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Rights as a POW

Discussion in 'Military Training, Doctrine, and Planning' started by BishopTS, May 3, 2010.

  1. Victor Gomez

    Victor Gomez Ace

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    Clementine, I am a great deal like you in not understanding war and the mistreatment of prisoners and I will always recall what a B-17 navigator told me about his imprisonment in Germany when his plane was shot down. They, upon occasion received the red cross shipments where they would get some foods in tins. Those tins were carefully crafted into small stoves and became the "only" way they could heat and cook some of their own food. He described how skinny he became on the meager diet but the Allied prisoners became expert craftsmen with the Red Cross tins to make many of the necessities for survival. Without their ingenuity many more would have suffered from the lack of an appropriate amount of food. Most of his imprisonment he was thankful for having suffered less than most and made a joke of the men thinking for once more of food than of women..... in this period of time.
     
  2. brndirt1

    brndirt1 Saddle Tramp

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    I think Lou makes a valid point as to "when" the decent treatment of prisoners came to the fore, during the "years of knighthood" and such, a captured person of standing would be held for ransom. Returning him in good condition was of financial benefit. Of course it wasn't until much later that the "decent treatment" was extended down in the ranks to the "common foot soldier".

    But I wouldn't doubt that the "civil" treatment of prisoners started at that time. Even the exchange of POWs continued well into WW2 on the western front. I have seen a video clip of Americans and Germans being exchanged on some ETO front under the watchful eyes of the Red Cross. It wasn't a straight up "one for one" either, officers of different ranks were "worth" a set number of enlisted men, only the enlisted were 1:1.
     
  3. Clementine

    Clementine Member

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    You hear or read or see movies/shows about POWs, so the message is not new, but I am reading about the USS Houston survivors and how they were taken to camps and made to build the railroad "in the jungle of the Kwai" and I was just reading a description of how one of the men dropped to 80 pounds because of illness and lack of food (one of many described atrocities) and it just never gets any less shocking. How does a person survive such a thing? It's amazing.

    Yes, I guess in the hierarchy of needs......

    (And just a Trek note: I do remember seeing the episode with Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Pike - and The Trouble With Tribbles. It must have aired in syndication, because it was after the show originally aired and I was surprised Kirk was not the original captain. My older brother was a great fan of the original series, although now I think of it, he was pretty young when it aired and I am surprised our older siblings let him watch it, and my knowledge of the show came from his knowledge of the show.)
     
  4. Spartanroller

    Spartanroller Ace

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    brndirt1 likes this.
  5. Clementine

    Clementine Member

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    Excellent. Thank you.
     
  6. Spartanroller

    Spartanroller Ace

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    A
     
  7. Spartanroller

    Spartanroller Ace

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    As another aspect which I hope won't lead to this thread being totally hijacked - the concept of actual treatment of POWs and the idealogical or religious concepts of how they should be treated often don't match up, and it is more often to do with either military/economic necessity, chaotic circumstance or general indifference.

    The theoretical Islamic view is possibly going to stir up some controversy here by the less cosmopolitan, but I think it makes a good case study for other attitudes about POW treatment worldwide and how the reality has often not matched the policy, despite the wishes of many involved;

    Islam Question and Answer - Treatment of prisoners-of-war in Islam
    http://www.ummah.com/forum/showthre...tment-of-Prisoners-of-War-According-to-Islaam

    Please, please don't anyone start an anti Islam rant because of this :)

    and sorry it's quite a bit of reading, but I think worth it.
     
  8. bigdunc

    bigdunc Member

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    I'd guess that the treatment of POWs in WW2 depended on the theater and the enemy.In late 1942 a British officer and the heir to the Players cigarette fortune was captured by the Germans in North Africa. They offered to release him in exchange for 1,000,000 Players cigarettes.The British talked the Germans down to 500,000 cigarettes,but the officer refused to be released,saying that he was worth at least a million cigarettes!!
     
  9. Skipper

    Skipper Kommodore

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  10. Spartanroller

    Spartanroller Ace

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    I'd love to find out what happened in the end there - will have a look later - after all that is essentially treason, or at least dereliction of duty! A captured officer's duty is to do all reasonable in their power to escape or have their release secured - especially considering he would profit personally from the deal. Nice story - never heard it before, thanks :)
     

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