The Greenville Advocate (Greenville, Illinois) newspaper clippings titled “Cpl. Chas. A. Stewart, Jap Prisoner Nearly Four Years, Tells of Tortures.” Corporal Stewart is listed as being a grandson of Robert Breuer and a great nephew of Mrs. Anna Birnstiehl of Greenville, Illinois. Mentions Hal P. Mills, Kansas City, Missouri, as a friend who accompanied Stewart to Greenville to be interviewed for the article. Other prisoners of war mentioned are four Doolittle flyers and J.B. Powell, a New York newspaper man. Mentions Stewart was cellmate with Commander W.S. Cunningham [Winfield Scott Cunningham], U.S. Navy captain, Sgt. R.L. Coulson of the Marines, C.T. Brewer, pharmacists mate second class, Cpl. Chas. W. Brimmer, Cpl. C.G. Battles of the Marines and Pat Herndon, a civilian contractor., 1945 Oct 25

Item — Box: 1, Folder: 2

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

The collection consists of correspondence from Charles A. Stewart, Jr., to his family, various newspaper articles and clippings, and a scrapbook, that document his military service during World War II and his time as a prisoner of war. The correspondence includes letters from Charles A. Stewart Jr. to his family in which he discusses general conditions as a prisoner of war, but without detail presumably due to censorship. The correspondence also includes a letter from Commander Winfield Scott Cunningham, with whom Charles A. Stewart, Jr., was briefly imprisoned. The scrapbook, presumably put together by Mrs. Grace Stewart, was donated unbound and the original order has been lost. It includes photographs of Charles A. Stewart, Jr., during his service and World War II ephemera. The scrapbook also includes a signed letter from President Harry S. Truman to Charles A. Stewart, Jr., November 29, 1945, expressing gratitude for Stewart’s military service. The newspaper articles headline pivotal moments of World War II before and after the United States’ declaration of war.