FORT RILEY, Kan. (AP) Delegations from Italy and Germany will take part in a remembrance of World War II prisoners of war who died in the U.S. and are buried at Fort Riley.
Friday’s event is an annual ceremony at the post cemetery. German and Italian officers and enlisted personnel currently stationed at Fort Leavenworth will travel to Fort Riley. Joining them will be Col. William Clark, garrison commander of Fort Riley.
As many as 4,500 POWs from Germany, Italy and Japan were held at Fort Riley between 1943 and 1946. They earned about 80 cents a day working on Fort Riley’s roads and laundry, as well as performing building maintenance.
There are 63 German soldiers and 11 Italian soldiers buried at the cemetery.
