POW Camps

[natehale1971]

POW camps normally have 'busy work' for the men and women being held there... Thus I can see the guards putting the POWs to work tending gardens and livestock pens in an effort to not only make the camp as self-sufficent as possible, but to provide excess food stuffs for the guards and surrounding communities. Since the Geneva Conventions state that POWs can be put to work on non-war related duties, and they must be compensated for the work they do, putting them to work tending gardens and the like would be the first thing I can see them being put to work doing. The second would be the POWs being used to clear roadways, or reconstruction efforts of local communities...

Hell, I'd have them building shelters for the D.P. (Displaced Persons) who have been evacuated out of urban centers that had been nuked. The fact that FEMA had plans to put D.P.s to work doing the same kind of work would have POWs put to work doing the more dangerous stuff of course (even though it would technically be a no-no)... Such as having the POWs and their guards going into nuked out areas with high levels of radiation carrying out salvage duties would be a one of the kinds of duties that I could see them put to work doing.

[kato13]

The treatment of Russian POW's in the United States after TDM is one place where I have very little faith in how my fellow Americans would act. The best case scenario I see is camps similar to those seen during the US civil war, which were pretty much death camps due to disease and starvation. Post TDM there will be just so much anger at all levels of command I cannot see the POWs getting anything but the bare minimum of food and medical treatment since millions of Americans are dead and millions more are going without. The worst case scenario I see is mass executions.

[jester]

I doubt the few POWs who do make it to N. America will be left to rot like Andersonvil ala the Civil War, some could suffer due to neglect just due to a lack of basic which will be felt by all in society. I don't think the harm brought by civilians will be as greatly felt as some beleive either.

POWs in N, America will be put to work not just to make the camps self sufficient. But also to be a benefit to the community. Remember human labor will be the main source of getting things done. And we will have just had a massive die off as a result of alot of nasty things. Couple it the poor physical condition of a large segment of the society why waste a resource consisting of laree numbers of healthy men who otherwise could be used for the large scale projects that will be now needed?

Remember durring WWII alot of the German and Italian prisoners were contracted out for farm work as well. Farm work not just for their own prison camps but for many farms within the region. Heck, I can look out my backdoor and see the site of an old Italain POW facility where they repaired damaged tents and vehicles.

But, also consider this. Most POW compounds are placed in isolated and rural communities. So, this should keep them from harm for most of reprisals. And by the time things start getting nasty, I think the locals would see the POWs as more of an asset to their community that would be best safeguarded. Further, the isolation as well as the fear of falling into vengance minded locals or refugees would be another incentive to keep the POWs inline and from escaping.

IF I were running the show! I would break the POWs into small groups of a platoon size and put them in rural communities or farms where they could be put to work with say a fire team or two to monitor and safeguard the POWs. Turn them into more or less self sufficient camps or work groups helping a community with its farming or other agricultural industry, or logging camps, or road repair crews or minning or any other number of industries. This way they would be fairly well dispersed so you do not have a massive concentration in any one area making them a target or having a large number of non workers. Of course the loss of a six to eight men to guard them could mount up, but that is what you use wounded who are recovering or no longer fit for front line service, as well as a few locals to suppliment the guard force.