National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day - April 9th
13With deepest gratitude…
Here’s the text from the National Day Calendar website.
NATIONAL FORMER PRISONER OF WAR RECOGNITION DAY
National Former Prisoners of War Recognition Day on April 9 honors the courageous men and women who have endured brutal treatment at the hands of their captors, separation from family and displayed incredible endurance and faith during their captivity.
On this day in 1942, the largest number of U.S. Forces were captured by Japanese troops in the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines. After battling through extreme conditions and prolonged battles, the captured troops were forced to march 65 miles to the prison camp. Without medical attention, food or water thousands died. The mistreatment continued for those who survived the brutal journey. In the compounds, deep in the unfamiliar jungle, the hardships, brutality, and suffering lasted more than two years for those who could survive.
Many POWs endure conditions much like this. These heroes deserve a day of recognition. An annual presidential proclamation is signed for National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day and government officials, veterans, civic and private organizations observe the day with ceremonies and events. Some states require the POW/MIA flag to be flown in this day.
HOW TO OBSERVE
Honor former POWs by helping to organize events. Ensure your organization flies the POW/MIA flag. Use #FormerPOWRecognitionDay to share on social media.
HISTORY
President Ronald Reagan first proclaimed National Prisoner of War Recognition Day in 1987.
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Thanks for posting this. I was reminded some years ago how badly our allies suffered through WWII. My wife is Belgian and her family is from the area that was torn up in the Battle of the Bulge. In the beginning of the war, the Germans mounted a blitzkrieg and overran Belgium’s defenses, making it to Brussels and forcing a surrender in just a few days. Two of my wife’s uncles were captured by the Germans and drafted, with the threat that their family would be executed if they didn’t comply. They were not permitted to say goodbye to their family or let them know they had been captured. The two brothers were sent to different fronts; the Germans used captured conscripts as cannon fodder. The older brother was sent to the Russian front and was captured by the Russians. He was sent to a POW camp and suffered under horrific conditions including starvation. The younger brother was sent to a front against the US, and was captured by US troops. He was sent to a POW camp in the mountains of Colorado, happy to have been freed from the Germans, As he described it, they were expected to work hard for eight hours a day except Sundays, but were given three good meals, clean clothes, decent living quarters and were treated like human beings. At the end of the war he was freed. The US government helped him locate his brother still being held by the Russians, and sent letters on his behalf to the Russian government until his brother was freed. The younger brother was always grateful for the decent treatment and help he received, and expressed a great desire to go back to Colorado, “except for vacation this time!” He lived a long and healthy life in Belgium and freely told stories about his “American adventure”. The older brother also was eventually returned to Belgium, but was plagued by poor health his entire life due to starvation, exposure to cold, and the terrible working and living conditions in the Russian camps. He looked terribly gaunt, moved slowly and looked like he was always suffering pain. He was a kind person, but it was clear in his eyes and mannerisms that he was haunted by some sort of horror. He rarely talked about his experiences in the war (and some subjects were completely off-limits), but did comment to me once that they were happy when they found bugs in their soup, because it might be the only protein they’d get. Interestingly, he was not bitter toward his captors “because the Russian soldiers were starving and freezing, too. How could we expect better food than they were getting?”
My wife also had a third uncle who vanished, and was never heard from again. He was presumed captured by the Germans. My wife’s grandmother held out hope until she died that he would just show up or call one day.
Even for the Belgians who weren’t POWs in the military sense, the war conditions were hellish. They were prisoners in their own town, subject to whichever army was in control that day. (And it changed frequently) Those that still had houses had no intact windows, and lived in their basements with their children to survive shrapnel from the frequent artillery and bomb blasts.
@mehcuda67 Belgian Congo.
@mike808 True, thanks for that. I took a “quick” refresher in Wikipedia. Wow, I had never heard of Red Rubber before. King Leopold II and his goons really gave imperialism, exploitation, terror and corruption a bad name. And again, the innocent suffer the most.
On April 9th, 1940, Germany invaded Norway. My grandfather became a POW. Luckily, he survived.
He ended up passing away a year or two before I was born. He died at 3:40am. I was born, April 9th, at 3:40am.