Show generous treatment of axis prisoners in ue U e S improves conditions Condition 5 jo cpr r captured americans red cross reports men in nazi hands handsy well fed and housed by BARROW LYONS 4 NU staff correspondent in some families throughout ghou t our land today the folks are thinking of some soldier from home who has fallen into enemy hands now a prisoner of war far away when our troops make tile tha g great reat push against the mainland of europe there will be more boys jaken taken prisoners in the war prisoner camps within the united states we hold hol d some enemy soldiers captured mostly on the battlefields of africa sicily and italy of these are germans italians ol 01 only n are ja japanese anase many P protests protests have been m made ade to army authorities because of the good treatment given these arl prisoners lots of people dont understand why enemy prisoners should be given the tame same comforts the same game medical attention the same food as our own soldiers but there is a reason so c compelling ampel that none can comp complain lairo when it is understood it is not for the sake of the prisoner but in the interest of our own soldiers held by the enemy they are the real object of our forbearance and solicitude and of course our national honor lionor Is involved lor for we agreed to give prisoners the same food and care as our own men under the prisoners of war convention signed and ratified at geneva on an july 27 1929 reciprocal good treatment reliable reports made to th the a army indicate that the good treatment we have accorded prisoners has won tor for our own men in german prison camps conditions that are at least as good ast asthore as those bose under which german soldiers live these facts were revealed for the gir first at time to your correspondent by maj gen Alle allena agenw nW gullion guillon provost ni marshal arshal general of the army who has general supervision over prisoners erlof of war the actual guarding of the prisoners is a function of the prison camp commander who is under the control of the commanding general of the service command censorship reveals that letters from relatives and friends express much gratitude and happiness over the way we are treating their men we are informed by the international red bed cross that the germans say that because of our good treatment of their soldiers they are giving our men more liberties and better treatment general gullion told your correspondent the geneva conventions required that each prisoner be given the same food as soldiers of the capturing power receive in base camps according to the reports of swiss observers the germans are living tip up to this provision our men to in some instances are getting even a little better food than the german soldiers although the german facilities do not compare with ours 1 I think there can be only one answer to the complaint that we are treating the prisoners we take too well one gets it when one asks the question Is it better to yield to a very natural vengeful impulse to take it out on our prisoners or to observe our treaty agreements and protect our own men V few bevi escape there have been complaints ilso also that thi the prisoners we hold have not been sufficiently guarded that too many have escaped to become a menace to the home population general gullion points to the facts of the prisoners we now hold in this country about have escaped but all except three have been recaptured and are in custody the only men at large are two awo ital lv 0 V 7 4 1 I 1 ra 0 the first german soldier to be taken prisoner in an iceland was sergeant Man mandrak frak who balled out of his junkers plane planar after it had been bit by U 8 army fighters he is shown at intelligence headquarters enjoying the rations on the tray before him despite a bandaged arm and numerous bruises r vo r long lans who escaped from froin a branch camp at el paso part of the lords burg N M camp and one german who got away at Cr ossville term tenn there has been complaint from organized labor lately because we have used some of the war prisoners for tasks in lumber camps and on road work where there was no american labor available general gullion guillon gives labor assurance that prisoners of war are not being put to work on any lob job where civilian labor is available in adequate supply prisoner of war labor is a temporary expedient to relieve the a existing shortage of man power the united states agreed at the geneva convention to return all prisoners of war to their own countries at the conclusion of the war hense hence the fear of competition with free libor labor lal groundless the general sais says prisoners cut pulpwood prisoners have been in logging operations where american workers have left the woods to work in shipyards and machine shops at much higher wages he explains they have been useful in cutting and peeling pulp logs needed critically for containers in civilian industry and for newsprint of which there is a shortage prisoners have been used also in maintaining roads in some areas where other manual laborers are very scarce the tremendous importance of ro road ad maintenance te nance in view ol of the heavy traffie traffic is obvious prisoners have been used also in laundries nearly everyone today oday has suffered inconveniences because of the shortage of laundry labor and can understand this expedient the story ol of japanese prisoners is less happy when a japanese soldier is taken prisoner he is washed up he never wishes to rl re turn to japan tor for he be Is disgraced dis grace forever in the eyes of his bis counte countrymen we have in this country scarcely more than a hundred japanese prisoners and general macarthur has only a few hundred more according to general gullion Gul llon they are given the kame same food and accommodations as our own soldiers because we hope by according such treatment to ameliorate the lot of our own men held by the japanese |