About 500 including family members attended the Korean War Ex-POW Association’s annual reunion, representing veterans from the US, Britain, France, Ireland, Australia, Philippines, Korea, Turkey, Mexico, Belgium, Canada and South Africa.
Bill Norwood, Cleveland, Tennessee, founded the POW group in 1976. “In the camps survival depended on the guy next to you,” he said. “I started searching for guys in the 1970s and located 12 from my camp. We got together and talked and talked and talked. It was something we all needed to do.”
The annual reunion still serves as therapy for many. “We are like a family because we all have so much in common,” Norwood said. “What we couldn’t tell to our families we can talk to each other about. That’s why these reunions are so important. It’s a lot better than seeing a psychiatrist and a whole lot cheaper.”
The association operates on donations only and doesn’t charge a registration fee. The association officially meets every year, but smaller groups meet more often.
From a story by Mary Childress in the Daily Mail, Charleston, West Virginia.