Letter to the Editor:

Saw your Sunday, Nov. 7 article on the program sponsored by WILL and the Silver City Museum in reference to Fort Bayard. It was newsy and well done. Unfortunately, the speakers, including the president of the FBHPS, Doug Dinwiddie in his historical summary, neglected to mention an important role the fort played in the 1940s.

From March 9, 1945 until March 31, 1946, Fort Bayard housed about 100 WWII German prisoners of war brought from the larger POW camp at Lordsburg. These men helped maintain the residential grounds and the cemetery and assisted in the hospital. The prisoners were housed in an old three-story structure used earlier as triage and an infirmary. The concrete foundation of this building is located about one-quarter mile north of the theater and about 300 yards southeast of the large water tower.

My book, titled "World War II Prisoner of War Camps in Southwest New Mexico," the people at HistoriCorps and FBHPS may want to look at as they deliberate on the future of the old fort.

Roger Lanse
Grant County