Alfred Mueller
Alfred Mueller was taken
prisoner by British forces in Tunisia in 1943. He was transferred to
American custody and shipped to America on a Liberty ship, arriving at
Newport News, Virginia. After an overland trip by train to the
Midwest, Mueller spent time in POW camps in Indianola and Algona, Iowa, and
Greeley, Colorado.
Mueller found the conditions at Algona quite agreeable, as
the prisoners received plenty of food. Like all PWs, Mueller received
pay at 10 cents an hour in coupons which he could use at the exchange to buy
luxuries such as tobacco, beer, and personal items. He also would go
to occasional movies at the camp theater.
While at Camp Algona, Mueller worked in the cold storage
facility, receiving the camp's dairy deliveries and other perishable goods.
Following the war, Mueller returned to Germany for a time,
but eventually received sponsorship to return to America, making his home in
Faribault, Minnesota.