During World War II, many Georgians witnessed the enemy in their backyards. More than twelve thousand German and Italian prisoners captured in far-off battlefields were sent to POW camps in Georgia. With large base camps located from Camp Wheeler in Macon and Camp Stewart in Savannah to smaller camps throughout the state, prisoner reeducation and work programs evoked different reactions to the enemy. There was even a POW work detail of forty German soldiers at Augusta National Golf Course, which was changed from a temporary cow pasture to the splendid golf course we know today. Join author and historian Dr. Kathryn Roe Coker and coauthor Jason Wetzel as they explore the daily lives of POWs in Georgia and the lasting impact they had on the Peach State.

Georgia POW Camps in World War II (Military)

History

Coker, Dr. Kathryn Roe

Wetzel, Jason

Americas

The History Press

Tour the camps, learn stories of the daily lives of the POWs, and discover the impact they had on the Old Dominion. 
During World War II, Virginians watched as German and Italian prisoners invaded the Old Dominion. At least 17,000 Germans and countless Italians lived in over twenty camps across the state and worked on five military installations. Farmers hired POWs to pick apples. Fertilizer companies, lumber yards, and hospitals hired them. At first a phenomenon of war in Virginia's backyard, these former enemy combatants became familiar to many--often developing a rapport with their employers. Among them were die-hired Nazis and Fascists, but they benefited from double standards that placed them in better jobs and conditions than African Americans. 
Historians Kathryn Coker and Jason Wetzel tell a different story of the Old Dominion at War.

Virginia POW Camps in World War II (Military)

Product Description 
During World War II, many Georgians witnessed the enemy in their backyards. More than twelve thousand German and Italian prisoners captured in far-off battlefields were sent to POW camps in Georgia. With large base camps located from Camp Wheeler in Macon and Camp Stewart in Savannah to smaller camps throughout the state, prisoner reeducation and work programs evoked different reactions to the enemy. There was even a POW work detail of forty German soldiers at Augusta National Golf Course, which was changed from a temporary cow pasture to the splendid golf course we know today. Join author and historian Dr. Kathryn Roe Coker and coauthor Jason Wetzel as they explore the daily lives of POWs in Georgia and the lasting impact they had on the Peach State. 
 Review 
"Coker and Wetzel have written an informative, thoughtful, and comprehensive book. They tell of varied aspects at numerous camps throughout Georgia. Most telling however, is a quotation from a camp guard, who learned that these prisoners were people, not monsters. He said, "...once you got to know them, they're people, just like you and me." 
 Decatur Daily \n"What Wetzel and Dr. Coker hope to share is not for history and WWII buffs alone. It�s a story of mercy, one that shows the prevalence of human connectivity during one of the most horrific chapters in human history. He plans to tour the state, presenting at historical societies, libraries, and bookstores. Locally, he will be presenting for the Gwinnett County Historical Society on Sept. 16, 2019. The event will take place at the Historical Society's meeting room in the historic courthouse located at 185 W. Crogan Street in Lawrenceville." 
 Gwinnett Citizen

Georgia POW Camps in World War II

Coker

History Press Library Editions

"How is history useful for an operational commander or to soldiers in general? What role does history have for doctrine and training to the U.S. Army as an institution? These are questions this book answers as the authors narrate the development combat historian and the evolving role of combat historians as they develop history into a useful tool for informing training, operations, and doctrine development."--New York Journal of Books In World War I, Major General Pershing proposed the idea of establishing a historical office within the AEF headquarters. The War Department reorganized the General Staff to include a Historical Branch. Evidence shows that soldiers acting as historians went "down range," albeit not into combat. By World War II, the situation had changed--whether S.L.A. Marshall's popping out of a billet in Sibret as a shells exploded on the road; Forrest Pogue's typing "on a little camp desk under an apple tree;" Chester Starr's terrain reconnaissance in the Mediterranean theater, or Ken Hechler's command of a four-man historical team interviewing soldiers at the Remagen Bridge and searching through secret documents--the World War II combat historians were there behind and on the front lines with a notebook in one hand and their carbine in the other hand, ever ready to collect battlefield information.Eight historical service detachments were deployed to Korea. The youngest commander, 1st Lieutenant Bevin Alexander, noted "We were on the front lines the whole time . . . We would interview the people afterwards and create a battle study...." After the Korean War, the duties of the combat historian further evolved as what became the Center of Military History published doctrine about military history detachments (MHDs). As America's immersion in Vietnam escalated, there was concern regarding historical coverage. Chief of Military History Brigadier General Hal Pattison established a network of historical teams to collect information on the U.S Army in the war. A major development in the history program and in deploying MHDs came with the establishment of Headquarters, U.S. Army Vietnam (USARV) under General William C. Westmoreland's command. In 1965, the history office was organized at Headquarters, U.S. Army Vietnam (USARV). MHDs were deployed across Vietnam, conducting combat after action interviews, and collecting documents. This study focuses on U.S. Army historical programs during combat operations from World War I to the Vietnam War with particular attention on the combat historians, those individuals deployed to a theater of war with the mission of documenting the actions of that theater for current and future historical use.

The U.S. Army Combat Historian and Combat History Operations: World War I to the Vietnam War

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

Casemate

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