May 5, 2011: I had an email yesterday from Mary Lu Turner Keef. This was in response to my inquiry about whether or not she remembered Mr. James Cicero Fancher. (See May 3 post.)

Mary Lu (Photo below when she was an elementary school student in Aliceville) wrote that she did not remember him–only the civilian housing residents who lived near her family and those who were friends of her parents. She did add some additional memories of living near Camp Aliceville as a child:

Mary Lu commented that the photograph of Camille looked as if it had been taken in front of the grandparents' home. "I don't think we ever used our front door," wrote Mary Lu, "although my mother planted a small bed of cosmos in front of our unit. The back of the unit had a walk (either cement blocks or narrow pavement….) from the back door to a wider walk that ran the length of the building." She wrote that each unit had its own clothesline, which was quite visible. The backs of the units faced each other so residents could share the walkway that led to a parking lot at one end. At the other end, a road led to the community center.

At some point in the future, Mary Lu plans to donate her Camp Aliceville mementos to the Aliceville Museum. Among those would be the ceramic mug (left) that was created from Alabama clay and fired in the Camp Aliceville kiln. It is painted on three sides. This one shows Tunis, the city in North Africa where the German POW who created it was captured. Another side shows Berlin, the home of that POW. The third side shows New York City where the POW first arrived in the United States.

All of us are grateful to Mary Lu for the many memories of World War II she has shared with the Museum and with the readers of my book.

May 3, 2011

When I gave a talk about Guests Behind the Barbed Wire recently at a meeting of Beta Sigma Phi sorority, I was pleased to meet the granddaughter of a man who worked with the German prisoners of war at Camp Aliceville. As a civilian employee, James Cicero Fancher (See photo below.) made repairs around the camp and also taught carpentry skills to the POWs.

Mr. Fancher's granddaughter was a small child when her grandparents lived in what she remembers as "a row of concrete block houses not far from the camp." This would have been the housing built for civilian employees, and the same area where Mary Lu Turner, who is featured in my book, lived with her parents for three years during the war.  (NOTE: See the post for May 5, 2011 for more of Mary Lu's memories in connection with this.)

This photo (at left) shows Mr. Fancher's granddaughter Camille, who was 4 1/2 years old at the time, standing outside her grandparents' Aliceville home in the summer or fall of 1944. Camille is interested in learning more about her grandfather's experiences in Aliceville during WWII.

If any of my readers remember Mr. Fancher, who passed away in 1959, and his work with the camp, please let me know, and I will forward your information to Camille.

May 4, 2011 Update: Aliceville Museum Director Mary Bess Paluzzi confirmed today that Mr. James Cicero Fancher is listed as an employee of the Army Corps of Engineers at Camp Aliceville during World War II. She suggested that he probably worked for Mr. Ward Turner during that time. (NOTE: See Mary Lu Turner Keef's response in the post dated May 5, 2011 that follows this one.)