WWII, Cold War/Korean War and post-war training. Camp Breckinridge 1942-1962.
LIFE 1944
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4. The prisoners sing in the barracks in the evening. THey seem hungry for music. Insturments , like the accordion shown here, are largely supplied by German Red Cross and War Prisoners Aid. There are several orchestras which play marches by Sousa, waltzes by Strauss and German folk songs. Unlike Hitler, prisoners show no particular preference for Wagner.
5. Outdoor movies are shown every day in good weather, later move inside. Audiences are staggered to accommodate whole camp population. They see German movies, U.S. films with German subtitles. Favorites are Disney cartoons. They dislike war pictures. In PW-built theater men produce their own plays, make costumes of gunny sacks and odds and ends.
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8. Mess is ample. In accordance with rules of Geneva Convention prisoners get U.S. Army rations. It is undoubtedly the best food they ever had. When prisoners arrived they craved sugar, salt, vinegar in such quantities that they had to be rationed. This apparent dietary lack has since disappeared. Dining-hall mural at center is unusual in defiant note.
9. Bottom photo-Home-town posters deck camp. Prisoners from Hamburg sent frantic cables when allies dumped tons of bombs on city in one week July 1943.
The John Tubinis File 