May 4, 2023
FORT WAYNE, Ind. — On Friday evening, Concordia Lutheran High School will host representatives from Taiwan for a special ceremony in relation to a prisoner of war flag that was donated to the high school in 2018.
In November 2018, Larry Meinzen, a 1943 CLHS graduate, presented a flag from a World War II POW camp to Concordia’s JROTC department. The flag was from Japan where Chinese POWs were being held. The flag has since been on display in the JROTC Hall of Honor.
Representing Taiwan, Concordia is honored to welcome the Taipai Economic and Cultural Representative Office, Veterans Division. Over the years, SFC Al Conrad, a JROTC instructor at Concordia, has been working to repatriate the flag. This event is the conclusion of these conversations where those representing Taiwan have said that they would like the flag to remain at Concordia as a sign of friendship and honor between our two countries.
“This story has a lot to do with the history of our school and how our alumni have impacted lives around the world,” Conrad said. “Our Cadets have gone throughout the world and helped a lot of people. Other schools can say that but we can show that because of how God is at work in our student’s lives.”
The origin of how the flag arrived at the high school follows the story of Larry Meinzen.
After graduating from Concordia in 1943, he enlisted in the U.S. Army. After serving in the European Theater, he was transferred to the Pacific Theatre of Operations to take part in the invasion of the Japanese Island. The Japanese forces surrendered before the invasion could take place, and Meinzen was assigned to the Occupation Force. His primary role during this time was preparing Chinese National POWs for repatriation to their homeland. He worked with a group of former POWs, helping them recover from the harsh captivity enforced on them by their captors. The flag that they carried with them — the one currently hanging at Concordia — they hid away and kept safe during their captivity.
Just prior to their repatriation, the senior Chinese Prisoner presented the flag to Meinzen as a thank you for his efforts, care and compassion in helping to rehabilitate those soldiers in their return home.
Meinzen kept the flag until he presented it to Concordia in 2018 during a chapel service.
Concordia Lutheran High School, located at 1601 St. Joe River Drive in Fort Wayne, Ind., was founded in 1935 as a private, co-educational Lutheran high school open to students of all faiths and backgrounds. With Christ at the center, Concordia continues to pursue educational excellence that equips individuals for lifelong learning and service as disciples of Jesus Christ. Learn more at www.clhscadets.com.