POW Museum

Ok, the Andersonville site is also home to the National POW (prisoner of war) museum, which honors all American POWs in all wars. This hand drawn flag on cloth was made by an American prisoner in a Japanese camp during WW2.
Various ID tags for prisoners from WW2 and Vietnam.

This leaflet was given to American soldiers, and said in several languages that they are an American soldier and instructions for any force friend or foe that found them.

This garment was typical of those found at the Andersonville prison camp. An original post from the Andersonville Camp
Handmade crystal radio sets, made by prisoners in Germany and Japan in WW2, despite being highly forbidden.

Original pieces of the Andersonville prison camp including a door crossbeam and gate key.
The B17 on this jacket was hand embroidered by an American while a prisoner.
This ship, made mostly of bone, was constructed entirely while in prison.

Andersonville Village

Ok, so my next big stop was Andersonville, but before going to the prison camp, I stopped in at the village that the camp was named for. The village has been preserved as it would have been during the Civil War, though it consists of little more than a couple houses, a general store, and a couple museums. The museums, however, are th saving grace as they are excellent and contain many valuable Civil War artifacts such as this battle flag that belonged to the 3rd Maryland infantry.

Bullets and shrapnel from the Atlanta area.
Pieces of the original Atlantic cable that allowed communication across the Atlantic between England and Canada. (Supposedly this case alone is worth $16,000!!!!)
Artillery books, fuses, fuse cutters
Playing cards and coins
Bugle, field glasses and silverware

The museums collection of uniforms

Medical supplies

Monument in the center of town to Captain Henry Wirz, who ran the prison camp. Many accused him of intentional mistreatment of prisoners, while other say there is little he could have done.

Charles Lindbergh

Ok, just north east of Americus is a small airfield where Charles Lindbergh (if you don't know who he is, you're reading the wrong blog) flew his first solo flight and bought his first airplane. Today the field is used mainly by local cropdusters.

Views of the field.

Nearby is the South Georgia Technical College, where I found this fine example of an airplane (a Neptune, I believe) and the model F22 on the sign.

Americus... the tornadoes

Ok, so on March 1. 2007, a group of tornadoes ripped across Georgia and Alabama. One of the biggest went through the town of Americus (last post). I decided to include a blog with photos I took of the damage, but made it separate from the blog of historical sites. There are many sites out there with other pictures, much better than mine, here they are. This was the first time I have actually seen tornado damage, though I had heard about it from my parents (who grew up in Michigan.)


This flagpole was part of the Sept 11 memorial (see last post)
This WAS a gazebo.

Oak Grove Cemetary. Note the broken fence, tree roots, and crooked tombstone.

Americus... the history

Ok, so this is my little stint in Americus, Ga. It is a very beautiful town, looking like the perfect little Southern community. While not being a place of any singular significance, it has some things that are certainly historically interesting. Here we see a block of the downtown district, where a Confederate hospital stood during the Civil War.

This is the first office of Habitat for Humanity.
Sumter county courthouse... the new one

The original county courthouse bell, on the grounds of the new courthouse.
Memorial to Sumter county vets, particularly Luther Story, the medal of honor winner (see last post.)

Confederate monument. One in every county...

September 11 memorial
World War I memorial. Interesting considering WWI is included on the memorial at the courthouse.


Confederate section in Oak Grove cemetary.