Prisoners of War in New Mexico Agriculture

Abstract of Interview

CONSULTANT: John Johnson  

TAPE NUMBER:  RG2000-074

DATE OF BIRTH: September 18, 1927

SEX: Male

DATE(S) OF INTERVIEW: July 7, 2000

LOCATION OF INTERVIEW: Johnson’s store, Lordsburg, New Mexico

INTERVIEWER: Mollie Pressler

SOURCE OF INTERVIEW:  NMF&RHM_x____OTHER__________

TRANSCRIBED:      YES_x____            NO_______

NUMBER OF TAPES: One  

ABSTRACTOR: Sylvia Wheeler

DATE ABSTRACTED: April 20, 2001

QUALITY OF RECORDING (SPECIFY): Good

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE:  John Johnson, living in Lordsburg, New Mexico, recalls the prisoner of war camp located there during World War II.  

DATE RANGE: 1941-1945

ABSTRACT (IMPORTANT TOPICS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE):

TAPE ONE, SIDE A:

John Johnson, born September 18, 1927, moved to Lordsburg, New Mexico in 1928. He first heard that a prisoner of war (POW) camp was to be located east of Lordsburg in 1941, after Pearl Harbor.

His father owned a fountain and gift shop where many of the soldiers stationed at the POW camp shopped. He felt that business would improve with the camp nearby. 

First, the camp held Japanese-Americans as internees, then after they left Italians and German POWs were imprisoned there.

He remembers V-J Day, August 1945, as a big celebration. He joined the army at the tail end of the war. 

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