Title: Italian POWs and a Texas church
Description: Interned in a camp in the Texas panhandle, more than 3,000 Italian POWs spent the last years of World War II an ocean away from their family and friends. A handful of men in camp were artists, and it was this small group of prisoners who struck a deal with the priest of a nearby Catholic church. In exchange for a home-cooked meal each noon, the artists agreed to decorate the plain church with murals and carvings. This compassionate story of courage and kindliness is as enduring as the artwork that still graces the walls of a modest Catholic church in a tiny Texas town.
Subjects: American Prisoners and prisons, Biography, History, Italy, Prisoners of war, St. Mary's Church (Umbarger, Tex.), United States, World War, 1939-1945, Church buildings, united states, Texas, history, local, World war, 1939-1945, prisoners and prisons, american
Places: Hereford (Tex.), Hereford Military Reservation and Reception Center (Tex.), Umbarger (Tex.)
People: Franco Di Bello