This small collection documents Rohman’s military service, including letters he wrote home before and after his captivity and material from his postwar life. A 1950 pre-capture letter to his mother notes, “This is the worst country in the whole world to be in . . . mosquitoes at night and flies in the day.” The eight letters he wrote to his family while imprisoned were subject to censorship and have a decidedly more positive tone. One dated December 8, 1951, written after more than a year in the camp, says that “we here are allowed to have our Christmas programs and holiday services too.” Seven months later, he wrote, “All the fellows over here are fine and in good health. The only things that worry them are that when they get home that they will be years behind time.”

Among the collection are his family’s correspondence with army officials and US Senator B. Russell Long notifying them of his release, as well as two notable documents related to his 1995 claim for compensation as a former POW. The first is a letter of support written by his wife, Jacqueline, that details the lasting impact of his experience. Rohman, she wrote, “still has nightmares and jumps in his sleep. Very seldom does he sleep completely through the night.” The second lists medical conditions he suffered because of his captivity, including “visual impairment, eye ulcers; pneumonia; skin disease; malaria; beri-beri; pellagra; dysentery; worms; vitamin deficiency.”

Leonard Rohman’s sons, Darrell and Kyle, were joined by their cousins and their father’s two surviving sisters as they donated their father’s collection to HNOC.  The visit included the surprise presentation by their cousin of a congressional proclamation honoring their father’s service which was donated along with the papers.