Tombstones of Civil War victims dot the countryside near the POW museum

From CNN Correspondent Larry Woods

ANDERSONVILLE, Georgia (CNN) -- The sweeping grounds of the infamous Andersonville Prison -- where almost 13,000 Union soldiers perished during the Civil War -- have for years served as a reminder of man's inhumanity to man.

Exhibits re-create POW prisons like this solitary confinement chamber used in Vietnam

Now, on what was once 26 acres of living hell, a shrine to the brutal and debasing conduct of all wars has been erected. After 12 years of work, the $5.8 million National Prisoner of War Museum opens Thursday, with an array of exhibits and memorabilia detailing the experiences of POWs from the Revolutionary War through the Persian Gulf War. Artwork in the courtyard will be unveiled Wednesday.

Historic site officer Fred Boyles is mindful the museum could invoke sadness and anger among visitors -- and some of the expected 5,000 former POWs who will be present when the museum is dedicated. But he says the museum can be uplifting.

"It helps to get an appreciation of ... what people have done to give us the freedoms we have," he says.

A tour of the 10,000-square-foot (900-square-meter) complex brings to life the cruel confinements of Vietnam: the cement cross survivors made to honor the victims of the Bataan Death March, interactive programs using film footage of captured soldiers and stories that only prisoners could tell.

A history of prisoners of war: 2:45 Vxtreme streaming video

Sculptor Donna L. Dobberfuhl, whose high-relief wall sculpture is a centerpiece for the museum, trusts that visitors will appreciate her interpretation of the men and women deprived of freedom.

"I tried to do the sculpture where it wasn't so brutal," she explains. "I just want them to feel the emotion of it, but not the horror of it so much. They'll get plenty of that in the museum."

Park officials estimate it could take up to two hours to tour the building, which is located just a few miles outside Americus, Georgia. Mostly, visitors are left to stroll the museum alone, absorb the contents at their own pace, and try to envision what it must have been like for the 800,000 American who have become prisoners in the nation's battles.

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Weather: Americus, Georgia City Guides and Maps: Georgia

Related stories:

• Remains of U.S. soldiers returned from North Korea - August 4, 1997
• U.S., North Korea agree to dig for MIAs - May 15, 1997
• Eisenhower knew POWs remained in Korea - September 17, 1996
• New law aids quest for MIA-POW leads - March 10, 1996

Related sites:

• National Prisoner of War Museum - Dedication Ceremony page
• Andersonville NHS Home Page
• POW/MIA
• The War Chest Program and Political Prisoners (PP) and Prisoners of War (POW)

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