Prisoners of War

Prisoners of War (HM1IA)

Location: Marshfield, WI 54449 Wood County
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Country: United States of America
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N 44° 35.83', W 90° 10.884'

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Inscription
Prior to World War II, few Americans had ever been held as prisoners of war on foreign soil. But the surrender of U.S. forces in the Phillippines in the spring of 1942 suddenly swelled the number of POWs into the thousands, and soon a network of support groups was formed in the U.S. to exchange information about loved ones held captive. At the war's end, the Bataan Relief Organization absorbed similar "barbed-wire clubs" and in 1949 became the American Ex-Prisoners of War. A Wisconsin department was established in 1977, and Stanley G. Sommers of Marshfield, a sailor captured at Corregidor, became national commander in 1980. Sommers was instrumental in compiling data regarding the effects of incarceration on ex-POWs, some of which informed the congressional debate over passage of the Former Prisoners of War Benefit Act of 1981.

A total of 142,227 Americans were captured and held as prisoners of war during both World Wars, Korea, and Vietnam, including 1,929 Wisconsinites. Some 15,190 U.S. service personnel died in captivity, almost three-quarters of them in Japanese hands during World War II.
Details
HM NumberHM1IA
Series This marker is part of the Wisconsin: Wisconsin Historical Society series
Tags
Marker Number295
Year Placed1990
Placed ByThe Wisconsin Historical Society
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Thursday, September 4th, 2014 at 12:05pm PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)15T E 723701 N 4942067
Decimal Degrees44.59716667, -90.18140000
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 44° 35.83', W 90° 10.884'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds44° 35' 49.80" N, 90° 10' 53.04" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)715
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 9645-9693 WI-80, Marshfield WI 54449, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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