SHS Students Visit Museum on POW/MIA Day
Students from Seward High School had the opportunity to visit the Nebraska National Guard Museum and discuss the book “A Few Survived” by Bob Dowding, local World War II POW and learn the meaning of National POW/MIA Recognition Day. Mr. Clark Kolterman’s English Literature class have been reading and discussing the book in detail before the visit. The book is about local World War Two veteran, Bob Dowding, who was captured in the Philippines in early 1942 and held prisoner by the Japanese until his release in late 1945. The class discussion was held in the new Concordia University Learning Center at the Museum. After the book review and discussion the class viewed the introductory movie in the Jones National Bank and Trust Co. Theater and examined artifacts in the John W. Cattle, Sr. Exhibit Area.
The special day has a history dating back to the late 1960’s and the Vietnam War. The National League of POW/MIA Families wished to see their loved ones recognized during the darkest hours of the war. A day was set aside for National POW/MIA Recognition and it was finally set to the third Friday of September. A flag was designed by Newton Heisley of Annin Flagmakers of Verona, New Jersey in the early 1970’s. In 1998, Section 1082 of the Defense Authorization Act—codified as Title 36, Section 902 of the U.S. Code—mandated that the POW/MIA flag be flown over the Capitol, the White House, the Korean and Vietnam Veterans Memorials, the offices of the secretaries of State, Defense and Veterans Affairs, of the Selective Service System, and on the grounds or in the lobbies of every major military installation, every post office and all VA Medical Centers and national cemeteries on six days: POW/MIA Recognition Day, Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Fourth of July and Veterans Day. Nebraska still MIA’s from World War II (727), the Korean War (60), and the Vietnam War (17) according to Department of Defense records. Many groups around the country honor this day with rallies with the slogan “Until they All Come Home”.
The students and some museum patrons discussed many topics to the book “A Few Survived”. They discussed the importance of faith as described in the preface to the book by Bob Dowding. His chapters “Looking Back”, “Childhood Days” and “Leaving Childhood Behind” are very descriptive of a life in Seward in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s during the Great Depression and before the start of World War II. The heart of the book is the chapter “The Journey Begins” in which he describes arriving in the Philippines with an army unit on December 1, 1941 (less than a week before the attacks on Pearl Harbor) and the feeling of being abandoned and alone so far from home. He describes the importance of interacting and having friends in order to work together to survive. He was taken prisoner by the Japanese in early 1942 and has subjected to many horrors while in captivity in the Philippines. He was transferred to Japan in 1944 and spent the last year of the war in a camp near Tokyo. His final chapter “Returning to Freedom” was the emotions he felt on returning to his family in Seward and catching up on the years of the war (his cousin, Francis Zeleny who joined the local Seward National Guard unit and was later killed in France). Another local soldier mentioned in the book: Eddie Rohren (killed in the Battle of the Philippines).
Some of the overarching concepts that were discussed: the Japanese Code of Bushido and the treatment of Allied POW’s. Another was that we had 12,000 Axis POW’s in Nebraska during the war and how were they treated. Finally, how did he survive and cope with the memories of the war after he returned (he didn’t have the modern PTSD treatment given to today’s warriors).
The students were given a tour and got the chance to see a display of POW artifacts in the John W. Cattle, Sr. Exhibit Area: the uniforms of Dale Carr (WWII pilot and POW in Germany) and Norman Weiler (Royal Canadian Air Force WWII pilot and POW in Germany). The students had the opportunity to discuss the treatment of Carr and Weiler, compared to how the Japanese treated Bob Dowding.
The Museum is looking for artifacts related to POW/MIA’s for the collection. If you have artifacts, we would like to hear from you….402-309-8763 (main desk) or 402-309-8761 (curator).