Introduction
On 21 November 1970, a joint Army/ Air force task force attempted to rescue POW’s from the Son Tay prison camp 23 miles west of Hanoi. The task force, comprised of 56 Special Forces soldiers and 13 Aircraft plus crews was commanded by BG Leroy Manor, LTC Leroy Snydor, and COL Arthur “Bull” Simons as deputy commander and ground force commander. Although no POW’s were rescued, the mission is considered a success due to the cooperation of the involved agencies and branches in the planning and execution of the raid.
Because of the raid, conditions improved for American POW’s as the North Vietnamese realized the smaller outlying prison camps were not out of reach of the United States. The North Vietnamese consolidated prisoners in order to increase security, the resultant lifted the moral in the American POWs by allowing them to communicate with other prisoners and news of Americas attempt to rescue them spread.
History
The North Vietnamese refused to comply with the Geneva Convention in their treatment of U.S. Prisoners of war. They regarded U.S. Prisoners of War as war criminals who committed crimes against civilians in an undeclared war. Released Prisoners Of War told of the conditions in which they were held and relayed information about those still in captivity to help the U.S. account for Service members missing in action. POWs held in captivity in North Vietnam were mostly held in permanently established internment facilities unlike those held in South Vietnam and Laos who were held in remote facilities deep in the jungle.
The Department of Defense prioritized locating the camps in North Vietnam to ensure POWs would be out of harm’s way during bombing raids. Most camps were located too close to pop...
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... ground perspective when viewing “Barbara”, an optical viewing device was supplied, when looked through, the viewer would find himself standing in the camp.
Training and tactics that evolved from the raid was the concept of a force that was trained and ready to conduct such operations with limited advance notice. The United States had been at war for seven years at the time of the raid. With hundreds of Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen in captivity, the United States was without a dedicated force to come to their aid.
Many members of the assault force were “plank holders” of such a force that would be able to respond to service members being captured as well as other crisis scenarios.
The Raid “when seen in full perspective, might serve as to our national planners as a reminder of how much a small, elite, well trained unorthodox force can accomplish”6
In 1942, groups of people were taken from all of the camps and sent to work on the Burma-Thailand Railway. In 1864 the Geneva Convention was formed internationally. The Convention laid down rules concerning the treatment and protection of prisoners during wartime. The Japanese did not follow this Convention as they continuously mistreated many prisoners, including Australian troops/soldiers and civilian prisoners. The Japanese saw the prisoners in camps as people who surrendered, therefore they were considered weak and cowardly because of a belief that the Japanese held that soldiers should die out respect for their emperor and country, known as the Bushido Code.
The Vietnam War was the most publicized war during its era; moreover this was the most unpopular war to hit the United States. All over the country riots began to raise, anti-war movement spread all over the states begging to stop the war and chaos overseas. This truly was a failure in the political side of things. For the public, all they saw was a failed attempt in a far away country. Events such as the Tet Offensive where the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong established an all out attack on key locations around Vietnam, and although the Viet Cong was virtually wiped out, this still had a large affect psychologically on the troops as well as the populist back in the United States. Another atrocity that occurred during this war was the My Lai Massacre. This was the mass murder on unarmed civilians in South Vietnam during March 16,1968. Around November 1969, the world saw this and was outraged with the killings of innocent civilians prompting and giving the public more reasons to stop the war. Although the war was very unpopular, men and women were still fighting and dying for America. Heroes such as Captain John W, Ripley of Dong Ha, Medal of Honor recipients, and overall troops that gave the ultimate sacrifice were forgotten for a brief period. As unpopular as the war was, the American people should still know the stories and good that some of these troops had done for the United States.
The ethics and rules of war have been a fiercely debated topic for centuries. One facet of war that is particularly divisive is the treatment of prisoners of war. This investigation compares the treatment of prisoners of war in the Andersonville and Rock Island prison camps during the American Civil War. Andersonville and Rock Island are widely regarded as the harshest prison camps of the Confederate and Union armies, respectively. The conditions of each camp will be examined and compared using factors such as nutrition, living arrangements, habits of camp leaders, and death rates.
prison camp by the Japanese. Only a year later were they safe in American arms
Even though Little Saigon provided Vietnamese American with economic benefit, political power, this landmark also witnessed many difficulties that Vietnamese experienced. Vietnamese American experienced many traumatic events prior to migration such as war, journey on boats, therefore many of them suffered posttraumatic stress disorder, stress, and depression. Significantly, Vietnamese refugees who went to the re-education camps sustained torture, humiliation, deprivation, brainwashing and several other punishments from Vietnamese Communist. Those refugees have higher rates of having mental disorder. Language barrier is another obstacle that...
page 175 “No help or backing was to be had then from his high-born comrades; that hand-picked troop broke ranks and ran for their lives to safety of the wood.” (Heaney)
The men of Reserve Police Battalion 101 were just ordinary men, from a variety of backgrounds, education, and age. It would appear that they were not selected by any force other than random chance. Their backgrounds and upbringing, however, did little to prepare these men for the horrors they were to witness and participate in.
“A typical concentration camp consisted of barracks that were secured from escape by barbed wire, watchtowers and guards. The inmates usually lived in overcrowded barracks and slept in bunk “beds”. In the forced labour camps, for
But who actually are the prisoners of war? The prisoners of war are the people who no longer take part in hostilities, this can be soldier, shipwrecked people but also sick and wounded civilians. There have been four Geneva conventions over time and the first dealt with the treatment of wounded and sick armed forces in the field this convention was signed in 1864, the second convention helped wounded, sick and shipwrecked members of the armed forces at sea this was signed in 1906, the third convention dealt with the treatment of prisoners of war during conflicts which...
In human history, the most famous prison camp is the Auschwitz concentration camp where millions of human beings spent the last of their days. The most notorious group from Auschwitz being the Jews who lost the greatest number of its people and also the most remembered from the concentration camp. A prison camp is defined as “a camp for the confinement of war or political prisoners” (“Prison camps,” Dictionary.com). Prison camps found in the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea (DPNK) have been found to treat its prisoners little more than beasts. The atrocities done in North Korea are unknown but the severity of the camps have left great scars on the people of North Korea. If left unknown, the prison camps in North Korea can mirror Auschwitz’s mass genocide on millions of people.
During the Vietnam War, the first platoon (approximately forty men) was lead by a young officer named William Calley. Young Calley was drafted into the US Army after high school, but it did not take long for him to adjust to being in the army, with a quick transition to the lifestyle of the military, he wanted to make it his career. In high school, Calley was a kind, likable and “regular” high school student, he seemed to be a normal teenager, having interest in things that other boys his age typically had. He was never observed acting in a cruel or brutal way. In Vietnam, Calley was under direct order of company commander, Captain Ernest Medina, whom he saw as a role model, he looked up to Medina. (Detzer 127).
On December of 1992, U.S. troops landed in Somalia. It was Thomas E. Ricks’ first deployment as a Pentagon Reporter. Opening the beginning chapter, he speaks of his first-hand experience he encountered while traveling with a squad from Alpha Company of the 1st battalion of the 7th Marines. Exceptionally qualified, his work on Making The Corps was cited by Thomas E. Ricks himself. Few events were videotaped, and some related by several participants and observers. Thoughts of Platoon 3086 and military documentations, such as “Recruit Incident Reports” and “Recruit Evaluation Cards”, were used as well to get an inside feel of the way recruits and Drill Instructors see Boot Camp.
Prisoners of War were separated from their families, they were not allowed much contact with them either. Even though the prisoners were supposed to be able to communicate with their families through the International Red Cross, the Japanese did not stick to these terms. However, some internees would sneak out during their breaks to meet up with family members or friends. They would give them updates about the conditions in the civilian world. The British were stripped of their freedom and titles in society. Their self esteem was most likely damaged when they had to be road sweepers and do laborious work they would not usually have to do. They had to show proper respect to the Japanese soldiers by bowing whenever they passed by. If they did not do so, they would be severely punished. The Japanese separated the Prisoners of War by gender, male and female. Therefore, there was less interaction between genders. The Japanese also controlled the media and newspapers that the internees saw or read heavily. Thus, connections to the outside world was limited. Although, some British would hide a wireless. One example of where they kept it secretly was in the head of the broom and the legs of a table.The horrific torture the prisoners had to survive left a big impact even when out of the camp. Many had to attend rehabilitation to assimilate back to
On December 7, 1941, America was attacked by Japanese aircraft in an awfully successful air raid. Due to this attack on Hawii , President Roosevelt declared war on Japan. Everyone knows obviously America won, and yeah we know people were shot and killed by the Japanese but what you may not know is not everyone went home after the war was over many people in fact were captured and sent to terrifying concentration camps where they were overworked and barely fed just because they were caught fighting for their country. All the men caught were known as prisoners of war (POW),they were taken to places in Japan called either prison camps or concentration camps, the name really made know difference because the prisoners were welcomed by the same bizarre
As we got further and further into the Vietnam War, few lives were untouched by grief, anger and fear. The Vietnamese suffered the worst hardship; children lay dead in the street, villages remained nothing but charred ashes, and bombs destroyed thousands of innocent civilians. Soldiers were scarred emotionally as well as physically, as