Free Narrative Essays: Camp Algona
Camp Algona
An often forgotten aspect of the home front, the United States detained more than 400,000 Axis prisoners in rural camps during the war. According to the provisions as agreed upon by the Geneva Convention, POWs could work if they received pay and their employment did not contribute directly to the war effort. To help alleviate the severe shortage of workers in the United States, tens of thousands of the former enemy combatants labored on farms and in canneries and mills.31
In the spring of 2014, after driving my ten-year-old granddaughter, Jasmine, to an Odyssey of the Mind contest in Ames, Iowa, I returned home by way of Algona, Iowa with the objective of visiting one of Louis Sullivan’s architectural “jewel boxes,” the Henry …show more content…
Johnson recommended a visit to the Camp Algona POW Museum, commemorating Algona’s World War II prisoner of war complex. Although unaware of its hours, or even where to find it, she insisted, “As long as you’re here, you have to see it.” She strove to capture my interest by commenting on the experiences of one of her friends, who grew up on a nearby farm. During the war, her friend’s father hired prisoners from the camp to work on their farm. The individual prisoners, whom her father favored, he rehired time and again, which resulted in an affable familiarity. Neva’s friend fondly remembered teaching the prisoners the church service in English and, in turn, the prisoners teaching her the service in German. This and similar encounters initiated lifelong friendships. For decades after the conclusion of the war, Algona families and former POWs exchanged letters and trips across the Atlantic to maintain relationships nurtured in these troubled …show more content…
As a consequence, shipyards and factories either ceased operations or retooled for a peacetime consumer market, and millions of workers either returned to their former vocations or sought opportunities elsewhere. In addition, millions of service personnel returned to civilian life. Numerous veterans availed themselves of the GI Bill benefits and attended college, while others returned home and entered the labor market.
While at a family gathering, I sat down with one of my uncles, Dick Talbot. Following the usual informal discourse, he announced, “I’m going to tell you a story.” Always interested in an amusing anecdote, I leaned forward to avoid missing the details. Dick, in his eighties, spoke softer than he had in the past. None of the deficiency, I attributed to the listener’s loss of
An often forgotten aspect of the home front, the United States detained more than 400,000 Axis prisoners in rural camps during the war. According to the provisions as agreed upon by the Geneva Convention, POWs could work if they received pay and their employment did not contribute directly to the war effort. To help alleviate the severe shortage of workers in the United States, tens of thousands of the former enemy combatants labored on farms and in canneries and mills.31
In the spring of 2014, after driving my ten-year-old granddaughter, Jasmine, to an Odyssey of the Mind contest in Ames, Iowa, I returned home by way of Algona, Iowa with the objective of visiting one of Louis Sullivan’s architectural “jewel boxes,” the Henry …show more content…
Johnson recommended a visit to the Camp Algona POW Museum, commemorating Algona’s World War II prisoner of war complex. Although unaware of its hours, or even where to find it, she insisted, “As long as you’re here, you have to see it.” She strove to capture my interest by commenting on the experiences of one of her friends, who grew up on a nearby farm. During the war, her friend’s father hired prisoners from the camp to work on their farm. The individual prisoners, whom her father favored, he rehired time and again, which resulted in an affable familiarity. Neva’s friend fondly remembered teaching the prisoners the church service in English and, in turn, the prisoners teaching her the service in German. This and similar encounters initiated lifelong friendships. For decades after the conclusion of the war, Algona families and former POWs exchanged letters and trips across the Atlantic to maintain relationships nurtured in these troubled …show more content…
As a consequence, shipyards and factories either ceased operations or retooled for a peacetime consumer market, and millions of workers either returned to their former vocations or sought opportunities elsewhere. In addition, millions of service personnel returned to civilian life. Numerous veterans availed themselves of the GI Bill benefits and attended college, while others returned home and entered the labor market.
While at a family gathering, I sat down with one of my uncles, Dick Talbot. Following the usual informal discourse, he announced, “I’m going to tell you a story.” Always interested in an amusing anecdote, I leaned forward to avoid missing the details. Dick, in his eighties, spoke softer than he had in the past. None of the deficiency, I attributed to the listener’s loss of