Douglas Dietrich claims Japanese POWs were interned at Roswell, NM, and fraudulently claims he took photos of a scrap-book at the Presidio Post Library in the 1980s before destroying it.
https://douglasdietrich.com/2020/07/04/roswell-prisoner-of-war-camp/ "In addition to German POWs, Camp Roswell also held Asian POWs, which has been deceptively omitted from the new Roswell POW Camp Historical Marker.
The US military promoted “Alien UFO crash” narrative at Roswell covers up the fact that Emperor Hirohito sent his secret air force to Roswell to show American officials his capability to deliver enough biocidal weapons to wipe out the entire North American continent, thereby forcing America to sue for peace, making Japan the winner of WW-2."
But according to author John Kettler, who published photos of the same scrap-book on his website in 2019, the photos were taken by the great-nephew of an American GI @Notalice1776.
The great-uncle was a US Army guard who transported German POWs by train from Boston, MA, and later served as a guard at the Roswell, NM POW camp.
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| Douglas Dietrich copied photos and took screen shots. |
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| Douglas Dietrich claims photos of the scrapbook were taken by himself. |
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| Original images of the scrap-book created by an American GI taken by his great-nephew |
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| Google Image Search Results |
"The Roswell POW base camp was built for up to 4,800 POWs, and most of the men were Germans and Italians captured during the North African campaign. They worked as construction laborers on local projects such as the placement of concrete and stones to line the Spring River that passes through downtown Roswell. Some 60 miles due north, prisoners helped construct the Fort Sumner Army Airfield." https://ladailypost.com/2020/02/snyder-prisoner-of-war-camp-history-continued/
During World War II, about 4,800 German prisoners were held in a POW camp just outside Roswell. While the majority of prisoners labored on farms, a group of men worked in the city on a flood control project in town, paving the banks of the Spring River with stone.
As construction progressed along the north river bank, a group of prisoners arranged rocks of different sizes to form the outline of the Iron Cross, a military decoration of the German Empire that was reintroduced by the Nazi Army with a swastika added to the center.
Upon discovering the symbol, many Roswell citizens were incensed by the brazen act and subsequently covered the offending image with cement. However, after many years of erosion, the cross reemerged and can be seen once again.
The site has been turned into a memorial to prisoners of war and MIA soldiers everywhere. Known for a time as Iron Cross Park, it was renamed POW/MIA Park in the 1990s. It currently has a viewing platform for the now fully exposed stone cross. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/german-pow-iron-cross
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Personally, I believe the internment of Japanese American citizens during WW2 was unfair and unnecessary. For example, not a single incidence of sabotage by Japanese Americans occurred during the war.
As I research this, however, it is clear that although they were interned in poor conditions initially, every effort was made to provide the essential logistics and support necessary. And by 1942, Japanese American men who had been denied enlistment and subsequently interned were allowed to enlist. Approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans were interned in 10 camps for 3 years. 8,000 are known to have escaped those areas (military zones) on the West Coast prior to the Executive Order of FDR in Feb 1942. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_9066
But what Douglas Dietrich does not mention is that the order included German and Italian Americans as well. In December 1944, President Roosevelt suspended Executive Order 9066. Incarcerees were released, often to resettlement facilities and temporary housing, and the camps were shut down by 1946.[4]
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/japanese-american-relocation
In December 1982, the CWRIC issued its findings in Personal Justice Denied, concluding that the incarceration of Japanese Americans had not been justified by military necessity. The report determined that the decision to incarcerate was based on "race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership". The Commission recommended legislative remedies consisting of an official Government apology and redress payments of $20,000 to each of the survivors; a public education fund was set up to help ensure that this would not happen again (Pub.L. 100–383). On August 10, 1988, the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, based on the CWRIC recommendations, was signed into law by Ronald Reagan.
On November 21, 1989, George H. W. Bush signed an appropriation bill authorizing payments to be paid out between 1990 and 1998. In 1990, surviving internees (80,000) began to receive individual redress payments and a letter of apology. This bill applied to the Japanese Americans and to members of the Aleut people inhabiting the strategic Aleutian islands in Alaska who were also relocated.
As far as the claim that there were Japanese POWs interned at Camp Roswell, NM, this is absolutely false.
What Dietrich claims as occurring in July 1947 could not possibly be true. Dietrich assumes no one will actually research the history of Japanese, German and Italian POW internment. Nor does he "clarify" the obvious designations between types of camps which is essential in determining their locations. For example, when Dietrich publicizes the change of "Roswell Internment Camp" to Roswell POW Camp", he is being deceptive.
There were at least 5 types of camps: Relocation, Internment, Department of Justice, Resettlement, and POW. Japanese American civilians also had classifications such as "Resident" or "Non- Alien" and "Resident Alien (non-citizen") separated from POWs for obvious reasons. The fact that the Roswell Internment Camp was changed to "POW Camp" indicates that the camp once housed civilians, quite possibly Japanese Americans, but by 1943 were already being moved toward deactivation and resettlement.
And with the surge of German and Italian POWs arriving in the US following Africa and Italian campaigns, there was a need to utilize these former Japanese internment camps as POW camps. In fact, the "Roswell POW Camp" was located outside Roswell, in Orchard Park, NM. And housed 4.800 German POWs.
This is well documented as is the history of the area by various groups including Japanese in New Mexico. I have contacted at least one of these and await a reply.
There were two other Japanese Camps in New Mexico, one 350 miles SW of Roswell at Lordsburg (Civilian Internment) and another a similar distance to the North at Santa Fe (Department of Justice Camp). The fact is, that no Japanese American Civilian Internment or Captured Japanese POW camps existed after March 1946.
The Roswell Prisoner of War Camp Historical Marker only mentions German POWs, deceptively omitting Asian POWs.
July 8, 2020
Dear Mr. Kettler:
I am writing to inform you that Douglas Duane Dietrich has published photos taken of a scrapbook compiled by a US Serviceman and provided you by his great-nephew. https://johnkettler.com/when-german-pows-came-to-the-us/
Dietrich claims he took photos of the same scrapbook while employed at the Presidio Post Library in the 1980s. He also claims he was ordered to destroy it. “FROM DOUGLAS DIETRICH’s Own PERSONAL FILES: The Japanese Internment Camp at Roswell was renamed the Roswell Prisoner of War camp. Dietrich was able to smuggle photographs of these clippings out from El Presidio from a scrapbook he was ordered to incinerate” https://douglasdietrich.com/2020/07/04/roswell-prisoner-of-war-camp/
I am a former US Marine and a historical researcher. I have been investigating and disputing Dietrich’s claims for many years, including his fraudulent claims of military service. https://rkcolejr.blogspot.com/2020/
I found your article after conducting a Google Image search of the photos Dietrich published. It is my belief that after making this claim and publishing photos that are not his own, he may also publish them in an upcoming book being written by Peter Moon (Vince Barbarick).
I have found no evidence whatsoever of Japanese POWs being interned at Camp Roswell, NM. And certainly not following the closure of the Camp long before the “Roswell incident” in July 1947.
Respectfully,
Richard K. Cole, Jr.
A further note:
I don't have an active Twitter account. It seems I may have signed up years ago, but never used it. As a result, I am not able to log in again.
The purpose of this is to contact the great-nephew of the US Serviceman who compiled the "Roswell POW Camp Scrapbook" and provided digital photos to John Kettler. https://johnkettler.com/when-german-pows-came-to-the-us/
Perhaps someone who has an active Twitter account might contact this person on my behalf: https://twitter.com/Notalice1776
And inform them of my efforts to contact them. They could respond with a "friend request" to my Facebook account https://www.facebook.com/colerkjr
Thanks
Update October 13, 2020
Richard k Cole Jr,
I apologize for the tardiness of my reply. Much appreciate this information and believe I may’ve gone in and tweaked my post in response to what you said, but am having memory issues right now and would have to go check to confirm or disprove this. Shall have to run down your links when I’m more switched on cognitively than of late. Sustained a TBI about 7.5 years ago, and memory issues are a real problem, though the severity varies considerably.
John Kettler
Sources:
POWs in the USA - 10 Surprising Facts About America's WW2 Prisoner of War Camps - MilitaryHistoryNow.com
Japanese Prisoners of War in America
List of World War II prisoner-of-war camps in the United States - Wikipedia
Abandoned California hotel was WWII interrogation center | The Sacramento Bee
Secret world of Camp Tracy revealed | History | thepress.net
Historic California Posts: Byron Hot Springs
When German POWs Came To The US-The Hidden Side? - John Kettler Investigates
Japanese Internment Camps in the USA - History
Internment of Japanese Americans - Wikipedia
The Little-Known History of Japanese Internment on Angel Island | KQED
Camp Lordsburg - NMJACL
How Japanese Americans Campaigned For Reparations—And Won : Code Switch : NPR
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