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Survivor of German POW Camps

Henry0ReillyHenry0Reilly Member Posts: 10,878 ✭✭✭
edited February 2008 in General Discussion
I met a man who survived being a POW in Germany. This member of the greatest generation is 84 years old. In 2000 he recorded the story of his POW experience in writing and donated two copies of the "book" to our local library. It was painstakingly typed out manually and then copied.

I spent the last six hours typing it into a Word document which I plan to present to him on disk. He balked at my suggestion that he might wish to seek to have it formally published but surely this first hand account deserves more recognition than our local library.
I used to recruit for the NRA until they sold us down the river (again!) in Heller v. DC. See my auctions (if any) under username henryreilly
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    dan kellydan kelly Member Posts: 9,799
    edited November -1
    its a good thing your doing henry, go for it, and all the luck in the world to you!!.
    too much history is lost and no-one cares until it is too damn late!
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    Mk 19Mk 19 Member Posts: 8,170
    edited November -1
    His story needs to be told, what your doing is very honorable and I would love to see it published.
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    180A180A Member Posts: 828 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    That's great, Henty --
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    gearheaddadgearheaddad Member Posts: 15,096 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I work with a guy, who's father was a German POW for 2 1/2 years! He died about 10 years ago or so. He was one of the nicest men I have ever met. He very seldom ever talked about that time when he was alive. After he died, the family found out what he was entitled to and never asked for or recieved from the government. Like, College tuition for him and his children, free license plates for life, etc etc!!
    The only thing he ever told his family, was he could tell the war was going badly for the Nazi's because the guards kept getting replaced with younger and younger, dumber, and dumber guards as the "trained soldiers" were being sent to the "line" to fight!
    I have nothing but respect for those people who served and went through the hell most of us will never experience.
    You're doing a great thing Henry. Keep it up!!
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    p3skykingp3skyking Member Posts: 25,750 ✭
    edited November -1
    Not to downplay his captivity, but for the people who don't know history very well, German POW camps for allied prisoners are in no way the same as the concentration camps for political undesirables. The Germans did honor the Geneva Convention for Enemy Combatants for the most part.

    Henry, you are doing something really good. [:)]
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    gearheaddadgearheaddad Member Posts: 15,096 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by p3skyking
    Not to downplay his captivity, but for the people who don't know history very well, German POW camps for allied prisoners are in no way the same as the concentration camps for political undesirables. The Germans did honor the Geneva Convention for Enemy Combatants for the most part.

    Henry, you are doing something really good. [:)]

    You are absolutely correct!
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    Henry0ReillyHenry0Reilly Member Posts: 10,878 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by p3skyking
    Not to downplay his captivity, but for the people who don't know history very well, German POW camps for allied prisoners are in no way the same as the concentration camps for political undesirables. The Germans did honor the Geneva Convention for Enemy Combatants for the most part.

    Henry, you are doing something really good. [:)]


    You're right that they're not the same but I've read Night by Eli Wiesel a couple times and the treatment of the POWs taken in the last few months (which includes this gentleman) was very little better than that of the Jews. Many died from the poor conditions. He did mention in his story that POWs who had been there longer seemed to receive their Red Cross packages regularly but that his group only saw them once in the six months he was a prisoner.
    I used to recruit for the NRA until they sold us down the river (again!) in Heller v. DC. See my auctions (if any) under username henryreilly
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    WWII_EnthusiastWWII_Enthusiast Member Posts: 147 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    i would buy this in a minute if it was published. Or could I just send money to the gentleman and get a copy?
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    Horse Plains DrifterHorse Plains Drifter Forums Admins, Member, Moderator Posts: 39,382 ***** Forums Admin
    edited November -1
    Swell Henry, I would love to read it.
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    Henry0ReillyHenry0Reilly Member Posts: 10,878 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by WWII_Enthusiast
    i would buy this in a minute if it was published. Or could I just send money to the gentleman and get a copy?


    Drop me an email through the forum. I will ask him next week at the meeting.
    I used to recruit for the NRA until they sold us down the river (again!) in Heller v. DC. See my auctions (if any) under username henryreilly
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    p3skykingp3skyking Member Posts: 25,750 ✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by Henry0Reilly
    quote:Originally posted by WWII_Enthusiast
    i would buy this in a minute if it was published. Or could I just send money to the gentleman and get a copy?


    Drop me an email through the forum. I will ask him next week at the meeting.




    Make it two Henry. [8D]
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    GuvamintCheeseGuvamintCheese Member Posts: 38,932
    edited November -1
    Go Henry!
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    Henry0ReillyHenry0Reilly Member Posts: 10,878 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    re: copies for sale.

    I feel pretty darn sure this man won't want to accept any money for copies of this but I will suggest to him that we offer it in Word format here at GB and perhaps other places online with the proceeds to our local DAV or VFW or maybe the Hoosier Veterans Assistance Foundation.
    I used to recruit for the NRA until they sold us down the river (again!) in Heller v. DC. See my auctions (if any) under username henryreilly
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    zipperzapzipperzap Member Posts: 25,057
    edited November -1
    Lived next to a guy (12 years) who spent the entire war in a Jap slave labor coal mine - he only related his experiences for one day (we were building a common fence together) - RW Wheatly, captured at Corregidor - I wish he would have written a book - it would have been an absolute whopper! I even offered to ghost write it for him - no go - sadly, he was a good judge of 'literary skill,' I suppose.
    [:(]
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    He DogHe Dog Member Posts: 50,956 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    In point of fact some allied POWs were placed in concentration camps. The British soldier portrayed by Steve McQueen in the Great Escape died this week. In addition to several POW camps, he was kept in three concentration camps and was released from Sachsenhausen when the allies took the camp. He attempted 11 escapes, accomplished 2 and was recaptured both times.
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    Jeepgod2002Jeepgod2002 Member Posts: 824 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    My grandfather was a WWII POW and did the same with his war story, which I have saved as a word document. He never really talked about it much until he started going to POW reunuions. He is still very active and deer/turkey hunts every chance he gets. If anyone would like a copy of the story to read, feel free to send me an email.
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    utbrowningmanutbrowningman Member Posts: 2,723 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I would really like to read this account. I've always been a WWII reader since I was a little kid (1970s).
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    redneckandyredneckandy Member Posts: 9,686 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    A good book I found is called Barbed-Wire Surgeon by Alfred Weinstein printed in 1948. The author was an Army doctor captured in the Phillippines and spent three and a half years as a Japanese prisoner. If you can find a copy I would suggest it for anybody interested in WW2.
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    WarbirdsWarbirds Member Posts: 16,839 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Why not just scan and convert straight to PDF?

    You may also be able to petition a university (or 50 if you had too), and have a ISBN number assigned to it.


    ******************************************************************
    I'm sorry, thank your new friend for the sacrifices he made, and assist him as best you can. Thank you for helping him out, it is very generous of you. I just left work and my brain wasn't quite in the right place on my first response.
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    FatstratFatstrat Member Posts: 9,147
    edited November -1
    That's how "With the Old Breed at Pelelu and Okinawa" by Eugene Sledge came to be.
    His family encouraged him to write down his WW-2 experiences. Which he did so well that they insisted he publish them.
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