not to say that conditions were not harsh, but he did not believe that the German Army went out of their way to make conditions more difficult for the POW's. First time I had ever seen a POW medal too.

[SWake]

During WWII, there was a POW camp north of the town I grew up in. It was used primarily for Italian soldiers. When I was growing up in the '60s and '70s, occasionally, one of the POWs would come through with his family and get his picture and story in the local weekly paper. I don't remember any of them saying they were mistreated.

I guess the most telling statement of their treatment was the number that emigrated to the US after the war.