Nashville: About 400 letters found in cereal box tell story of WWII German POWs in Tenn.

Aug 6

Posted by

STORIES TO REMEMBER….

Letters found in cereal box tell story of WWII POWs in Tenn.

Adam Tamburin, The (Nashville) Tennessean8:49 a.m. EDT July 12, 2015

(…)

About 400 letters, stuffed inside an old Corn Flakes box, recall the experiences of some of the tens of thousands of prisoners of war who were sent to Tennessee during World War II.

In the late 1980s, Curtis Peters’ sister-in-law in Lawrenceburg found the letters — all from German men who were held at a prison camp near Tennessee’s southern border. The local history buff instantly recognized their significance.

After returning to Germany, the former soldiers wrote back to people they met as POWs with striking affection, sometimes referring to the Tennesseans as “Uncle and Aunt.”

View original post 842 more words

About GP

Everett Smith served with the Headquarters Company, 187th Regiment, 11th A/B Division during WWII. This site is in tribute to my father, "Smitty." GP is a member of the 11th Airborne Association. Member # 4511 and extremely proud of that fact!

Posted on August 6, 2015, in First-hand Accounts, WWII and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. 72 Comments.

  1. Mrs. American Patriot | August 12, 2015 at 8:59 PM

    My husband tells me that the same thing happened in Maine. The prisoners helped on the farms. Some of them stayed here or came back.

    Like

    Reply
  2. Bruce | August 11, 2015 at 8:13 AM

    My state had a number of pow camps for Germans. One of these days I’m going to get around to reading the book on it.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  3. The Emu | August 8, 2015 at 6:03 AM

    An extraordinary find, fantastic. It is wonderful to read first hand the relationships that formed during these dark times.
    An historical war find that gives much personal insight into the lives of those POW’s involved.
    A fascinating reading.

    Thanks gp.

    Like

    Reply
  4. Mustang.Koji | August 8, 2015 at 1:39 AM

    What a fascinating read, gpcox. Treasures do survive, don’t they? I wonder how many were able to come back to the states and visit…

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  5. maggie0019 | August 7, 2015 at 8:12 PM

    omg. to find such a treasure! Jamie and I were just talking about the war and Guadalcanal (of all things!) today. Naturally, I thought of you. And I agree with “suchled”. Woof! Incorporate this into schools. Your blog is much better than dry history books.

    Like

    Reply
  6. suchled | August 7, 2015 at 6:27 AM

    GP, Where on earth do you get all this stuff? By the time you finish I reckon your blog should be printed and published and made compulsory reading for all year 9 and 10 students in every bloody school in Australia and America and Japan and Germany and where ever..

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  7. This British-American Life | August 6, 2015 at 4:18 PM

    What a fantastic find! I knew of German POWs keeping in touch with people in Texas, but I never knew of anyone in Tennessee. I wonder what else we will find down the line?

    Like

    Reply
  8. warturoadam77p | August 6, 2015 at 4:09 PM

    People can get along when ideologies, politics, and religious extremism don’t get in the way.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  9. Sammy D. | August 6, 2015 at 3:33 PM

    What a wonderful story to counteract the horrific ones that occurred far more often. This is what can happen when human-to-human contact is ruled by a moral compass. So heartwarming to hear about this.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  10. Aviationtrails | August 6, 2015 at 3:30 PM

    Fascinating how these things were just stuffed in a box all this time. How many more records like this are in the same situation.!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  11. TX Wordweaver | August 6, 2015 at 2:47 PM

    Love to hear stories that show the best side of mankind.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  12. ibdesignsusa | August 6, 2015 at 12:45 PM

    I really enjoyed hearing about them finding the letters and a insight into their lives. Very interesting, Everett!

    Like

    Reply
  13. Glazed | August 6, 2015 at 12:33 PM

    Interesting. It leaves me wondering why we’ve chosen to keep prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, at such great cost. Maybe if they were stateside, and interacted with us, like German POW’s did, they’d develop a similar better impression of Americans.

    Like

    Reply
    • GP Cox | August 6, 2015 at 1:32 PM

      Do you really believe that of people who hate anyone not Muslim? How would they get to know America when they’re in prison here, the convicts are different? Sorry, but I know I don’t want them living next door to me.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      • Glazed | August 6, 2015 at 1:54 PM

        Yep. I believe that of anyone. Separation breeds sterotypes, suspicion, and hatred. It’s only when people interact that they discover how much they have in common. The German POWs were able to mingle with the local community to a limited degree. Why not do something like that now? It can be done again, with similar success, in my view.

        Like

        Reply
      • sheridegrom - From the literary and legislative trenches. | August 9, 2015 at 5:27 PM

        I so-o agree with you on this, G.P. We have square miles of large cities being renovated and then filled with Muslims coming into this country. Soon we will have the same problems as Paris and London. The police will not be able to patrol parts of their own cities. The housing is considered section 8 and the real estate tycoons are making millions with an instant occupancy. I for one am not willing to mingle.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply
        • GP Cox | August 10, 2015 at 5:38 AM

          People these days can’t wait to get into this country and then they proceed to change it. I’m beginning to feel good about being older – I won’t have to worry about it as long as most do. The US has been put on a slippery slope and the situation has turned into a landslide.
          I just learned that the US feeds over 80 million people around the world in the World Food fund alone – and does anyone like us anymore for that? NO

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply
          • sheridegrom - From the literary and legislative trenches. | August 11, 2015 at 7:15 PM

            I wasn’t aware of how many people we fed via the World Food fund . . . the numbers are shocking. You are right . . . most of them don’t like us. I don’t remember which Republican candidate made the statement last Thu but he was prepared to stop all foreign aid on borrowed money. I remember not wanting the individual for my President but I do support the idea he set forth. We have children and the elderly here at home that go to bed hungry every night, not to mention the homeless veterans on the streets of every city.

            Like

            Reply
  14. beetleypete | August 6, 2015 at 11:54 AM

    It does show how many ordinary people would have led very similar lives, had it not been for the war. many Germans remained here after the war ended, with lots of them even marrying local women. They were also generally well-received as farm labourers, and often helped out around the towns and villages close to the camps.
    Perhaps the most famous was Bert Trautmann, a POW who married an English girl, and went on to become the famous goalkeeper for Manchester City Football Club. Here’s an obituary,
    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/bert-trautmann-obituaryfootballer-who-overcame-prejudice-and-went-on-to-play-with-a-broken-neck-in-the-fa-cup-final-8721156.html
    Best wishes, Pete.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  15. chmjr2 | August 6, 2015 at 10:45 AM

    Thanks for posting this on your blog. I would never had seen it otherwise. Also those letters were a great find for the human side of the World War Two story.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • GP Cox | August 6, 2015 at 1:18 PM

      So true. Just how many wars do you think we’d have if it was up to the ordinary working people? I remember the movie, “The Russians are coming! The Russians Are Coming!” everyone ended up working together in the end.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      • chmjr2 | August 6, 2015 at 2:39 PM

        I always liked this quote.
        “If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each person’s life
        sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.”
        Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

        To answer your question we would fight very few and then limited wars if it was up to us ordinary working people.

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply
  17. Pit | August 6, 2015 at 9:45 AM

    Thanks for haring that information, which is of special interest to me as a German, albeit post-WWII.
    Habe a great day,
    Pit

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  1. Pingback: Nashville: About 400 letters found in cereal box tell story of WWII German POWs in Tenn. – Patriot Warrior

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.