This chapter details the history of U.S. POW treatment from the Revolutionary War through the Korean War to demonstrate the consistent importance bestowed upon the use of humane methods. Particular attention is paid to the application of the Geneva Conventions in U.S. policy, military doctrine, and domestic law, as these international legal statutes have come to represent the core of international humanitarian law. Chapter 2 shows that while the United States struggled at times to adapt to new and unforeseen scenarios, it always worked to address these ambiguities from the perspective of reinforcing, rather than challenging, the norm of humane treatment.
