German prisoners of war at Camp Cooke, California

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About one-seventh of the 2.5 million German servicemen captured by U.S. forces in World War II were transferred to POW camps in the United States. There were over 600 camps located throughout the country, usually at existing military installations--such as Camp Cooke, California, the current site of Vandenberg Air Force Base. While the early prisoners at Camp Cooke included a number of men from the Waffen SS and other fanatical Nazi units, most of the POWs were ordinary soldiers from infantry, armor and airborne divisions. These men were used in the United States to fill labor positions left vacant by wartime demands, but they also were afforded many educational and recreational opportunities. These were the cornerstones of the Army's secret program to "denazify" the POWs. Through the eyes of 14 German prisoners, this is a firsthand account of life in the POW camp at Camp Cooke and the lasting impact it had on prisoners' lives.