Voices of Arizona is a special segment where KJZZ spotlights everyday Arizonans who help make our state an extraordinary place to live.
This time, we talk to a woman determined to preserve two military barracks from Camp Papago Park — a WWII prisoner of war camp.
Tucked near the Loop 101 and the Salt River sit two weathered, wooden huts — barracks, from another era.
One housed U.S. soldiers.
“The one from the American side, the one we're standing next to, actually is made out of … it's redwood. It's redwood inside," explains Darlene Justus, the co-founder of the Tempe Historic Preservation Foundation.
The other hut housed German POWs.
“And the one for the POWs was made of pine. They were made quite quickly because the war was going on," Justus said.
For the last 20 years, Justus has worked to preserve these buildings, including a recent effort to save them from being destroyed. Now she’s 81.
“This is my last rodeo. I've lived in Tempe for 64 years. And this is the big project that's got to get done before I can sit back more," Justus said.
To Justus, the barracks aren’t just old wood and nails — they’re stories. Like the time 25 POWs escaped.
“One of them had found a map," she says. "The map showed the Gila River going down to the ocean. They did not understand that there was a dry river.”
Justus says the Arizona Heritage Center hopes to take custody of the barracks. If all goes as planned, these two pieces of Arizona history could be on display there by next year.
