Prisoners of War in New Mexico Agriculture

Abstract of Interview

CONSULTANTS:  Bob and Eileen Parsons, Doyle Cozzens

TAPE NUMBER:  RG2000-097

DATES OF BIRTH:  Unknown

SEX:  Bob: Male,  Eileen: Female,  Doyle: Male

DATE(S) OF INTERVIEW:  July 25, 2000

LOCATION OF INTERVIEW:  Parsons’ home, Fort Sumner, New Mexico

INTERVIEWER:  Robert Hart

SOURCE OF INTERVIEW:  NMF&RHM__x___OTHER____________

TRANSCRIBED:   YES___x____            NO_______

NUMBER OF TAPES:  One

ABSTRACTOR:  Robert Hart

DATE ABSTRACTED:  September 27 & October 5, 2000

QUALITY OF RECORDING (SPECIFY):  Good, but volume slightly low

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE:  Bob Parsons’ teenage memories of Fort Sumner prisoner of war camp and impressions of the prisoners. Eileen Parsons’ and Doyle Cozzens’ childhood memories of their father’s service at Fort Stanton as a guard for Columbus crew internees.

DATE RANGE:  1940-1945

ABSTRACT (IMPORTANT TOPICS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE): 

TAPE ONE, SIDE A:

Description of camp, location, and use of guard dogs. Elder brother’s involvement with Manhattan project and Hiroshima. Other brother member of Board of Economic Warfare.

Interest in air corps. Impression of German POW in air base hospital. Impression of Columbus crew, Fort Stanton. Ate at officer’s mess. Friend working with hog slop. Security at Alamogordo dam. Account of Dr. Hertzer, possible German spy. Secret of

B-29 bomber. Death of a townsperson at base. Joins Marine Corps. Knife incident in town.

TAPE ONE, SIDE B.

Father as guard at Fort Stanton, INS/Border Patrol. Number of internees. Civilian status. Type of sidearm. Eileen taught to use pistols and reflections of escapes. Germans making blood pudding. Physical description of camp. Father’s uniform. Digging potatoes on Loma Grande. Hollis Cummins corroboration of Civilian Conservation Corps camp origins. Internee gardens. John, the trusty, trucked to and from Carrizozo train station. Internees made wooden trunks. Doyle’s western painting. John, the trusty.

Return to list of oral history consultants

Please send questions or comments to: archives@lib.nmsu.edu 

Rio Grande Historical Collections * New Mexico State University Library MSC 3475 * P.O. Box 30006 * Las Cruces, New Mexico 88003-3006 ** Telephone: 505-646-3839 FAX: 505-646-7477