The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-10-31

 vOntion, governing treatment of prisoners, requires that each of the ratifying powers set up one of these Prisoner of War Information Bur- eaus, The United States and Ger many ratified this agreement, though Japan never dld,
 For tho United States, the Army handles this work for all services Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, civilians.
 Before Q man can be reported prisoner of war he must first Do re. ported missing in action. This miss ing in action report Is eabl0d to the AdjutNnt Generals Offiee in WNsh- lngton, which immediately pulls the mans records from It's files and re. ports the case to the casualty branch,
 The man doesn't become Q pri- soner of war until ho Is 30 reported by the nation which captured him, or by direct communication in the form of Q capture card received from the prisoner himself, address. cd to his next of kin, Ordinarily however, the first word the next of kin will get Is q telegram from the War Department saying that the man iS missing In action.
 NAMES TRANSMITTED FIRST
 As soon Rs Q man Is captured, the enemy obtains from him such in- formation as his name, rank, serial number, home address and next Of kin, This information Is sent by tho enemy authorities to the interna- tional Red Cross, From IRC ct Geneva, therefore, will come to the War Department Rn Initial cable giving . list of newly reported pris- onerS by name, rank and serial number, From this first list the Prise onef of War Information Bureau prepares information for various identifying agencies which notify the next of kin, giving the relative the first news that the man preWi- ously reported as missing In action iS now Q prisoner of war,
 A copy of this notification is then transferred from the identifying agency to tho Prisoner of War In. formation Bureau of the Provost Marshal Generals 0filee, which fol. lows up the initial telegraphed TO. port with letter to tho next of kin, explaining how and where he may Do communicated with.
 From 90 to % days later there will come second cable from Geneva, confirming names and numbers and specifying the prisoner of war camp to which each man has been as- signed,
 A second letter now goes out to the next of kin, reiaying this new information and enclosing full mail- ing out parcels and tobacco, And in the Prisoner of War Information Bureau the case now becomes Q rec- ord in Q visible stip Ale aS well as on Q machine record card 50 that the bureau has instantly available records on every individual,
 SOME ADVICE TO NEXT OF KIN
 All eorrespondenee with relatives is handled by the bureau. As volume Is increasing, officers request of pri- soners' next of kin;
 Don't write letters either to the bureau or to the Adjutant Generals once when you first get Q missing in action" telegram, It doesn't do any good. Neither department knows any more about any individual miss ing In action case than you do, The second request Is, don't write letters to any other government agency or official. Write only to The Prisoner of War Information Bureau, Provost Marshal Generals Ofiice, Washing ton 26, D. c.
 Once a month the bureaus strip file of names is microfilmed and the film sent to the Ofiice of Censorship In New York, which clears all pri. soner of war mall,
 The punch card index is made out in duplicate. One copy stays in Washington, the other goes to Gen. eral Eisenhower's headquarters, SO that when the armies move Into Ger many. U. s. forces will know just what prisoners have to be accounted for, and where they are.
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