WW I German Prisoners Come to Hot Springs, N.C.-- Part 1: From German Ocean Liners

I have been writing about the Chattanooga National Cemetery in my Tattooed On Your Soul:  World War II blog this past week or so.  One of our last two WW II Medal of Honor recipients, Coolidge was recently buried there as was Desmond Doss, another WW II Medal of Honor winner.  He was made famous in the movie "Hacksaw Ridge."

Also, eight members of the Civil War's Andrews' Raiders are buried there.  They are the ones who stole the Confederate locomotive and were chased across northern Georgia.

Another thing I found of interest about the Chattanooga National Cemetery is that there is a monument put up by Nazi Germany on the grounds honor German prisoners who died in the United States during World War I.

From the June 9, 2014, Appalachian History. Net  "First World War I POWs arrive at Hot Springs, NC" by Dave Tabler.

On June 8, 1917, the first of 2,300 German prisoners arrived by train at Hot Springs to begin life in an internment camp.  Their civilian merchant ships had been docked at various  American ports two months earlier when the United States entered World War I.

At that time, the government seized those vessels and declared the crews of those ships to be "alien enemies."

--Cooter