Camp Concordia celebrates Victory Day

The Concordia POW Camp & Museum held its annual Victory Day Celebration on Saturday, May 1. The day coincided with the date, 78 years ago, when the POW Camp was officially turned over to the US Government and captured German soldiers were sent to Concordia for internment.
Laura Hansen, president of the POW Camp Concordia Preservation Society, said the group began preparing for the event last fall. "We were slowed down because of Covid, but we really started to get things going in February. Our goal is to preserve the history of this camp and share it with locals and out-of-towners."
The celebration began with an opening prayer by pastor Dwight Whitead of the Fellowship Christian Church. The honor guard then presented the colors, raising the American and POW/MIA flags.
Tours were conducted throughout the morning and afternoon. A dozen World War II reenactors, including Brendon and Ranea Cordero, Jason Drinkard, and Brian Adiwinata demonstrated weapons used during the war and reenacted a battle between Allied and German soldiers.
Everett Miller was on hand to witness the celebration. Miller, along with the late Paul Rimovksy, was one of the founding fathers of the POW Camp Museum. "We started talking about doing this about 15 years ago," Miller said, "and then we finally decided, well, we better do something about it. When you look back on what we started with, it's pretty amazing. It's sad this year, though, because this will be the first time without Paul."
Other events throughout the day included a DAR presentation and then a Q & A with Ted Thoman.
Events in the afternoon kicked off with a showing of the film 'Prisoners Of Plenty'. Then a trio of Concordia High School drama students performed music of the legendary Andrews Sister.
The day-long celebration ended with the film 'Stalag Sunflower'.
Zach Whitead, on active duty in the U.S. Navy, came to the celebration with his wife, Cynde, and their two children. "We thought we ought to come out and see it all," Whitead said, "and I'm glad we did. It's really cool."