More than a decade ago I wrote five posts about American prisoner of war Willman King on this site. 

Willman, from Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, was inducted into the service in October 1941. After training in the U.S., he was sent overseas. He participated in the November 1942 Allied invasion of North Africa, and the following month was captured in Tunisia. He was interned in PG 59, from which he escaped in September 1943. Like many other escapees, Willman was cared for by local Italians. 

Willman’s son Joseph was my contact when I wrote those five posts. Confident that Joseph and I had exhausted all the material there was to share about Willman, I didn’t expect to hear further from Willman’s family. So I was surprised in September to hear from Rena Buhr, one of Willman’s daughters.

”I am preparing to visit Italy in early November,” Rena wrote. ”I would love to have any insight into a visit to Camp 59—what to expect and amount of time to explore.” We began an exchange of emails. She used the word “pilgrimage” to describe the trip.

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