One of Austin Peay State University’s newest faculty members has published his first book, a significant work that tells Kentucky’s story of housing, working and entertaining more than 10,000 German prisoners during World War II. Antonio Scott Thompson teaches a variety of classes like historical methods. His new book called German Jackboots on Kentucky Bluegrass: Housing German Prisoners of War in Kentucky, 1942-1946, highlights Kentucky affiliation with World War II and how it affected the life of the prisoners and all involved.
In the book it describes how during World War II, United States base camps housed
nearly 371,000 German and 51,000 Italian prisoners. About 9,000 of them resided in Kentucky’s camps such as Fort Knox, Campbell, and Breckinridge. These prisoners of war interaction proved a profitable experience for all. The Geneva Convention, ratified by the U.S. in 1932, required that captured enemy troops be supplied with food, clothing and shelter equivalent to the nation’s own personnel. U.S. ships carrying supplies and personnel to Europe often returned with POWs. Kentucky’s first prisoners arrived in the early summer of 1943.
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Many Americans were uneasy about the POWs but most agreed later with a local reporter (in the book) who stated that “if it weren’t for the bright yellow PW stamped on their trousers, you’d swear they were just a group of American boys …” (p. 24). The prisoners were brought over to help with the war efforts, such as maintaining
Farewell to Manzanar contains an autobiographical memoir of Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston's wartime incarceration at Manzanar, a Japanese-American internment camp. Wakatsuki’s experience is described during their imprisonment and events concerning the family during and after the war. Camp life grew difficult as a result of pro-Japanese riots and forced loyalty oaths. Between 1942 and 1945, the U.S. government forced more than 120,000 Japanese Americans from their homes, farms, schools, jobs and businesses, in violation of their constitutional civil rights and liberties. After the attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the United States entered World War II.
Internment camps were common in many countries during World War 2, including America. The Japanese-Americans were interned out of fear from Pearl Harbor and, although the conditions weren’t terrible, the aftermath was hard to overcome. Along with the Japanese-Americans, our American soldiers were also interned in Japan, but in harsher conditions and aftermaths. The camps, no matter how unpleasant, were turning points for both internees. While reading Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki and Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, these points are obvious.
The first allusion in the Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is when they mention Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor was a U.S. naval base in Hawaii that was attacked by the Japanese in WWII. Today Pearl Harbor is now a memorial site for all the lives that were lost. This was the start of the war between the U.S. And Japan and the start of the mistaken mistrust between the U.S. And the Japanese race living in the U.S. This is shown clearly in the book when Henry the main character is hated at his school because they think he 's Japanese
Prisoners of the War of 1812 were treated differently based on what side they were on. Nations provided for their own men that were being held, such as clothing and food were needed to be proved for there own men. However, British did not like the fact of having to send money to their men for food and clothing and other necessities, because they knew that the money would end up with the opposing side for their use. British prisoners were often split up between a variety of towns of different conditions. American prisoners were crammed into very small spaces.
Comparing Billy’s experience with the treatment of POW’s on American soil allows readers to analyze the moral structure of each country. Sixteen million Americans served in World War II. Four million prisoners were shipped to the United States from 1942 through 1945. As World War II raged, Allies, such as Great Britain, were running short on space to house prisoners of war. Thousands of prisoners of war ended up in U.S. mills, farm fields, etc.
World War II was a very traumatizing time for the soldiers that fought in it. Unfortunately, the War was also a very traumatic experience for the Japanese Americans that were forced into internee camps. Key examples of those who have struggled through awful conditions are Miné Okubo and Louie Zamperini. Miné is a Japanese American artist who was forced to live in squalor conditions surrounded by armed guards. Louie is an American soldier and a previous Olympic athlete that was beaten daily and starved almost to death in prisoner of war camps.
Mary Matsuda Gruenewald tells her tale of what life was like for her family when they were sent to internment camps in her memoir “Looking like the Enemy.” The book starts when Gruenewald is sixteen years old and her family just got news that Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japan. After the bombing Gruenewald and her family life changed, they were forced to leave their home and go to internment camps meant for Japanese Americans. During the time Gruenewald was in imprisonment she dealt with the struggle for survival both physical and mental. This affected Gruenewald great that she would say to herself “Am I Japanese?
Family #19788 The memoir Looking like the Enemy, was written by Mary Matsuda Gruenewald. Set during World War II after the attack upon Pearl Harbor. The Japanese Americans living in Western part of America had a since of betrayal and fear having to evacuate their homes and enter into internment camps.
Rules: With regard to international armed conflicts, the four Geneva Conventions (GC I to IV) and Additional Protocol I and II contain various provisions specifically dealing with both of Prisoners of War, Civilians protection to prevent any kind of violations that may happen toward them. The Forth Geneva convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War has set rules governing the issue of civilians who found themselves under enemy’s possession. Article 5 of the 4th GC has identified who are protected persons with putting conditions to be considered as protected with the privileges of having the statue of protected persons at article 27 of the same convention. Third Geneva Convention in particular has recognized group of rights with regarded to POWs such as the right to be humanely treated at article 13, correspondence at article 71, the right to gain a sufficient food in quantity and quality at article 26 and the right to not be subjected to torture and question at article 17 where every prisoner of war “when questioned on the subject, is bound to give only his surname, first names and rank, date of birth, and army, regimental, personal or serial number, or failing this, equivalent information” Moreover, the use of weapons and means that have indiscriminate effects such as poisonous gas and bombs which also would aggravate the suffering recognized as prohibited to use due to the amount of damage it causes upon civilians as well as the environment
Jamie Ford's Hotel on the Corner of Bitter Sweet is a historical fiction novel that takes place during the Japanese Internment of 1942. It centers n Henry Lee, a Chinese boy living with traditional Chinese parents and trying to grow up as a typical American kid in the U.S. during World War II. When he befriends a Japanese girl in the midst of the conflict, Henry soon discovers that navigating between the borders of cultures comes with many obstacles. The novel is a painful yet beautiful commentary of the racial separation in those times, capturing the struggles of both Japanese and Chinese Americans, along with a small look into African American’s lives as well. It tells the story of the horrible camps through the eyes of a young Chinese boy, which is an interesting perspective.
This letter was another one of the corresponding messages between Miss Breed and Louise Ogawa dating back to September 27, 1942 and sent from the Santa Anita Interment Camp, a racetrack center turned Japanese relocation site during World War II (“700 S.F. Japanese Assemble”). The letter was written by Lousie Ogawa with a personal touch, a letter seemingly written by a friend for another. The purpose of her letter was to thank Miss. Breed for her interest in her life within the internment camp and from there Ogawa moves on to answering questions that were previously addressed to her in a past letter. Such as the materials provided to them within the camp, what she misses about her previous life, and her sources of entertainment within the camp.
These men made a choice either go to war or remain shameful and go to jail. “They carried their reputations. They carried the soldier’s greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing. Men killed and died because they were embarrassed not to. It was what had brought them to the war in the first place, nothing positive, no dreams of glory or honor, just to avoid the blush of dishonor” (Obrien
The purpose of prisoner of war camps is to contain captured prisoners that survived the battles. The captured prisoners were supposed to be treated well based on the standards that the Geneva Convention set for them. The Geneva Convention was hosted in Switzerland
“Dear Miss Breed: Letters from Camp”, is a collection of over 200 letters sent to Miss Clara Estelle Breed, also known as ‘Miss Breed’, from Japanese Americans imprisoned in the Japanese Interment Camps following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Prior to World War II, Miss Breed, was the supervising librarian at the East San Diego Public Library. Through this she was able to become aquatinted with many of the Nisei (second generation Japanese Americans) children within her community. When the United States made the decision to join World War II, the young Nisei children that Miss Breed had come to care for were being forced from their homes and relocated to internment camps. Outraged by the situation, Miss Breed decided to help her young friends by becoming their
Soldiers receiving a draft letter for war is typically a very hard and stressful time in their lives, especially the draft for Vietnam, the only draft America has had so far. Most of the men being drafted were young and unexperienced in war, making them hate it even more. They were taken and dropped into some of the worst circumstances the U.S. military has ever seen and expected to fight alongside people they had never even met before. As the war went on, the platoon members would bond, and have to watch their new friends get injured or die right in front of them, and wonder why they didn’t die as well. The harshness of the war made the soldiers look for any kind of escape from reality or way to make war easier, and they found drugs to be