Okinawa 1945: Monroe Sweetland and American Prisoners of War

Abstract

Monroe Sweetland was “A Man for All Seasons,” according to historian William G. Robbins, who is at the beginning stages of writing Sweetland's biography. Born in Oregon and raised in Michigan, Sweetland was a student organizer for the League for Industrial Democracy before returning to the place of his birth to join in founding the Oregon Commonwealth Federation in 1937. In 1943, he joined the American Red Cross and was assigned to the Central Pacific. Part of that assignment involved processing American and Allied prisoners of war on Okinawa, many of whom spent extended periods in Japanese camps. Robbins found Sweetland's remarkable account of those experiences, titled “Hatred, Limited,” which is reproduced in its entirety here.