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Favorite Pictures Texas Fort Sam Houston

While in San Antonio, TX, we visited the Military History Museum in Fort Sam Houston.

We had a special reason for this visit: During World War II, this was one of the largest POW Camps on American soil. One of the 4,000 Prisoner of War in Fort Sam Houston was Volker's German Grandfather who was shipped here from France and spent what he called "The best part of the war" in Texas.

There is nothing left of the camp but a hand full of pictures. But 144 of the inmates, mostly German soldiers but also a few Austrians, Japanese and Italians, died before the end of the war. The camps old graveyard is now part of Fort Sam Houston's National Cemetery and we were deeply touched to see how Americans take care of the graves of their former enemies. (Last names on the headstones are erased from the pictures to protect their privacy).

My grandfather had nothing but the deepest respect for the people of the United States. The way he used to talk about his time in Texas laid the foundation for my own love and respect for the country I've been calling home for 14 years now. Remembering the respect my grandfather had for his "capturers" and now witnessing the respect America pays to soldiers from the other side makes me believe that peace and forgiveness are not only words. With Respect to all veterans of all wars, Volker

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