Former prisoner of war works to help other POWs
By LISA R. HOWELER--Times Reporter
ATHENS -- There was no doubt who the man starring back at Ray VanDuzer from the faded sepia-toned photo was.
It was him 55 years ago, standing in a German prison, holding a piece of wood with letters and numbers across his chest.
Here was the face of a man, solemn, stoic, though almost smirking at his captors.
Here was a photo being held by a man whom VanDuzer had spent 180 days with in a German prison camp during World War II; a man whose mind had been ravaged by dementia and who no longer was sure who stood before him.
"Do you know this man?" Floyd O'Neal asked innocently. "I've been looking for him since the war."
VanDuzer's wife gasped slightly at the sight of the photo.
"That's you, Ray," she said softly.
"Yes, I do know who that is," VanDuzer told his old friend. "That's me."
O'Neal was at the camp when the Russians liberated it.
VanDuzer had already been transferred to another camp.
When his friend saw VanDuzer's photo among other photos of other POWs, he grabbed it, slid it in his pocket and carried it with him for years, intending to track VanDuzer down and find out how he was.
He never did.
Instead, VanDuzer tracked him down.
Now VanDuzer holds the photograph as tangible evidence of the hardships he and so many others endured while serving their country.
When he looks at that photo there must be times he sees thousands of other POWs starring back at him through his own eyes.
Maybe that is why today he volunteers his time helping POWs obtain the monetary benefits they are entitled to.
He and his wife head up the American Ex-Prisoners of War chapter in Seminole, Fla., where VanDuzer now lives.
Together the couple works to ensure ex-prisoners of war realize they can be reimbursed for the various ailments they developed during their service.
"We are trying to find these ex-POW's who are not aware of these benefits," VanDuzer said.
He said when an ex-prisoner is found they are given the necessary forms to fill out, his office submits those forms to the Department of Veterans Affairs near them and the process is taken over at the local level from there.
Even though the organization works to help all ex-prisoners of war, VanDuzer does have a special place in his heart for those who were prisoners of war during World War II.
"Ex-prisoners of war veterans such as those in World War II are dying at a rate of 1,000 per day," VanDuzer said. "And a lot of them have gone to their grave without receiving anything."
More information about the efforts of the National American Ex-Prisoners of War can be obtained by contacting Ray or Janet VanDuzer, National Service Officers, at (727) 593-1813, (727) 319-5914, or emailing jrvanduzer@hotmail.com.
Copyright © 2004 Sayre Evening Times