POWs during WWII
During World War II there were hundreds of POW camps that were located across the United States, Asia, and Europe. POW camps were camps that held prisoners of war. These POW camps were supposed to follow the international laws of the Geneva Convention, but a lot of the time the camp officials did not follow these regulations. Laura Hillenbrand’s biography Unbroken, describes the life of Louis Zamperini who was an American POW that was captured and lived in several Japanese POW camps. In these POW camps that did not follow the international law the prisoners were treated extremely poorly. While Louis was in these camps he experienced many different horrific events. He witness soldiers being beaten and starved to death, he also witnessed the greediness of the Japanese guards that were in the camp. The guards would steal food from the prisoners, and threaten their lives. While Louis was in …show more content…
Most of the former POWs became alcoholics and began to drink themselves to death. They needed to drink because of the hardships that they had faced in the POW Camps. Depression was extremely common as well as PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) Louie was angry all of the time and had a hard time keeping a relationship with his wife. They were on the verge of divorce when he changed his life around for the better. He would lash out, got into fights, and would be triggered at the wrong time just like many POWs that were coming back into civilian life. “His mind began to derail. While sitting at a bar, he heard a sudden, loud sound, perhaps a car backfiring, Before he know it, he was on the floor, cringing, as the bar fell silent and the patrons stared, ON another night he was drinking, his mind drifting, when someone nearby yelled something while joking with friends. In Louie’s mind, it was “Keirei!” he found himself jumping up, back straight, head up, heart pounding, awaiting the flying belt buckle.” (Page
During World War II there were hundreds of POW camps that were located across the United States, Asia, and Europe. POW camps were camps that held prisoners of war. These POW camps were supposed to follow the international laws of the Geneva Convention, but a lot of the time the camp officials did not follow these regulations. Laura Hillenbrand’s biography Unbroken, describes the life of Louis Zamperini who was an American POW that was captured and lived in several Japanese POW camps. In these POW camps that did not follow the international law the prisoners were treated extremely poorly. While Louis was in these camps he experienced many different horrific events. He witness soldiers being beaten and starved to death, he also witnessed the greediness of the Japanese guards that were in the camp. The guards would steal food from the prisoners, and threaten their lives. While Louis was in …show more content…
Most of the former POWs became alcoholics and began to drink themselves to death. They needed to drink because of the hardships that they had faced in the POW Camps. Depression was extremely common as well as PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) Louie was angry all of the time and had a hard time keeping a relationship with his wife. They were on the verge of divorce when he changed his life around for the better. He would lash out, got into fights, and would be triggered at the wrong time just like many POWs that were coming back into civilian life. “His mind began to derail. While sitting at a bar, he heard a sudden, loud sound, perhaps a car backfiring, Before he know it, he was on the floor, cringing, as the bar fell silent and the patrons stared, ON another night he was drinking, his mind drifting, when someone nearby yelled something while joking with friends. In Louie’s mind, it was “Keirei!” he found himself jumping up, back straight, head up, heart pounding, awaiting the flying belt buckle.” (Page