The Okie Legacy

Vol. 1, No. 32 --------- 13 November 1999, Saturday
by LK Wagner

Some Give All, All Give Some

"Value your blessings by considering how you can give more value to them. You are blessed. If nothing else, life itself is a huge blessing. Take the time to be thankful, and reap the value." by Ralph Malston.

Keep a grateful journal of those things which you have been blessed. I don't keep my grateful journal every single day, but at least once a week I reflect upon the memories and values of those things which I have been blessed. The cherished moments of friends, family and life I have accumulated over the past few years are some of my most precious moments.

Other valued moments I am remembering are the lives of the servicemen & women who fought for our freedoms. Many losing their innocence and youth to the wars of the past, only to come home again and be forgotten. How many have come back from those wars... Broken in health and never the same as they left?

War changes many things and my great-uncle (Robert L. Warwick) whom fought in WWI was just like so many other soldiers, "Broken in health and never the same after the war."

It is only through transcripts, letters and obituary notices that I even know of his existence. I knew my Grandmother had a younger brother, but as I was growing up no one spoke of him. After fighting in the "Great War" (WWI), he came back home and was never the same again. A few years later he was put in the mental hospital at Ft. Supply, Oklahoma where he stayed until his death in 1952.

Do we push aside and lock away the memories of those who fought for our freedoms? -- OR -- Do we remember them and the conflicts that have brought us to where we are today and the lessons we have learned? Let us use what we have learned to stop the hate and begin this new cycle of the Millennium as thankful survivors as we prepare to give thanks during the next few days of 1999.

I guess we all have some conflicts and wounds from the different wars we have fought for whatever reasons. I think Signora Belle says it best in this message she sent me the other day, "All those engaged in conflict, any conflict, are wounded in some way. Some give all and all give some."

According to Ms. Belle, "I remember, in the early fifties, selling red paper poppies to people on the sidewalks and in the shops around the square in my hometown. The donations were to benefit veterans. Before I was allowed to embark upon that enterprise, my father asked me what the poppies represented and, because I could not answer, he taught me the poem, 'In Flanders Fields'. I recited the poem at every opportunity and sold a great many poppies. To this day, the poem is still one of my favorites, because of its thought and message, its lilt and cadence."

"In Flanders Fields"
by Major John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below
We are the dead. Short days ag
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

WWI, The Great War

Ms Belle states, "In these later years, though, I still love the poem, I have often questioned some of its sentiments. Think of how many conflicts around the world would not exist -- If we did not take up the quarrels of those who have died; If our fathers' foes were not our foes; If our sisters' enemies were not our enemies; If the youth of our world, the children of our families, were not compelled by blood and tradition to take up the feuds and conflicts whose reasons for being have long since passed having any reasonable meaning in the world of our todays."

Perhaps on this 11th day, 11th hour of the 11th month it would be a timely beginning to lay aside of arms; for remembering the conflicts, losses and wounds that have brought us to the present; and prepare for the future by honoring and keeping a loving, responsible faith with those who have gone before us.

If I may begin by ending these mind jogging memories here with another quote from Signora, "If we begin now to remember the wounds that conflicts inflict on all of us, and, remembering those wounds; If we resolve to not pass on, to family and friends and those who keep faith with us, the onerous burden of adopting our quarrels, carrying our torches and taking up arms against those whom we have identified as foe; If we allow old conflicts to die, be buried, and even forgotten, then, we can look forward, and prepare ourselves a celebration, a day for giving thanks. A day to come together within our families and communities, within our world to celebrate that we can thrive and exist together though we are different, though we have had our conflicts. Though some have suffered all and all have suffered some, all can give thanks on Thanksgiving Day."

If I could only touch one person's heart and free one person's soul, then it is all worth it. My only question is, "How do we know when we have touched anyone's heart and how much?"

AS TO POW CAMPS IN OKLAHOMA

OK! This is what I've got so far at my OkieLegacies site on the WWII POW Camps around Alva and surrounding areas. If you go to the following Links, you can see what this "Sweet Okie Lady" has been working on the last few days.

There were a few artists & sculptors among the POWs in the Alva Camp that used their artistic talents to pass the days until the end of the war. They made their own paint, created pictures and sculptures of medieval castles and other memories back home in Germany.

This is a model of a German church castle crafted from scrap woods by German POWs and designed after a castle in his hometown.

It is preserved at the Cherokee Strip Museum in Alva, Oklahoma as one of many memories that is left to remind Alva of it's POW Camp for the captured Nazi Officers & sympathizers.

A hand-carved, six-foot wooden eagle & Nazi insignia that was carved from pieces of packing crates by German POWs. It also resides at the "Cherokee Strip Museum", Alva, Oklahoma.

Also at the Cherokee Strip Museum you will find two handkerchiefs that had maps of the southwest United States painted on them by a German POW who attempted to escape from the Alva Camp. This Hand-painted SW US Map is just one of those maps and was donated to the museum by Wilbur Province.

This is a pencil sketch of the POW water tower that stood out at the Alva Camp during WWII and it was drawn by a German prisoner of war.

Info & a list of POW camps across Oklahoma. Just some present day photos taken October 1999 & Info about the Alva camp.

--- This is an aerial view and a map of the layout of the buildings of the Alva camp.

--- Basic Info & Facilities of US POW camps.

--- WWII, Battle of Alva. Did you know that in January of 1945, the "Battle of Alva (Oklahoma)", 64 Guards were faced with rebellion by 1000 or so Nazi Prisoners of War. You can read more about this "Battle of Alva" at my "OkieLegacy website" in the" Woods County" section.

Except for a scattered few in the north part of the state, most of the POW Camps in Oklahoma were down in "Little Dixie" and across "Central Oklahoma" and NOT widely known back then during the war by the public sector.

As to POW Camps in Oklahoma... A friend proclaims, "It is evident that Ardmore was a likely location. I do remember that the powers that be picked some of the most beautiful washita bottom, timbered, ranch & farm land that they could find, to convert into a landing field. Perhaps a major factor was the fact that the Arbuckle Mountains sheltered the area from the heavy winds. At the beginning, the location was chosen to be used as a glider pilot training school. It also became a B-26 Bomber Pilot Training School & ultimately it became a B-17 Bomber Pilot Training School."

The consensus of the former POWs many years later when they came back to visit American was that they were treated well by the guards at the Alva Camp and other camps across Oklahoma.

One POW said, "Back then the Americans carried rifles on their shoulders. We prayed to our God for Germany to win the war and they prayed to their God for Americans to win the war."

OAKIE'S MAILBAG & LINKS

"For The Duration: -- Behind Fences In Oklahoma Across the sun-baked plains of Oklahoma in the west and the tree covered, misty mountains in the east, nothing remains to show a part Oklahoma played during World War II. The pre-existing buildings that were used, show no evidence of the part they played in the past. The sites that were built now are covered by businesses, farms, and ranches. All that remains, are records in the Archives, microfilmed newspaper accounts, records of interviews conducted and the memories of the people that lived and worked near the enemy alien and prisoner of war camps that existed in 26 counties around the state."

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When you find time, check out the latest new endeavor from "The Little House on the Internet." Rod Murrow has began the first "Freedom Community Website". The "First Edition" of it is online. It's totally FREE for all announcements of events & local businesses. Mainly to just let people know that there is much more to Freedom than they might see as they drive through town on the way to Woodward or to Alva. Please stop by and visit Rod Murrow's "Freedom Community Website" and sign Freedom's Guestbook. Freedom, Oklahoma has lots to offer if you would stop in and take a look.

If you need a NEW place to eat out? Stop over at "Freedom's Longbranch Cafe" while you experience the nostalgic history of the "Old West" as it is preserved in this "Smallest Ceritified City in Oklahoma" and "Home of the Biggest Open odeo."

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"Linda, .....It is strange that there was so much going on at the military posts during WWII that was never known by the public. As you know, even the men in service did not have free access to the various military camps - and certainly were not privy to the functions of any of them. The list indeed does show Ardmore Air Field was used (in part) for a POW camp along with Camp Howze, Texas. Camp Howze was a very large Army infantry camp located at Gainsville, Texas. Ardmore was an Army Air Corps base [this was long before the Air Corps became the Air Force] I had heard rumors that Camp Howze was also used (in part) as a POW camp. I never even saw a German POW anywhere during my 3 1/2 years of service in WWII. I think the general public was not even aware about the American Japanese being confined on the west coast until after the war was over. I'd be surprised if a list, such as this, could be found anytime during the war."

See Y'all later!  Linda (Oakie)

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