Korean War POWs share experiences in new book

Courtesy of The Clermont Sun

A book by William C. Latham, Jr., describing the ordeal of American POWs in the Korean War, has been published by the Texas A&M University Press.

Latham is the son of Bill and Mary Pat Latham, publishers of The Clermont Sun and Brown County Press and former owners of The Highland County Press from 1999-2009.

Latham attended Batavia schools, and worked summers as a reporter for the family newspaper.

After graduation from St. Xavier High School and Georgetown University, he became a career Army officer, serving as a helicopter pilot during Operation Desert Storm in Iraq, and later as an English professor and speech writer for the commandant at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York.

His book, "Cold Days in Hell: American POWs in Korea" was 12 years in the making.

In 2000, Latham met several former prisoners of war at a survivors reunion at West Point, and decided to record their stories. He continued interviewing former prisoners, did extensive research on the history of the Korean War and assembled the material into a book.

"Cold Days in Hell" has received a warm response from reviewers. Robert C. Doyle, professor of history at Franciscan University of Steubenville and a leading expert on the treatment of enemy combatants and prisoners of war, writes: "The writing is outstanding in form and content. When Latham describes the battles, captures, long marches, prison camps, it feels as if I actually was there…reads more like a work of literature than a work of history…exciting from beginning to end….superbly researched…excellent primary and secondary sources……a wonderful contribution to American military history."

Lewis H. Carlson, author of "Remembered: Prisoners of a Forgotten War," comments: "For too long, the Korean War, in general, and its POWs, in particular, have received scant attention, and what has emerged has distorted the experience of American POWs, often for political reasons.

Latham's "Cold Days in Hell: American POWs in Korea" will lead among those attempting to square the record."

Latham retired from the Army as a Lt. Colonel in 2006, and now is a course director at the U.S. Army Logistics University, Ft. Lee, Va. His book is available at Amazon.com and at Barnes & Noble bookstores.