House Seeks Honors For U.S. Airmen Held In Nazi Concentration Camp

The House is urging President Clinton to issue a proclamation honoring 82 U.S. airmen who were held as political prisoners at a Nazi concentration camp during World War II.

Sponsors of a resolution approved on a voice vote Tuesday said allied governments and foreign veterans’ groups have recognized servicemen from their countries who were held at the Buchenwald camp and said it was time for the United States to act accordingly.

The resolution says the 82 were among a group of 168 allied airmen who were captured and held at the camp in Weimar, Germany. Memoirs, books and articles have described conditions at the camp and documented the inhumane treatment and personal suffering that the inmates endured.

Rep. David Weldon, R-Fla., said the Americans deserved recognition: “Tragically, we have never formally recognized these men for their service, sacrifice and suffering.”