Forty-Niners Chapter American Ex-Prisoners of War (AX-POW)

Most AXPOW members in California, and the nation, were WW II POWs, wives and survivors. That war was a long time ago and few of these POWs and wives are left. We have several Korean War and Viet Nam POWs on the national level, but their numbers are not large. There were only just under 800 American POWs captured and held in Viet Nam. Many, if not most, were air crew members from aircraft shot down in the North (example, John McCain) during the war. Americans (mostly infantry) captured in the South usually did not make it.

Over 130,000 American military in WW II were captured in the two theaters of war, the European Theater of Operations (ETO) and the Pacific Theater of Operations (PTO). The death rate of American military POWs held in European camps was approximately 1.1 percent. The death rate of American military POWs held in the Pacific/Asian regions was 37 percent. Over 400,000 American military personnel were killed in WW II in the two theaters. Over 70,000 are still missing in action (MIA) from that war. Some 16M men and women served their country in WW II. Over 50M people worldwide died in the war.

Our AXPOW National CEO was an F-15E pilot in the first Gulf War (George H.W. Bush) and was shot down early in 1991 by a SAM missile. He was a guest of the Iraqis for 30+ days. He is a retired full colonel, USAF.