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TALKING FREES FORMER POWs -- "Only another prisoner of
war can truly understand what another prisoner of
war went
through. That's why we gather...for the
fellowship of being
with people who experienced what we experienced."
American POWs during Korean War.
For more about POWs, use the VA Watchdog search
engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch.php?q=pow&op=and
Story here...
http://www.columbian.com/lifehome/life
HomeNews/2008/05/05262008_Talking-frees-former-POWs.cfm
Story below:
-------------------------
Talking frees former POWs
By MIKE BAILEY
Columbian Staff Writer
When Dale Bowlin first started holding the monthly potluck parties at his
Vancouver home, the men he invited shared stories they wouldn’t tell
anyone else. No one else would understand.
But at Bowlin’s gatherings, there were no shocked faces and no reactions
of disbelief when the men talked about the brutality, starvation and
torture they endured. They all knew too well what their friends had
endured.
With each passing month, and as their stories were told over and over, the
men gradually made peace with the past.
“Only another prisoner of war can truly understand what another prisoner
of war went through,” Bowlin said. “That’s why we gather … for the
fellowship of being with people who experienced what we experienced.”
Bowlin serves as commander of the Fort Vancouver chapter of the American
Ex-Prisoners of War organization. He is one of just eight remaining
members, all of whom were captured during World War II or the Korean
conflict. As the number of living ex-prisoners diminishes, the members now
have a sense of urgency about sharing their stories outside the group
before time runs out. They want future generations to know the truth.
Difficult homecoming
Bowlin, 83, helped organize the Fort Vancouver chapter of American
Ex-Prisoners of War in 1985, a year after a group of former prisoners of
war started meeting informally.
Many who gathered had faced the same struggle after returning home. They
tried to tell others what they had been through, but it was often too hard
for family, friends and co-workers to grasp.
So, the ex-POWs stopped trying.
“I remember when I came home from the war and was telling family members
what I went through as a prisoner,” said Dan Barton, who helped Bowlin
form the group. “I watched them roll their eyes and say things like ‘That
could never happen.’ People just didn’t want to believe … so they didn’t
believe us.”
Barton, a former Vancouver resident now living in Portland, bottled his
memories of being a prisoner in Korea and didn’t talk about the experience
for years.
 He
wasn’t alone.
“There were some families who didn’t know their loved ones had even been
POWs,” said Clydie Morgan, national adjunct of the American Ex-Prisoners
of War organization based in Arlington, Texas.
It took decades for Vancouver’s Magnor Peterson to share the horror of
being a prisoner of the Japanese in World War II.
“My son would ask me about what happened but I just never wanted to talk
about it,” Peterson, 93, said. After more than 30 years, he relented and
now his son, as well as the chapter, have a printed copy of Peterson’s
story.
“I still don’t talk about it a lot but now they know what happened,”
Peterson said.
Memories too painful
Not talking was also a way to cope with the pain.
But that changed with time and with the group.
“It’s been about 63 years for me now and immediately after the war I
didn’t want to remember the horrible things that happened,” Bowlin said.
“But as time went on, I began opening up to share those stories.”
Although Bowlin was taken prisoner by the Germans near the end of the war,
and was held for less than four months, his experience was similar to
those who gathered at his home. Bowlin was injured by mortar shells not
long after being captured in February 1945 in France, and he awoke in a
German field hospital after a surgeon had amputated his leg above the
knee.
Before his leg had a chance to heal, he was loaded into a railroad box car
with other injured soldiers. It was the first of many trips.
He spent most of his time housed the southern Bavarian city of
Donaueschingen where a former military barracks had been converted into a
hospital for 1,200 wounded German soldiers. He was one of only three
Americans at the barracks.
“There are still times when tears are shed over these stories,” Bowlin
said. “Stories we have all heard many times before.”
History fading away
Barton and Bowlin have served as chapter officers off and on for 20 years,
but they recognize the future of their organization is in jeopardy because
of the members’ age.
About 10 ex-POWs die each day in the U.S., Morgan said. The Fort Vancouver
chapter has just eight ex-POW members from more than 25 in the 1990s.
Bowlin said facing mortality has led all of the remaining members to go
beyond their own ranks when it comes to sharing their stories. Most now
have a written versions of what happened.
Barton and Vancouver’s Randall Whetzel, a missionary who was captured in
Indonesia in World War II, have written unpublished books about their
experiences. Each hopes to have them published soon. “Most of us are in
our 80s and 90s and at some point we all will be gone,” Barton said. “It’s
important to have our stories preserved.
“Young people today don’t know how horrible the concept of war is,”
Whetzel said. “They need to hear these stories.”
Preserving stories has been easy. Saving the Fort Vancouver Chapter of
American Ex-Prisoners of War may be impossible.
“Many veterans organizations are facing this very question,” Bowlin said.
“How they will handle it varies by unit. In this group, our bylaws say
when we have less than 10 members (POWs and wives), we cash in our chips.
It would be no longer practical to have a chapter.”
At that point, Bowlin said the remaining members may decide to merge with
the Columbia River chapter of the American Ex-Prisoners of War
organization based in Portland.
Morgan, the national adjunct for American Ex-Prisoners of War, says that
the reality is the organization will be smaller. “We do have members from
the first Gulf War and Somalia and Vietnam but we continue to lose
members.
“The important thing will be to protect the memories of the POW experience
and even if we only have 100 members, we will do that.”
For Bowlin, it’s the camaraderie that makes the effort to get together
worthwhile. “Many years ago we all experienced a loss of freedom and a
bond has established from that experience. For that reason, we will
continue to meet as long as we can.”
-------------------------
posted by Larry
Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org
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