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Reflection on Future of American POWs

Researching this particular portion of the blog was extremely difficult. It is extremely hard to say how warfare and the prisoners that come along with it will change over time. A large component of this portion of the blog involved politics today. This is because world leaders are currently discussing the recovery of American remains, and even the remains of POWs who were kept after the war had ended. In the future, Americans will continue to build monuments to remember the men and women who died, but also the lesser known soldiers who endured captivity. The United States will continue to evolve its armies to ensure that as few Americans as possible will have to endure the horrific reality of being captured by the enemy. I was struck with a great sense of patriotism as I read about not only the soldiers who fight and will continue to fight to recover their comrades, but politicians who negotiate to recover Americans who some would claim are no longer relevant. Being an American Prisoner of War will surely change with our nation’s future war. But one thing will not change: the brave Americans at home who fight to bring home our soldiers.

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Above is an image of supposed American POWs in Korea. America’s forgotten war still remains relevant in today’s international politics. 

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North Koreans return the remains of US service members who died in Korea.

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Future of American POWs

America’s wars will continue to evolve. There will always be the threat of terrorists and other guerillas who fight fiercely and torture any Americans they capture. No one can anticipate change in warfare, and with the unpredictable changes comes the uncertainty facing our soldiers that are captured. Americans don’t forget her soldiers who have went missing and who were captured. Many monuments adorn our nation’s capital remembering those fallen, counting those killed at the hands of the enemy in captivity. However more recently, the U.S. has begun work in Vietnam to recover the remains of those killed while serving. President Trump is pushing peace talks with North Korea more recently, including provisions to recover the remains of those killed in the Korean War. Maybe, excavators will find the remains of soldiers thought to be killed who endured months or even years of harsh torture at the hands of the Vietnamese and Koreans. Hopefully our American heroes will be recovered and laid to rest. However, as recently as 2016, controversies have come to light relating to American POWs in Vietnam. Several sources have claimed that Americans were held after the end of the war in Vietnam, and even shipped to the Soviet Union. These issues are defining characteristics of the political arena regarding diplomatic relations with countries we were once in heavily armed conflict with, especially North Korea and Vietnam. Many veterans and groups say we should not resume diplomatic relations with these countries until the status of every American POW is resolved. Regardless, the future shows only more conspiracies and political backlash concerning the detainment of America’s brave soldiers by her enemies.  

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The Korean War Memorial in Washington D.C.

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The United States is attempting to recover remains of American soldiers killed in Vietnam today.

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American POWs Today Reflection

While compiling my information for the particular topic of American POWs today, I was surprised by the low numbers of prisoners taken. Many prisoners taken in Vietnam were highly educated and skilled officers and aircrew in the Navy and Air Force, as opposed to enlisted personnel captured in both World Wars. These men however were no less brave than the servicemen and women who served under them. Also, I was amazed by the bravery of Americans who fought to recover their fellow soldiers. An entire operation was launched to recover Jessica Lynch, as well as other soldiers captured along with her. 6 men died while looking for Bowe Bergdahl. They gave their lives to save Bowe, even though many people alleged that Bergdahl deserted, causing the needless deaths. Regardless, I learned although there are less Americans captured today than in the past, the resolve of their fellow soldiers to rescue them has not diminished one bit.

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American POWs Today Sources

https://www.cmrlink.org/issues/full/what-really-happened-to-jessica-lynch

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/john-mccain-pow/story?id=32574863

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/05/why-there-are-so-few-pows-from-todays-wars/371951/

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American POWs Today

Today’s warfare is much different than what it was 50, 100, or 200 years ago.  Battles were more often fought on extremely large scales and many prisoners were taken. Soldiers were treated with a greater amount of respect by their fellow soldiers. Although specific instances of mistreatment were easy to find, many American POWs were treated well by their captors in the Civil War, and both World Wars. However, like everything in our world, war is changing rapidly. Vietnam and Korea were fought because of economic and political reasons. The War on Terror today in the Middle East is fought because of our religion. The Vietcong, North Koreans, Iraqis, and ISIS fight to drive out Americans from their homelands’ because they are considered, “invaders” and “infidels.” Americans are or were viewed with hatred because of our capitalist beliefs and ideas of religious freedom. So, when Americans are captured today, they are tortured and abused by their enemies. Senator John McCain was captured by Vietnamese forces after being shot down. He was bayoneted, beat, and put in solitary confinement for years before his release. He could not raise either arm above the shoulder for the rest of his life as a result of his torture. Private Jessica Lynch was captured in the invasion of Iraq in 2003. She was raped and humiliated by Iraqis before being rescued by US forces. The point with both of these American heroes is that only 2,500 Americans were captured in Vietnam, and only 10 in Iraq and Afghanistan. These numbers pale to the 130,201 captured in World War 2. America’s enemies have much more time to devote to mistreating our soldiers, sailors, and airmen due to the low numbers captured. There is a reasoning behind the low numbers captured in modern wars. America’s soldiers today are very well trained. They know how to evade capture, but also how to prevent being put in that situation in the first place. Also, with the improvement of American troops over the years, America’s enemies in general today are less equipped than in past wars. They don’t have the means to shoot down American aircraft and capture their aircrews, or surround large infantry units. These enemies also lack the numbers that the Germans, Japanese, British, and both sides in the Civil War possessed. Meaning, less American troops are deployed into combat, lowering the chance they will be captured. Changes in America’s wars are apparent not only in weaponry, but also in the prisoners of war taken. Savage treatment by guerilla enemies best describes what our brave soldiers who were captured in our modern wars endure.

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Jessica Lynch who was captured by Iraqi forces in 2003 spent months in captivity before being recovered by U.S. forces. 

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Historical Reflection

While I was compiling my information and media for American POWs I felt a deep sorrow, but also appreciation for the men and women who gave so much for their country. It would have been a special kind of nightmare to be captured in battle and taken away from your fellow service members and families. There was the possibility of spends years in a prison in a country far away from America, possibly never returning home. But there was a silver lining to all of this suffering. Even in the darkest of prison camps, there were Americans who banded together to survive and maybe even escape. John McCain stayed behind, even when he was offered his freedom to stay with his fellow sailors and soldiers. The men and women in uniform, from the minutemen in prison ships in the Revolutionary War to a captured Army pilot in Somalia have shown us brotherhood and maintaining your duty as an American are what it takes to survive  under the shackles of evil. 

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Here is a picture of Andersonville prison during the Civil War. The commandant is seen firing on the prisoners from the top of the stockade.

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Senator John McCain tell about his captivity in Vietnam.

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Sources

https://www.nps.gov/ande/learn/historyculture/pow_synopsis.htm

https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/the-hms-jersey

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/civil-war-prison-camps

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/henry-wirz-hanged

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I_prisoners_of_war_in_Germany

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/american-pows-at-berga-concentration-camp

https://www.britannica.com/event/Bataan-Death-March

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The history of the United States could be characterized by our nation’s history of war. From the beginning, the Revolutionary War, to the Korean War, to Iraq; America has had her fair share of conflict. In 1776, as war raged between Great Britain and the American colonies, men and women were imprisoned on British prison vessels, many of which were in New York Harbor. Every night prisoners succumbed to starvation, torture, and disease. As many as 11,000 people died aboard the prison ships during the course of the war, compared to the only 4,500 killed in actual combat. The first American prisoners endured torture and captivity, all in the name of freedom from oppression. Not even half a century later, the War of 1812 fought against America’s first enemy, hundreds of American sailors died in the infamous Dartmoor prison in England. Here, prisoners were held long after the war had ended, and the British were eager to punish the new Americans who they believe should never have left the rule of the Crown. Even after America had defeated the British for a second time in a row and had started to establish themselves as a world power, a threat loomed from within. Cadets from The Citadel fired on Star of the West in 1861 to start the Civil War. At the start of the war, conditions in both Union and Confederate prisoner of war camps were passable, as both sides expected to win the war quickly. But over 4 long years, thousands of prisoners from both sides were confined to prison camps and many perished. Perhaps the most infamous camp was Andersonville, a Confederate-run prisoner-of-war facility. Inside, men were subjected to starvation, polluted drinking water, and potentially being killed by their fellow prisoners. The Andersonville prison camp accounted for 43% of all Union casualties during the four years of the Civil War, including combat deaths. The commandant of Andersonville, Henry Wirz, was hanged by the United States government after the war for failing to provide adequate care to the prisoners he was responsible for. Regardless, both the North and South were responsible for the deaths of hundreds upon thousands of men during the war because of inadequate treatment while interned as prisoners of war. Finally, with the war over, America could rebuild. Officers and soldiers were reinstated, and the Army and Navy became strong again. In 1898, the short Spanish-American War resulted in very few Americans being captured, and the treatment of those who were captured was acceptable.  During the first World War, America played a limited role. However, some 4,120 American soldiers were captured. Although laws dictated how prisoners were to be treated, and camps were set aside for the wounded and officers, American doughboys still faced hardships. 147 American G.I.’s died while in captivity. Those who lived dealt with the freezing conditions of East Prussia and the uncertainty of what would happen to them. World War 2 brought on horrors imposed on American POWs by the cruel and fanatical Nazis and Japanese. Many of the captured American soldiers who were Jewish were sent to concentration camps, one being the infamous Buchenwald. There they were forced to build an armaments factory, as well as being subjected to the brutality of the SS. As the Allies drew near, the prisoners were taken on death marches to eliminate any proof of their existence. In the Pacific theatre, a force of 76,000 American and Filipino troops surrendered to the Japanese after being trapped on the Bataan peninsula and exhausting all of their supplies after a weary siege. These men were forced to march 66 miles to work camps, during which almost 3,000 men died from disease, bayonetting, and decapitation by the Japanese. The number does not include the thousands more who were murdered in camps by the Japanese throughout the war. The Korean War brought on new horrors to captured Americans. Not only were they subject to torture and starvation like in previous wars, but the North Koreans considered Americans “political prisoners,” and attempted to reeducate them. 2,700 men died in captivity, and a little over 8,000 were never found. Not twenty years later, Americans faced infamous Vietcong camps like the Hanoi Hilton. The late Senator John McCain was captured and held for year by the Vietnamese, enduring harsh torture. 776 men were known to be captured by the Vietnamese. The Vietnamese did not follow the Geneva Convention, and lacked any regard for them, resulting in the needless murders of 114 men who were prisoners of war. Closer to modern day, the Persian Gulf conflict of 1991 resulted in 23 American service members being captured. They were used by the Iraqis as human shields, and beaten with pipes, as well as being hooked up to car batteries and enduring electric shocks. Thankfully, all of the men and women captured returned home safely. The Persian Gulf War marked the last major conflict in which a significant number of American soldiers were captured. However, we will never forget the sacrifices made by each and every soldier, sailor, and airman who was imprisoned by the enemy while fighting for our United States of America.