GRAND RKeynoteUSAIDS, Mich. (WOOD) – More than 16 million Americans served in the armed forces during World War II, and more than 400,000 made the ultimate sacrifice, but virtually all made some kind of sacrifice for the war effort.
Almost everything was on the limit. The federal government even established a rationing system for food, metals, and paper to ensure the military had what they needed to win the fight.
Scarce resources spread across all facets of society, even something as simple as labor. With so many men fighting in the war, many American businesses and farms were struggling to stay afloat.
But one American military leader came up with a solution that helped alleviate internal problems, took a task off the front lines, and even managed to follow international laws set by the Geneva Conventions.
The answer? Prisoners of war.
Between 1943 and 1946, more than 400,000 prisoners of war were brought to the United States to be housed in camps. George C. Marshall, then the Army chief of staff, developed the idea.
An old display commemorating Camp Lakewood on Lake Allegan still stands next to the road on 42nd Street. (Matt Jaworowski/WOOD TV8)
“When we achieved victory in North Africa, we had more than 200,000 prisoners, Germans and Italians. What are we going to do with them? historian and Mercy professor at the University of Detroit Gregory Sumner told News 8. “Marshall said, ‘Let’s load these guys up in the desert, get them out of their stockades, put them on ships and send them back to the U.S. where we have the resources and facilities to take care of them.’ “
He had noticed that the supply ships that transported everything from the states to the war zone arrived full but returned empty. And maintaining prisoner-of-war camps near the front lines sapped already scarce resources.
Hollywood Before Hollywood: How Muskegon Became the Home of Vaudeville Stars
Camps quickly sprang up across the country, including 32 in Michigan. Some were temporary tent camps. Others were repurposed buildings, such as the Civilian Conservation Corps facility on Allegan Lake, which was built to house people hired for federal work projects. Military outposts were also used, including Fort Custer near Battle Creek.
Several camps were spread throughout western Michigan, including Benton Harbor, Coloma, Fremont, Grant, Hart, Lake Odessa, Mattawan, and Sparta.
–PHOTOS FROM CAMP SPARTA–
FOLLOWING GENEVA
International laws established during the previous Geneva Conventions detailed what countries could and could not do with prisoners of war. When the Americans took in their first prisoners of war, there were many problems.
Michigan is known for copper and iron mining, but there is also gold
One prisoner of war told Sumner that when they were first captured, they were forced to throw all their valuables on the ground so American soldiers could go through them and take what they wanted. Another told of a guard who traded scraps of food for jewelry and other valuables.
in his book “Michigan Prisoner of War Camps in World War II” Sumner wrote about a prisoner of war named Antonino Mineo who told him that the first camps in North Africa were nothing to write home about.
“We saw the bad Americans on that field,” Mineo recalled. “We didn’t see the good Americans until we got on the ship.”
As the POW effort expanded, General Dwight Eisenhower used the chain of command to ensure the camps followed the Geneva Conventions and distributed pamphlets detailing how soldiers would be treated if they surrendered to the Allies.
“The soldier carrying this (flyer) uses it as a sign of his genuine desire to surrender. He must be disarmed, well cared for, given food and medical attention as necessary and removed from the danger zone as soon as possible,” he reads.
1883: The traffic jam that almost sank Furniture City
Those patterns continued in the United States. In addition to housing, each camp had to have an infirmary, a dining room, and a recreation room. Additionally, soldiers could not be forced to work (slave labor is prohibited) and could only work six days a week and no more than 10 hours a day.
However, most prisoners of war volunteered to work. Sumner said it was partly to kill time but also to earn extra “money” to buy things at the camp store.
“They were supposed to receive compensation similar to what a private in the U.S. Army would earn, so they earned up to 80 cents a day,” Sumner explained. “They were not paid in cash. They were given these coupons or vouchers so they could spend. “Each camp had a little PX or a little store and they could buy writing paper, Hershey bars, Coca-Cola and cigarettes.”
“When you think about other countries in World War II, they used slave labor. They were just brutal. “I think it is a merit (for our country) that we have followed (the Geneva Conventions), that they have been paid.”
GOING TO WORK
Michigan was no different from the rest of the country. Many businesses and farms desperately needed help. Help came in the fall of 1943, when the first trainload of prisoners of war arrived from Fort Grant in Illinois.
Pilot programs were launched in Benton Harbor and Caro to see how POWs would handle the work. Both were quickly considered a success and the War Department allowed the experiment to expand.
An article in the August 17, 1945 edition of the Grand Rapids Press reports on the opening of another prisoner of war camp in western Michigan. (Courtesy of NewsBank/The Grand Rapids Press)
Wearing their newly issued jumpsuits, emblazoned with the word “PW” in bright white paint, the prisoners set to work across western Michigan. Most worked on farms and helped finish crops that would otherwise have rotted. Others were used for factory jobs, including at Gerber’s baby food manufacturing plant in Fremont.
“Fruit belt workers worked in the orchards of western Michigan. In central Michigan, they were digging up sugar beets. In (the Upper Peninsula), they did lumber and pulpwood and all that,” Sumner said.
“These guys came at a very crucial time in Michigan. “I spoke to several people who said that many apricots, apples, peaches and cherries would have simply rotted in the fields or on the trees if we had not had this type of infusion from outside workers.”
The Nelson: 125 years later, one of Lake Superior’s darkest tales is retold
While there were rules against “fraternizing with the enemy,” most employers welcomed the extra hands and quickly connected with the POWs, offering them extra food and other treats while they were at work. Others, especially those of German or Italian descent, were united by the subtle similarities between the prisoners of war and their families who immigrated to the United States. This summed up the surprisingly relaxed atmosphere that reigned in the fields.
“Overall, these guys behaved well. They were enduring the war. They missed their families more than anything,” Sumner said.
Over time, having German and Italian soldiers around at the height of the war became second nature.
Wrote Sumner: “Prisoners of war became a common sight as they traveled to and from the (camps) each workday.”
This is the first part of a five-part series on the history of World War II prisoner of war camps in Michigan. A new story will be published every Sunday.
Keynote USA
For the Latest Local News, Follow Keynote USA Local on Twitter.