Worth the Wait!

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You may remember earlier this fall I went to Camp Atterbury, near Columbus, Indiana, for a look at the history of POW camps on U.S. soil during World War II. The museum was closed on the day I was there. Well, today I returned, and it was worth the wait. The museum is a fascinating look at the Army from the perspective of Camp Atterbury’s soldiers and participation. As the camp was built in 1942, the starting point is World War II, although Army uniforms that predate that war are on display. There are segments devoted to the major battalions that trained for combat during WWII, including an all-Black “Buffalo Soldiers” (that name came from Native Americans for the Black soldiers in the Army during the 19th century) detachment. Various artifacts from area veterans are displayed, such as dog tags, uniforms, and medals. My primary interest, of course, was the history of the post as a POW camp. Luckily, the Public Affairs Officer came into the museum while I was there, and we spent a good ten minutes talking about that aspect of the camp’s history. In my earlier visit I took a photo of the chapel, which was built by the Italian POWs for their worship services (with the full blessing of the base commander and chaplain). When Italy surrendered in 1944, the Italian POWs were repatriated (although a number of them didn’t want to be) and the area became home for German prisoners. The PAO explained to me that the German POWs were interviewed before being assigned to a prisoner camp. Apparently there were “factions” in the German army, with the “regular soldiers” and the “hardcore Nazi troops” being at odds with each other. As such, the Nazis were put in separate camps, away from the “regular” soldiers. There was something similar among the Italian prisoners: there were fascist soldiers loyal to Mussolini, and there were soldiers loyal to the Italian king Victor Emmanuel III. A hand-painted Italian flag is on display with the royal emblem, which caused a fight between the two factions. In addition to this superb information, the Camp’s role in keeping America free and safe since World War II is also displayed, with areas devoted to Korea, Vietnam, the Cold War (it’s always nostalgic to see a “fallout shelter” sign ), Desert Storm, and the War on Terror. Included are mementos that soldiers gathered (such as a German Navy vessel flag, money from Germany, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Kuwait, “safe passage” cards for enemy soldiers who wanted to surrender, and even a Diet Pepsi can with Arabic writing on it) during their deployments. Small museums like this are usually where you can find a treasure trove of “forgotten history.” What a great trip through the history of wars, as seen by one camp in Indiana!