DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll give it to you straight as I can. Somewhere in Karnes County, Texas, tucked into the quiet ground near Kenedy, there's a cemetery that holds a story most people drive right past without ever knowing. World War II reached a lot of places you wouldn't expect — and this is one of them.
During the war, the United States established three internment camps in Texas for alien civilians. Not soldiers, mind you — civilians. People pulled from their lives in the U.S. and from Latin America.
German, Japanese, and Italian detainees. The government was running an exchange program: repatriate these detainees in trade for American prisoners held overseas. That was the arrangement.
That was the math of it. One of those three camps was right here in Kenedy. It opened on April 21, 1942, and over the next thirty months, it housed more than thirty-five hundred internees.
Think on that number a moment. Thirty-five hundred people, passing through this patch of South Texas. Not all of them passed through.
Five of those people died while confined in the camp. Five. And they are buried here, in this ground, in this cemetery.
The camp didn't stay an internment facility the whole time. From 1944 until 1946, the site became a branch prisoner of war camp for Fort Sam Houston. The place kept changing hands, kept changing purpose, even as those five graves stayed right where they were.
Years went by. Decades. Then in 1976, the El Cibolo Chapter of the D.A.R. came out and marked the gravesites.
Someone made sure those five would not be forgotten entirely. And now there's a marker here too, placed in 2006, standing over ground designated a Historic Texas Cemetery in 2005, making sure that anyone who stops long enough hears what this quiet corner of Karnes County has been holding onto all this time.
What the marker says
During World War II, the U.S. established three internment camps in Texas for alien civilians in the U.S. and Latin America, and one was located in Kenedy. The U.S. repatriated German, Japanese and Italian detainees in trade for American prisoners held overseas. The Kenedy camp opened on April 21, 1942, and over the next 30 months it housed more than 3,500 internees. Five who died while confined in the camp are buried here. The site became a branch P.O.W. camp for Fort Sam Houston from 1944 until 1946. In 1976, the El Cibolo Chapter of the D.A.R. marked the gravesites. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2005