German prisoners attend services for 16 comrades

dc.date.accessioned	2019-08-27T14:23:51Z
dc.date.available	2019-08-27T14:23:51Z
dc.date.issued	1945-11-03
dc.identifier.uri	http://dspace.willardlibrary.org/xmlui/handle/123456789/1000000606
dc.description	German prisoners at Fort Custer base camp attend services on Nov. 3, 1945, for 16 comrades killed in a train-truck accident near Blissfield three days prior. The prisoners were being returned from a work detail in a sugar beet field when the their truck was struck by a passenger train. An American soldier on guard duty also was killed. Eight other prisoners and the truck driver were seriously injured. The Enquirer and News reported that the "Military funerals, including an honor guard of nine American soldiers, were held in accordance with the rules of the Geneva convention. Caskets were draped with the red, white and black flag of the German republic and prisoners served as pall bearers. Seven German flags were flown here from Philadelphia to provide enough flags to drape the caskets." More than two dozen German POWs are buried at Fort Custer National Cemetery, where Volkstrauertag — a day of mourning for Germans known as that nation's memorial day — has been observed each November since 1953.	en_US
dc.format.medium	4x5 BW negative
dc.subject	military fort custer germans POWs	en_US
dc.title	German prisoners attend services for 16 comrades	en_US
dc.type	Image	en_US
dc.description.envelope	German Prisoners of War FORT CUSTER, POW camp. 16 prisoners buried
dc.description.photographer	Enquirer and News
dc.description.taxonomy	Geographic\|Battle Creek Area History\|Wars\|World War II	en_US