The Battling Bastards of Bataan

Japanese World War II propaganda booklets

2016-10-12T23:58:00.002-07:00

The image below is the cover of a Japanese propaganda booklet, titled Manifesto for Greater East Asian Co-Operation. The booklet targeted a younger audience and claimed how the west's military might "have done all these bad things to us." The original images were published by from 2Bangkok.com.
These pages, found in another booklet, were obviously meant to discourage American soldiers. Click the images for the large versions.

Video: What Was The Bataan Death March?

2011-04-09T02:23:00.000-07:00

Video: The Battle of Manila

2007-07-16T22:20:00.000-07:00

A Bataan Death March documentary

2007-06-19T03:31:00.001-07:00

Newsround: Bataan Death March

2007-06-19T03:17:00.000-07:00

Reds Play-By-Play Man Apologizes For 'Bataan Death March' Quip

CINCINNATI -- Broadcaster Marty Brennaman apologized on the air for comparing to the Cincinnati Reds' upcoming road trip to the Bataan Death March.

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Thousands of captured U.S. and Filipino soldiers were forced to walk 70 miles to a concentration camp during World War II, many dying along the way. A radio listener in New Mexico heard Brennaman's remark about Bataan and sent the Reds an e-mail objecting to the comparison.

Family photo helped man survive death march

A family photograph gave one Sandpoint man the will to survive the Bataan Death March. Herb Johnson was 24 when he joined the Army Air Corps in 1939.

He was stationed in the Philippines in October 1941 when the Japanese bombed Clark Field, including the soldiers' quarters.

The photograph of Johnson's family taken by Sandpoint photographer Ross Hall was salvaged from the debris, according to a note written by Johnson that his son Gary recently rediscovered

Bataan survivor dies at 88

One of New Mexico's last survivors of the infamous Bataan Death March has died.
Clifford "Smokey" Martinez of Las Cruces died Thursday at Memorial Medical Center. He was 88.

Footage: Bataan Death March

2007-05-31T07:39:00.000-07:00

Manila 1945: The Forgotten Atrocity (DVD)

2007-05-30T03:13:00.000-07:00

At the Manila Hotel, in early 1942, Tojo drinks a toast with the leaders of Manila’s clergy.

The absurdity about the picture above is, only three years later, in February, 1945, almost all the priests seen in this picture will have been brutally murdered by elements of the Japanese Imperial Forces when the Japanese declared war on the civilian population of Manila.

Murdered Children on the Streets of Manila

Manila: 1945
“The Forgotten Atrocity”

Peter Parsons directed and produced the most historically accurate documentary on the Manila Massacre we have ever seen, with the boldest footage of the massacre.

This documentary shows that the Manila Massacre was a systematic military operation carried out by elements of the Japanese Imperial Forces. It denies the Japanese their lie that the massacre was simply random acts of a few soldiers who had run amok.

“The Battling Bastards of Bataan” endorses this documentary.

If you wish to purchase a copy of this DVD or if you have any questions, please contact Peter Parsons at ppars@aol.com.

A Statement of Peace and Reconciliation

2007-05-21T00:33:00.001-07:00

On February 27 to March 20, 2001, a group of students under Prof. Tsuoshi Amemiya of Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo, Japan visited the Philippines.

Learning about the atrocities that the Japanese Imperial Army committed during its invasion of the country moved the students into sending the following letter. Click the thumbnails for the full sizes.

"We are ashamed to confess that we did not know this undeniable fact of history; that is, Filipinos were totally deprived of their human rights by the Japanese Military, the result being all the brutalities."

Doolittle Raid Photos

2007-05-08T03:40:00.000-07:00

Crew 16 was captured by the Japanese after bailing out. Lt. Farrow (front left) and Sgt. Spatz (extreme right) were executed on 15 Oct 1942 along with Lt. Hallmark from Crew 6.

Crew 11. Capt. Ross Green (front left) was shot down over North Africa on 17 Jul 1943. He was Captured – Escaped – Recaptured and spent the rest of the war as a POW.

Crew 12. Sgt. Duquette (extreme right) was killed 6 weeks after the raid when his plane hit a mountain in China while returning from a bombing mission.

Crew 8 landed near Vladivostok with engine trouble and were interned in Russia until they escaped through Iran in May 1943.

Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle and Crew. Dick Cole, 2nd from right, a member of the Greatest Generation, remains active on his farm in Comfort, Texas.

Summary:

80 Men flew from the Hornet on 18 April 1942
3 were killed bailing out
8 were captured by the Japanese
3 POWs were executed
1 died of malnutrition and mistreatment
4 were repatriated 40 months into captivity
10 were KIA in Europe, North Africa & Indo-China
4 were shot down and interred as German POWs

On the 65th anniversary of Bataan Death March

2007-04-09T01:27:00.000-07:00

A Visit To Recaptured Camp O’Donnell Where Martyrs Of The Famous “March Of Death” From Fallen Bataan Now Sleep.

By Clark Lee – INS Staff Correspondent

Camp O’Donnell Prison Camp, Tarlac Province, Luzon – (INS) –

Here are the graves where they sleep – these martyrs in American uniforms who were victims of the cruelest mass atrocities in our country’s history.

Here are the crosses, the broken, charred, weather-beaten, rotted patches of pitiful wood – unmarked and unnumbered – that are scattered helter-skelter over the grass-covered mounds where at last, free of misery beyond human endurance, each man shares his final resting place with his comrades.

Here is their Calvary, these grass-grown slopes with the paths which dying men trod up to the graveyard with their lifeless burdens – paths up which soon-to-be-dead-men carried the unlettered crosses that now mark their own graves.

Here are the covered dugouts where, safe from sun and rain, the Japanese sentries thumbed triggers and their machine-guns and laughed at the living skeletons who wearily scooped out the shallow graves in which they were to lie.

Beer bottles are still there – beer bottles from which the Japanese drank while Americans and Filipinos fell to the ground gasping from thirst. Yellowed butts from their cigarettes are still there, and cans from which they ate while their prisoners collapsed from hunger.

It will take some days to determine the final ghastly toll of the dead in this prison camp where the men of Bataan lie.

Today alone, I counted the graves of more than 3,500 Filipinos and several hundred Americans.

There are the names of some of the Bataan heroes who came to the end of the road on these slopes – a few names on crosses and a few on metal identifications attached to broken crosses and thrown carelessly into clumps of grass by Japanese sightseers.

You read American and Filipino names – names that still can’t be announced because of the possibility their families have not been notified.

There is the name of a private of the 71st Philippine infantry regiment who died May 19, 1942.

There is the name of a Janesville, Wis., tank-man who died in the summer of 1942.

There are the names of boys from Hartford, Conn., from New York City, and from Pennsylvania towns.

Camp O’Donnell, formerly an American army installation and afterward the barracks for a Philippines division, stands on the grass-covered, uncultivated western Tarlac plains, a few miles from the Purple Zambales mountain range.

It was here that the Death March from Bataan ended in April of 1942. Prisoners were marched from Bataan to San Fernando with only scraps of food and those who fell by the wayside were bayoneted or shot. The sick, starved, thirsty, wounded men were forced to march northward to this camp. In O’Donnell, the real torment began.

Today the only buildings standing are those formerly occupied by the Japanese commandant and prison guards.

Most of the Filipinos were released, by September, 1942. Later, in a gesture of friendship, the Japanese puppet Republic of the Philippines was inaugurated.

The other buildings on the treeless slope were burned down, most of them apparently some time ago, but one was still smoldering when we arrived. All that remains is ashes and triple strands of barbed wire that surrounded each small weather-beaten gray-black shack where the prisoners were crowded together and slept on the floor.

The camp area was surrounded by double fences of barbed wire while around the Japanese quarters were circular dugouts with fire-ports pointing in all directions and barbed wire with tin cans tied to the strands to give warning if the prisoners attempted to attack.

From the Filipinos who were released, we already have the story of a deliberate program of starving prisoners to death. Crosses marking the graves show that some, already terribly weakened in the battle of Bataan, gave up the fight early while others, already human skeletons with each bone showing through near transparent skin, clung grimly to life for over two years The prisoners had no medicine. Emaciated and suffering from malnutrition, they fell easy victims to disease.

Much of their working time must have been taken up with digging graves, fifteen feet long, sixteen feet wide and only eighteen inches deep in which five bodies were laid crosswise.

Too weakened to do any unnecessary digging – or perhaps feeling that even in death each man’s body should not touch his neighbor – the prisoners left foot-long piles of earth projecting toward the center of the grave from the head and from the foot of each scooped out hole that now shelters an American or Filipino.

The Japanese obviously attempted to conceal evidence of their crimes. In addition to burning buildings which had housed the prisoners, and thus destroying any torture instruments that may have existed, they set fire to grass in the Filipino graveyard and most of the crosses were burned destroying records. They apparently hoped the American graveyard which is across a dirt road from the main camp would go unnoticed and accordingly allowed grass, weeds and tall reeds to grow to heights up to ten feet.

We sighted the American burial ground only when the wind blew back the reeds giving us a glimpse of a white monument. A path leads there from the ashes of the huts.

The site is so overgrown that it is impossible even to tell the size of the cemetery but is appears to be about 100 by 150 yards with the grass covered grave mounds separated from each other by about a foot. It is a mass of tangled graves completely untended and some graves are still unfilled.

The monument is a seven foot cross made of white cement and on the base of it in barely readable letters is inscribed: “In Memory of the American dead - O’Donnell War Personnel Enclosure.”

The wooden crosses are made of laths, two feet long by one foot wide and fastened together with two rusted nails. The crosses had apparently been ripped from the graves which they marked and thrown deliberately into the underbrush. A few of them had identification tags attached to the nails and were lying nearby.

These crosses appeared to have been broken off as if torn from the earth.

There were other crosses too, fifty newer ones lying awaiting victims near the monument which the Japanese built in memory of the helpless men they deliberately killed.

A large white monument arising from a twenty foot base with a low stone wall around it, attracted us to the Filipino burial ground a quarter of a mile across the fields from the main camp. Here some effort had been made to keep track of the total victims of Japan’s “Greater East Asia” program. The graves were in sections numbered in Roman characters. There were thirty sections, each four rows deep and up to fifteen plots wide. The whole covering more than a quarter of a mile in depth.

“The officers’ section” with individual graves is in front of the monument on which is written in Filipino: “In deep remembrance of the Filipinos who died in this place. The whole hearted thoughts of their friends and comrades are with them.”

Beyond the monument are row after row of common unmarked graves covered with burnt grass and each holding bodies of five Filipinos.

Several large graves were unfilled and besides one there were the wooden handles of two stretchers which were charred but not destroyed by fire.

It was easy to picture the living ghosts of men staggering out of the barracks with the bodies of their comrades who escaped from this tortured hell in death during the night and stumbling down the long, now, charred duck-board path, past the well kept Jap latrines, through the ten foot high wooden Jap “tori” gate, up past the monument and on across the field to the latest grave where the uncoffined remains were laid and dirt shoveled in the still faces.

In the ashes of a burned building we found three old style fire rusted helmets of the type Americans wore on Bataan. We found one battered American canteen cup, and one piece of leather from a shoe.

Those and the graves and the ashes and the monument which the imperial Jap army built and the one constructed by the Filipino soldiers were all that were left to tell of the terror and the torture and the torment…

Those things and one other. On one cross in the Filipino cemetery – a cross larger than most – was carved: “Men have died so that their country may live and only those who are willing to die…”

The sentence stops there where death stayed the hand of the man who was willing to die so his country might live.

(Clark Lee was an AP reporter who was on Bataan, before being evacuated to Australia. Lee was one of the few reporters who visited the front lines. Lee wrote a book titled, “They Call It the Pacific.” )

The Beat Goes On!

2007-03-27T23:28:00.000-07:00

It would be better if the "beat" were replaced by myths, untruths, outright knowing lies, misleading relatives.

Our founder, Major Richard Gordon and I, plus many other Bataan Veterans have often discussed this. Our BBB Motto is "IN PURSUIT OF TRUTH". After 65 years, "The Beat Goes On". We still receive inquiries from next of kin, families, and friends that were told their relative was on the Bataan Death March. We even received them from some that were in Europe!! Most of the time, 99.9% of the time, we can verify such claims or disapprove it. We expose such "wannabees" without mercy. Why so many want to claim they were on the Death March is very puzzling to us. As one BGen wrote, it amounts to stolen valor. It degrades those that were on the Bataan Death March and is an insult to the memory of those we lost on the March and at O'Donnell.

Today there are laws against claiming awards that are false, but people can still lie about where they served or, even if they were there, and what they did. Believe me, most reporters, who interview these veterans, never check for the facts. Most reporters become upset with the BBB (Battling Bastards of Bataan) when we tell them the TRUTH. History should not be what you want it to be.

One Service Organization, I believe it is the VFW, has a special unit that checks claims and when proven to be false, CALLS THEM LIARS. Such information is published in their Magazine. There are a lot of "wannabees" in today’s conflicts as well.

For years the ADBC QUAN has been and still is one of the worse perpetuators of these untruths, etc… Apparently, there is no Quality Control (QC) in what is printed in the Quan.

THREE RECENT EXAMPLES:

In Vol. 61, Number 3, November-December 2006 issue:

World War II Death March Survivor Honored Sparks, By John Tyson.

Notes that the LAST survivor of the BDM was honored. An OUTRIGHT FALSE STATEMENT AND ANYONE THAT WAS THERE BY A GLANCE WOULD KNOW IT WAS FALSE.

The person so honored, George Small, came to my F CO, US 31ST INF, in early February 1942, shortly after our Abucay Hacienda battle. He is not even close to being the last survivor of the BDM. He is not even the oldest, close maybe, but we had a 98 year old at BAMC that had not even had his POW Protocol Exam!! .

The story goes on that the Japs killed thousands of AMERICANS on the BDM. Wrong again. The best figure, based on personnel reports and the number that made it to O'Donnell, that about 730-750 Americans died on the BDM. And, that is too many… Thousands died in one way only if one included the 4,000 + Filipino Soldiers who died on the March. THERE WERE NO ROSTERS ON THE BDM.

"60 years after the March" by Andrew Sirochi

Reads in part, “they about 4,000 strong ---on Bataan----and were marched to MUKDEN. Only 700 alive… 3 years later!” WOW! From Bataan to China!!! And we thought the trip from Mariveles to O'Donnell was long!!! This is so bad it needs no explanation! What a classic example of gross miss-information.

"Bataan Survivor tells story to Students”

This story implies that ADBC PNC Ed Jackfert made the BDM. He was not quoted as saying he was a Death March Survivor, but the article implies he was a Death March survivor. Ed, a Member of the 19^th Bomb Group went to Mindanao before Bataan Fell and he did not make the BDM.

This has been a very old problem with the Quan. They refuse to edit the articles they publish in the Quan, therefore we can only assume that nothing which we read in the Quan can be trusted.

These are only three examples AND "THE BEAT GOES ON." My friend, Dick (Gordon) told me more than once, "Till, we will never stop this kind of ‘stuff’" (used a different word). I am beginning to believe he was correct, but, as long as the BBB exists we will be "IN PURSUIT OF TRUTH".

AS I SEE IT OR SO IT APPEARS:

Our plans for restoring the San Fernando Train Station into a museum has hit a snag. Key persons, Indira and her husband Al Kane, have moved from the city of San Fernando to Angeles City. Indira and Al have been very loyal members of the BBB and they have tried very hard to combat the red tape and stubbornness they encountered with the city of San Fernando and the Philippine National Railroad. They were our people in San Fernando who had the contacts with the city government. As we left the project, the city of San Fernando had to get the title of the train station and it’s surrounding property, transferred from the Philippine National Railroad to the city. Ownership of the train station and it’s surrounding property was first and foremost important prior to investing money to have the train station restored and remodeled into a museum. The status of this title transfer is unknown by this writer.

This is of great concern to us because not only do we wish to restore and preserve the Train Station, but Indira and Al also found one of the Boxcars used to transport the Death Marchers from San Fernando, Pampanga to Capas, Tarlac. Our plan was to move the Boxcar into a protected enclosure right next to the Train Station after the station was restored. Now, it appears both of our plans are up in the air.

I never thought I would ever again see one of those torture chambers again. It really got to me when I received a photo of the Boxcar from Indira. Chills went all over me when it hit me, this might be the one I was in and it still does now as I write this.

I'd like to see it protected, moved to O'Donnell with a covered shed placed over it until we resolve the Train Station situation. We, the BBB, can and will raise the funds necessary to move the Boxcar and build the Shed, but we need access to the Boxcar.

This Boxcar is such a very vital part of the Bataan Death March, it’s history, and how it happened. For those of you who do not know, this Boxcar is a WW I French vintage, used to carry 40 Men or 8 Horses, thus the American Legion 40 et 8 got its name. The Japanese went further, no horses but 100 Men packed in each car with closed doors, no food or water, in intense heat, no ventilation. You bet. This car is important and needed as part of the story of the Bataan Death March. Perhaps Colonel Rafael Estrada, DBC Commander in Manila will get it going. I know he can and he is one of us, a Bataan Death March Survivor. Something positive needs to be done soon, to us, time is of the essence.

We were planning a trip in April 2007 to Manila with our main objectives being the SF Train Station and the Boxcar plus ceremonies at O'Donnell and hopefully Mt Samat. Of course we would go to Mariveles, Subic, Cabanatuan, Olongapo and who knows. That trip has been canceled.

We have a supporter in Illinois, Harry Canterbury, who has become a staunch supporter of the BBB. Harry has his own Radio Show and magazine. He is knocking down doors to get funding to set up a trip. He wants to take a crew over there with two cameras and shoot a documentary. Let's hope he does it.

Many of you wonder about the BBB. Yes, we have lost three Board of Director members, but our commitment and dedication prevails and we continue to provide info and pursue the truth and will do so for a long time.

An item of interest perhaps: On 5 Feb 07 I spoke to the LAFB NCO Academy, 200 Students for an hour. I speak when asked. Since I had so long I showed them a 39 minute video (edited from a 2:08 video that I went to the RP and shot in 2001-2 with James Litton as my expert director. As they say "a picture is worth a thousand words".

OUR BBB MEMORIAL FUND: This fund (trust) maintains our Memorial at Camp O'Donnell. Due to an apparent miss-understanding, the balance is not what we thought it would be. It is a long story, so I will not detail it. For the present we are okay but it is the future we are concerned with. Fred is juggling with some ideas to raise funds. Only time will tell. Our BBB Memorial is very special, very dear to us that were there, to families, friends and to Jimbo, who oversees upkeep. There are 1771 names of Americans that perished in that "hellhole" in a very short time and we MUST preserve their memory in their HONOR. As most of you know, NO US GOVT NOR ANY VETERAN ORGANIZATIONS FUNDS WENT INTO THIS MEMORIAL. This fund is maintained by FAME in Manila.

Another Item of Interest – Facts!

We received an article from the SA E/N paper published on 9 April, 2006. It was sent to us by one of the Volunteers at the ALM VA. Let's look at some FACTS regarding this article.

This article concerned BG Lewis Beebe, G-4, USAFE and his "Lost" POW Diary. The heading of this article infers that Beebe was on Bataan. NOT TRUE. He was on Corregidor. The ONLY time Beebe set foot on Bataan was when he accompanied Skinny (Gen Wainwright) to Bataan to surrender the forces on Corregidor. Bataan and the Bataan Death March was over by then, by almost a month.

Beebe wrote that "our" troops were not doing well due to lack of training and discipline. Beebe, nor any one else on Corregidor, including MacArthur, had the slightest idea of just how bad matters were on Bataan. They only knew what they were told. Documented FACTS support this. It is true the Philippine Army had very little training before the War hit us in the Philippines. We, the 31st Infantry, would see them training with wooden rifles.
They were not issued their weapons yet!

BUT, consider this, Japan's time table for taking the Philippines was 4-6 weeks. It took them over four months to take Bataan and then only after calling in more troops from across the Empire. DISCIPLINE. The only time that problem happened in numbers was towards the end, and this writer was/is a personal witness to that (and not from Corregidor) when my US 31st, the 45th, 57th, 26th Cav. PS and supporting units were ordered on a counter attack on Mt. Samat. Frankly, the Troops on Bataan did exceedingly well, fighting on 1/4 rations, (Beebe, as G-4, had order 1/2 rations in January '42), antiquated equipment, no ammo for new equipment, quinine had run out, no air support, wounded men still fighting (those that could), and the Troops on the Front lines got even less food.

On 24 Jan '42 orders were given to WITHDRAW ALL SUPPLIES FROM BATAAN. Beebe was one of the few that knew of this SECRET order. The Troops on Bataan had to fight on until April '42! Consider, when the FACT that they were blowing up "chow" and ammo dumps in the rear of Bataan just before the fall. This writer was a personal witness to this. It appears “they" had already given up on Bataan.

Beebe wrote that Wainwright had ordered King to launch an attack that he believed was never given. That is TRUE except the order came from MacArthur. It also reveals that they had no idea of the condition of the Troops on Bataan, who were weary, starving, and sick. General King knew that his Men were in no condition to continue. II Corps was just a number by then and I Corps was almost the same. Beebe attempted to by-pass General King on this, calling General Jones, I Corps Commander, who told Beebe he had received no orders from General King. Beebe told Jones he would be receiving such orders soon. Whereon, an angry King, on being told of this, called Wainwright through Beebe and Wainwright assured King he was still in Command of all Forces on Bataan.

Beebe wrote that King wanted to surrender Bataan to prevent the battle from reaching the Hospitals where 5,000 patients were. NOT SO. King knew the situation that his Men were fighting on "guts" alone and the end was near. He wanted to avoid a "blood bath". That is the main reason. He confirmed this to several Bataan veterans in his suite at a Convention in Philadelphia, PA in '47-48. I was present at that suite with Gen. King.

On the Hospital patients, Dr. Browe, who was at the Hospital stated that the Japanese actually treated them okay when they observed how well they were taking care of the Japanese wounded. General King also told us. If he had known or had any idea that the Japanese were going to treat us like they did on the March and at O'Donnell he might have had second thoughts about the surrender.

Beebe wrote that some Troops swam to Corregidor. If so, they would have to have been in great shape, "Tarzan quality" due to the very strong undercurrents that funnels in the channel between Bataan and Corregidor. It is estimated that about 3,000 did get to Corregidor, mostly rear echelon Troops, by boats or holding onto boats or other means of flotation.

Comment:

Isn't it amazing that so many of these afterwards claimed they were on the BDM. Some even claim they were on the 2nd BDM. Another falsehood! Wannabees!

On 29 March '42, Beebe asked his G-4 if there were any supplies on Corregidor that could be sent to Bataan. This decision was up to Gen Moore, CG of the Harbor Defense. Four days later the reply was “no,” but there were 10,000 pairs of shoes, in different sizes, that had been sent FROM Bataan that could be sent back to Bataan. On 4 April '42 Beebe asked King if he desired these shoes. There is NO recorded reply from Gen. King.

Comment:

Speaking for our US 31st Infantry Troops, I can tell you what we would have told Beebe and Moore as to what they could do with those shoes.

Speaking of Rations

We knew that our guys in the rear were eating better than we were on the front lines. When we managed to visit them, while in a holding status, (they used the Philippine Carabao Division for attacks and to plug holes in line in the Mountain Jungles) we visited the 200th and 515th CAC. We made good friends there and, yes, they had better and more food than we did, but we were not bitter about it. Trucks were hi-jacked heading to the front lines with rations for the Troops there, especially when they had cigarettes.

We were convinced that Corregidor fared much better. Although meals on Corregidor had been reduced to two meals a day, which the troops on Bataan had been on since January ’42, they had "luxury" items, such as bacon, ham, fresh vegetables, coffee, milk and jam. FOODS THAT HAD LONG SINCE DISASPPEARED FROM THE BATAAN DIET SINCE DECEMBER '41.

The above disparity between Corregidor and Bataan was sharply raised when Bataan MPs stopped a supply truck taking food to the two AA Batteries from Corregidor that were on Bataan doing search light duties but receiving rations from Corrigidor and receiving issues from Bataan also! The Batteries were E and G of the 60th CAC.

SPECIAL NOTE HERE FOR CLARIFICATION: THESE UNITS WENT BACK TO CORREGIDOR BEFORE BATAAN FELL AND THERE NEVER WERE ANY 59TH CAC UNITS ON BATAAN.

The items listed on this shipment for Batteries E and G included " a case of Bacon, 24 cans of Vienna sausage, one sack of cracked wheat, 24 pounds of raisins, 33 lbs of lard, 24 cans each of peas, corn, tomatoes, potatoes and peaches, 24 bottles of ketchup, 50 cartons of cigarettes and 600 lbs of rice.

COMMENT:

NOW AS FRED TOLD ME, I SEE THE PROBLEM, WE WERE NOT PART OF THE HARBOR DEFENSE!

The opinion and actual statements were, "the equal distribution of food between 74,000 Men, the Filipinos and Americans on Bataan, and 10,000 Men on Corregidor could NOT have saved the Men on Bataan and would only have led to the weakening of the Men of the Harbor Defense.

Never mind that it may have helped the Bataan Troops better endure the hell of the Bataan Death March and possibly reduced the fast number of deaths at Camp O'Donnell and in the early months on Cabanatuan. While still engaged in hostile actions against the Japanese, the Filipino and Americans on the front lines of Bataan were being starved to death. This clearly explains the great discrepancies in the death rate between Bataan men and everybody else who became prisoners of the Japanese. This food deal was all under Gen Beebe's control as Chief of Staff.

By October ’42, only six months into their captivity, nearly half of the Americans captured on Bataan had already died, on the Death March, in Camp O’Donnell, in Cabanatuan, and on the Work Details. The death rate to our Filipino Brethrens was nearly eight times higher.

RE: The Surrender of Corregidor; At 6 AM, 6 May 1942 Gen. Beebe stepped up to the microphone of the "Voice of Freedom" and in a tired but clear tones read a message to General Homma. It was from Gen Wainwright and contained his offer to surrender.

Comment:

Let's make it perfectly clear, once and for all, NO Corregidor Troops made the Bataan Death March regardless of a few that claimed to have done so in one way or another. The only Men (no Nurses had to, thankfully) that made the Death March were most of the troops on Bataan. Not all them had to walk, some rode, some drove trucks for the Japanese, but most did it by foot.

Not all started from Mariveles, another group started from Bagac on the western part and met at Cabcaben, the crest of ZigZag Trail, and joined many more that had been taken there (at Cabcaben). From Mariveles the trek was about 114 KM, including the "Death Train” ride from San Fernando to Capas, Tarlac, and then another 2.3 mile trek into Camp O'Donnell.

In Beebe's article he stated, they (on the Death March) were four abreast, mixed with Filipino soldiers. Not so in most groups. We straggled and struggled. We were in no condition to march in a "Parade" like fashion. It is believed that we lost more troops on the Zig-Zag Trail than the rest of the hike. These seven kilometers was a hellish hike, going almost straight up on a sharp angle, on a narrow curving dirt road, with Men trying to avoid the Japanese soldiers coming up and down the road in trucks, doing their best to put a "notch" on their belts by killing a Filipino or American POW. Many succeeded.

Comment On Corregidor:

They had their own story. Nothing stated is intended to take away from their honorable fight. BUT, it is well documented, not just an opinion. The men on Corregidor did not have to survive the conditions in Bataan, the Bataan Death March, including the Train ride, and Camp O'Donnell. After that, the treatment was essentially the same, depending on which Camp you were in plus the connections you might have had and your rank.

Corregidor troops were in much better physical condition than Bataan Troops. It has been written that they were shocked at physical appearance of the Bataan men when they saw them come to Cabanatuan from O'Donnell. It is well documented that the mortality rate for Bataan Men was much higher than for Corregidor men. One cannot help wonder - could this be because of the decisions made by those in authority regarding the Men on Bataan vs those on Corregidor? Who knows, but the documented FACTS are on record.

In the opinion of most, if not all Bataan veterans, Major General Edward P. King is long overdue and overlooked for the Medal of Honor that he so richly deserves. Remember, under the leadership of General King, the forces on Bataan far exceeded what was expected and what they were capable of, and doing so under conditions no other American force has ever come close to having to endure. Historians are just recently beginning to realize what King accomplished on Bataan, stalling the Japanese on Bataan, long enough to save Australia and completely disrupting Japan's time table for conquering the southwest Pacific. Yes, Edward King deserves the Medal of Honor.

A REMINDER:

Memorial Certificates are available for Active Members. Those that have received them were very complimentary including how impressed they were with the appearance. For any other Bataan veteran that is not an active member, a Certificate will be provided for a fee to cover the costs. For Active Members there is no charge including the cost of mailing.

NEW MEMBER:

JAMES H. STEED JR SON OF JAMES H. STEED SR. CO H, US 31ST INF.

"THE BATTLING BASTARDS OF BATAAN STRONGLY RECOMMENDS IF YOU WISH TO VERIFY A PERSON'S CLAIM THAT THEY ARE A BDM SURVIVOR OR ANY OTHER STORIES THEY May CLAIM, PLEASE CONTACT OUR WEBMASTER. WE WILL RESEARCH IT AND TELL YOU THE TRUTH TO THE BEST OF OUR ABILITIES.

Until next time, take care of yourselves.

Tillman J. RUTLEDGE
CO F, US 31ST INF
COMMANDER/ADJUTANT
BATLING BASTARDS OF BATAAN

Contact Our Commander

Tillman J. Rutledge

Webmaster’s Notes:

We have recently received a copy of a DVD with a documentary titled “Manila 1945: The Forgotten Atrocity.” The documentary was produced by Peter Parsons, son of Chick Parsons, who Gen. MacArthur appointed to manage the various guerrilla units in the Philippines during the war. The Battling Bastards of Bataan strongly endorses this DVD. For more information, please click on this link: “Manila 1945: The Forgotten Atrocity”

The civilian internees of the Philippines are planning a reunion next February 3, 2008. You are welcome to join the reunion which will be, tentatively, held in Fremont, California. If you wish to join them, please contact Sascha Jean Jansen.

Finally, this is very important, please enter this website and support “The Lolas”, the Filipina women who have survived to tell their stories as to how they were kidnapped by Japanese soldiers and used as sex slaves, or comfort girls. Please go to this website and show your anger at this injustice. Here is the link: “The Lolas.”

Japan tries to calm furor over WWII sex slaves, but doesn't apologize

2007-03-07T03:19:00.000-08:00

From the Associated Press:

TOKYO -- Japan tried to calm an international furor Wednesday over its forcing Asian women to work in military brothels during World War II, saying the government stands by an earlier landmark apology for the practice.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe triggered a barrage of criticism throughout Asia by saying last week there was no proof the women were coerced into prostitution. He said Monday Japan will not apologize again for the so-called "comfort stations" for Japanese soldiers.

"The Prime Minister's recent remarks are not meant to change this government's position," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said, referring to a breakthrough 1993 apology made by then-chief Cabinet secretary Yohei Kono.

"The government continues to support the Kono statement," Shiozaki said.

Historians say thousands of women -- as many as 200,000 by some accounts and euphemistically known as "comfort women" -- worked in the Japanese military brothels throughout Asia in the 1930s and '40s.

Flags of Our Fathers

2006-11-17T19:58:00.000-08:00

An adaptation of the book Flags of Our Fathers, the film explores the story behind one of World War II’s most enduring images and recounts the fates of the six men who raised the American flag atop Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima island. Towards the end of the war, the American government needed to raise at least $14 billion worth of bonds. To do so, it needed an image that would reflect the nation’s victory and inspire public support for the war effort, and the men to inspire the citizenry’s sense of patriotism.

On the fifth day of battle of Iwo Jima, six men were ordered to hoist a larger flag on the island’s highest point to declare that the island had been captured from the Japanese. However, the battle would still rage on for 31 days and cost 26,000 American lives were lost. As the men were raising the flag, Joe Rosenthal, a photographer for the Associated Press, took his lucky shot, which 17 hours later was picked up by publications in the United States. The image later won the Pulitzer Prize for photojournalism, but not without allegations that the scene had been staged.

The irony, however, lies in the tragic fates of the men who had somehow embodied the heroism and victory that their increasingly war-weary country was seeking. A few days after the flag was raised atop Suribachi, three of the six men–Michael Stark, Harlon Block and Franklin Sousley– lost their lives to sniper bullets and friendly fire. The three survivors–Ira Hayes, Rene Gagnon and John Bradley–on the other hand, were shipped back to the United States to help sell bonds across the country. In the course of touring the America's major cities, they are confronted with survivor’s guilt over the death of their comrades and being called heroes by the adoring public when they felt that they didn’t deserve such regard. The controversy over the identity of the sixth man in the photograph who was at first thought to be Hank Hansen did not help the soldiers either, particularly Hayes, who eventually revealed that the man in question was in fact Block.

The film does not romanticize heroism but adopts a no-holds-barred depiction of the brutality of war–decapitations, lost lives, someone losing his head quite literally and enemies blowing themselves up over the prospect of falling as prisoners in the hands of their enemies. And while a single photograph was able to capture a nation’s pride and catapulted its subjects to fame, the public which never witnessed war’s gruesome scenes first-hand easily lost interest in the people it had once put on the pedestal…or left cold upon a pedestal. Hayes, a native American, had it worst among the three survivors due in part to his race. Apart from suffering alcoholism and poverty, he took frequent jail trips in the course of his short life, which ended in a questionable manner. Gagnon found it difficult to even hold a steady job when his celebrity had worn off. Only John Bradley, whose son would write the book on which the film was based, lived comfortably with his family for the rest of his life. He never talked about his involvement in the battle of Iwo Jima nor about his purple heart, which his son discovered after his death. The brutal demise of his best friend, Ralph “Iggy” Ignatowski, haunted him through old age.

“Flags” is another Steven Spielberg production that depicts World War II and looks like an extension–or a Pacific Theater rejoinder–to Saving Private Ryan and the mini-series, Band of Brothers. Moreover, it even looks like a reunion of sorts for some of the actors who figured in “Ryan” and “Brothers,” such as Barry Pepper who played the religious sniper in Saving Private Ryan and Neal McDonough who played Lt. Lynn Compton in Band of Brothers. They played Michael Strank and Capt. Dave Severance, respectively, in this movie.

I had a hard time digesting the flashbacks interspersed with tour scenes and interviews with the parties involved in promoting the bond drive. And while some critics declare that the film is Clint Eastwood’s take on the Iraq war, this is better seen as a lesson on how heroes are either made or unmade with media’s compliance. But more to the point, it paints a sad picture of how heroes had been discarded by the public which they sought to protect in the first place. At the end of the day, it seemed that the real heroes were those whose lives were lost in the battlefield. The ones who lived were merely survivors.

Major General Edward P.King, Jr., Commanding General of all Fil-American Forces on Bataan, April 1942

2006-11-14T19:55:00.000-08:00

The “Battling Bastards of Bataan” wish to dedicate this page to Major Gen. Edward P. King, a hero who must never be forgotten.

Edward Postell King, Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1884. A grandson and nephew of Confederate officers of the Civil War, he grew up wanting to be a soldier. His family, however, wanted him to be a lawyer. They sent him to the University of Georgia, where he obtained a law degree.

Unhappy with civilian life, he applied for and obtained a Regular Army commission. He had a brilliant career, during WW I, earning a Distinguished Service Medal, as a Chief Assistant to the Chief of Artillery. In between wars, he held various assignments, with various troops under his command. Recognized as a leader, he attended both the Army and Navy War Colleges, where he later was assigned as an instructor in both colleges.

Promoted to Colonel, he became Director of War Plans, at the Army War College, in 1940. Later that year, he was sent to the Philippines and there promoted to Brigadier General, as General MacArthur’s second, ranking ground general, after General Wainwright.

On March 11, 1942: General MacArthur left for Australia, General Wainwright was appointed to succeed General MacArthur as General of the Armies of the Philippines, and General King became the Commanding General of the Philippine-American forces on Bataan. Days later, General King was compelled to surrender the largest military force in American History. This courageous act saved the lives of thousands of his troops, who would have been annihilated by the Japanese if he had not surrendered.

In a meeting with his troops prior to being sent to a POW Camp in Manchuria, he assured his men, in a tearful farewell, that he alone was responsible for the surrender. In General King’s own words, “We were asked to lay down a bunt. We did just that. You have nothing to be ashamed of.”

General King spent three and half years as a captive of the Japanese. He was often mistreated by Japanese, and always in his mind was the surrender on Bataan.

Welcome!

2006-10-13T19:50:00.000-07:00

The picture above is of the Camp O’Donnell Memorial Monument. The memorial was built by the organization known as “The Battling Bastards of Bataan” to honor those American men who died at Camp O’Donnell, while prisoners of the Japanese. The Cement Cross is a replica of the original cement cross built by the POWs.

The monument is located in the Capas National Shrine, in Capas, Tarlac, Philippines,adjacent to the memorial for the Philippine Army dead. Camp O’Donnell was the first prison camp for the men who survived the “Death March”. The picture was taken by James Litton.

The “Cross” was built as a memorial to the thousands who died in that camp. It is as much a part of Bataan as the participants in that battle. The inscription on the base of the “Cross” reads “Omnia Pro Patria”: All For Country. On the wall behind the “Cross” are inscribed the names of the men who died at Camp O’Donnell.

The original “Cement Cross” is now on display in the National Prisoner of War Museum, at the Andersonville National Historic Site, Andersonville, GA. It was brought to this country by Bataan survivors.

This page is dedicated to the brave warriors who served in the battle fields of Bataan, Philippines, during World War II. We wish to provide all who enter this page with an accurate account of the American and Filipino heroisms in Bataan, the conditions endured during the “Death March” and their subsequent imprisonment in various prison camps.

“Our purpose as an organization is quite simple. We wish to perpetuate the story of Bataan and to leave to our descendants the truth as we knew it. We wish to correct the myths and outright lies concerning the events of Bataan in 1941-1942. We want to provide information on the Battle for Bataan and it’s subsequent fall on April 9, 1942. This organization serves as a reminder that the precepts of courage, devotion to duty and sacrifice displayed by the men and women of Bataan, both Filipino and American, have not and will not become outmoded. Our motto simply states: ‘Keep the faith in our country: as exhibited by those men and women who fought in defense of Bataan, Philippine in 1942. Freedom is not free.’ — Tillman J. Rutledge

Bataan, Corregidor, and the Death March: In Retrospect

2002-06-02T01:31:00.000-07:00

The poet is unknown. It is inscribed on the monument to the Pacific War Dead, in Corregidor, Philippines. Each May 6th, the sun is in such a position that it's rays fall into the center of the monument, exactly at noon.

******

NOTE: This article was submitted by Richard M. Gordon of Burnt Hills, NY, who wrote, "While numerous articles have been written on Bataan, Corregidor, and 'The Death March,' I believe that my article dispels several myths found in other writings…I am a firm believer in historical accuracy. The myth concerning who was on the Bataan Death March must be dispelled." Gordon was a defender of Bataan, a survivor of the Death March, Camps O'Donnell, and Cabanatuan. He is writing a book on his experiences in the Philippines from October 1940 to October 1945, when he was liberated in Japan.

The recollection of these historic events should elicit memories of the early dark days of World War II. Our fleet had just been crippled at Pearl Harbor. Hong Kong and Singapore had fallen. Whatever the Japanese military had touched "turned to gold." The one bright spot in those dismal days was the Philippine Islands, where Americans and Filipinos were making a stand on Bataan, Corregidor, and the southern islands of the Philippines. Such resistence would disrupt the Japanese military timetable of the conquest of the South Pacific and gain valuable time for the United States to recover from Japan's initial onslaught.

Each event, however, was different from the other and the difference often spelled life or death for the participants. Bataan was not synonymous with Corregidor, mistaken belief to the contrary. As a result of this misbelief for the past 40-odd years, many have assumed Bataan, Corregidor, and the Death March to be interrelated. Corregidor had very little relationship with Bataan; it had no connection with the Death March whatsoever. Such a mistaken belief has been spawned by numerous writings.

An example of such misinformation can be found in the writings of a noted historian, William Manchester, author of "American Caesar," a biography of General Douglas MacArthur. Manchester is widely accepted as a "meticulous researcher," yet he commits an unforgivable sin in his writing on the subject of Corregidor. In his book, Manchester writes, "On May 6, a terrible silence fell over Corregidor. White flags were raised from every flagstaff that was still standing and the triumphant Japanese moved their eleven thousand captives to Bataan. The next day began the brutal Death March."

Aside from the error in the number of prisoners taken on Corregidor, Manchester made several glaring mistakes in the above quote. Error number one, the captives were not taken to Bataan, but, instead, to Manila, where they were forced to march through the streets of that city to impress the Filipino with the might of the Japanese military forces. Error number two by Manchester: When Corregidor fell on May 6, 1942, the last of the Death Marchers had already entered the hellhole called Camp O'Donnell on April 24, 1942, twelve days before the surrender of Corregidor. The POWs, from the Death March, arrived in Camp O'Donnell everyday from April 12, 1942 up to April 24, 1942. After the 24th of April, a few scattered groups did arrive. Error number three: Captives on Corregidor did not leave the island for two weeks' time, pending the surrender of Fil-American forces in the southern islands of the Philippines.

Manchester, however, is not alone in his misconception of what occurred in the days following the fall of Bataan, and its subsequent Death March. In 1982, a joint resolution of Congress, perhaps following Manchester's writings of 1980, made the same mistake when honoring the men of Bataan and Corregidor who made the Death March. Obituaries of men who were captured on Corregidor often indicate that the individual made the Death March. Such information obviously comes from the relatives of the deceased, who also were misinformed.

One can readily see how powerful myths can be. Someone once said, "When history becomes legend, print the legend." The Corregidor garrison did not participate in the Death March, despite any belief to the contrary.

About 1,200 survivors of Bataan are alive today. In perhaps ten years, they will all be gone. Most, if not all, would like to leave behind them the truth that was Bataan. To do less would dishonor those men who died in both events.

April 9, 1989, has been selected, as "Former Prisoner of War Day." Obviously that date has been selected to recall the day that Bataan fell, with the subsequent capture of the largest military force in US military history. It is important, however, to point out that the "Battling Bastards of Bataan" did not surrender, as some of us are prone to say, but were surrendered. A vast difference exists between the two terms. In fairness to the men of Bataan, and Corregidor, the difference must be emphasized. Specific orders were given to the Bataan garrison to surrender. Initially, some commanders refused to do so and were threatened with court-martial if they failed to obey a lawful order.

The reasons for the surrender order, given by Major General Edward P. King, commanding officer of the forces on Bataan, were many. Time and space do not allow a lengthy explanation of the situation that compelled General King to give such an order. Suffice to say that only two days' rations for his troops remained. Medication to treat the countless number of Bataan defenders suffering from the deleterious effects of malaria were exhausted. Ammunition of every type was about to run out. Weak, diseased, starving soldiers lacked the physical strength to mount a counter-attack ordered by General Jonathan Wainwright, on Corregidor. Continuous aerial bombardment and artillery barrages for several consecutive days, unanswered, had left the men of Bataan reeling like a prize fighter who had absorbed too many punches. To prevent a "slaughter" of his troops, General King opted to surrender. Later, in a gathering of his men in prison, Camp O'Donnell, King told them, "You did not surrender, I did. That responsibility is mine and mine alone."

To begin to understand the fall of Bataan and the aftermath, the Death March, one must know what led to its fall. When the Japanese invaded the Philippine Islands in December 1941, with their 14th Army consisting of two full divisions (the 16th and 18th), five anti-aircraft battalions, three engineering regiments, two tank regiments, and one battalion of medium artillery, led by Lt. General Masaharu Homma, they faced a defending force of ten divisions of the Philippine Army. Numerically speaking, the advantage belonged to the defenders. What appears to be an advantage, however, was in reality a disadvantage: one that hastened the fall of Bataan and one that contributed to thousands of deaths in O'Donnell's prison camp.

At the end of the first week in December 1941, the Philippine forces consisted of 20,000 regulars and 100,000 totally raw reservists, most of whom were called to the colors within the three months preceding the war. The training of their artillerymen, so vital in any military action, did not take place until after the outbreak of hostilities. Many of these troops were illiterate and lacked the ability to communicate with each other. The enlisted men spoke their native dialect, depending on the area they were from; the officers spoke English, Spanish, or the so-called national language, Tagalog. Unfortunately, Tagalog was spoken mainly in and around Manila, the country's capital. Weapons such as the British Enfield rifle of World War I were obsolete. Uniforms consisted of fiber helmets (the men were never issued steel helmets), canvas shoes, short-sleeve shirts, and short pants, hardly suitable for the jungles of Bataan and their surprisingly cold nights.

In addition to the Philippine Army, Bataan's forces consisted of 11,796 Americans and several regiments of Philippine Scouts who had been part of the United States Army in the Philippines for many years prior to the war. These were magnificent soldiers, well trained, loyal, and dedicated to the war effort. Led by American officers, they repeatedly distinguished themselves in the four months of combat. Adding to the number of military in Bataan were civilians who fled the advancing Japanese. They entered Bataan of their own free will, yet they had to be fed from military supplies.

Forced to feed such a large number of military and civilians, food became an immediate and critical problem to the command. Tons of precious rice were left in the warehouses upon the withdrawal into Bataan and were destroyed by the Japanese. Americans accustomed to "stateside chow" found themselves (mid-January) on half-rations along with the Filipino soldiers. A month later, these rations were cut again (1,000 calories per day) and consisted of rice and fish, or what little meat could be found. Most of the meat came from the horses and mules of the 26th Cavalry, Philippine Scouts, or the Philippine beast of burden, the carabao, or water buffalo. Occasionally monkeys, snakes, ECT, supplemented the diet. Malaria ran rampant in Bataan, one of the most heavily mosquito-infested areas in the world at that time. Medication to offset the effects of that disease began to disappear early in the campaign.

On April 3, 1942, General Homma finally launched his long-awaited (by both the Japanese high command and the Americans) final push to crush the Philippines. He easily broke through the final line of resistance of the Fil-American troops on Bataan, but he did so because of the deplorable state of the defending forces facing him.

Food supplies stored on Corregidor often never found their way to the front lines of Bataan, being stolen by hungry rear area troops while the food was enroute in trucks. Hijacking became a common practice along the way. Here may be found the first difference between Bataan and Corregidor. Corregidor troops did not go hungry until their capture by the Japanese. Consequently, the men of Corregidor entered captivity in relatively good health and with very few cases of malaria on record.

Such differences were to have a major impact on who was to survive the prison camps that were to follow. Comparing rosters of units serving on Bataan and Corregidor, it was determined that the chances of surviving imprisonment were two in three, if captured on Corregidor, and one in three if captured on Bataan, an obvious substantiation of the differences between the two groups at the time of their capture.

On Corregidor, there were 15,000 American and Filipino troops, consisting of anti-aircraft and coastal defenses, along with the Fourth Marine Regiment, recently arrived from China (December 1941), less a detachment stationed on Bataan, as part of a Naval Battalion. Despite some writings to the contrary, again dealing in "legends," the Fourth Marine Regiment did not participate in the defense of Bataan. Their mission was beach defense on Corregidor. Approximately 43 Marines arrived in Camp O'Donnell after completing the Death March.

Of the 11,796 American soldiers on Bataan on April 3,1942, about 1,500 remained wounded or sick in Bataan's two field hospitals after the surrender. Others, relatively few, made their way across the two miles of shark-infested waters to Corregidor, where they were assigned to beach defense. About 9,300 Americans reached Camp O'Donnell after completing the Death March. About 600-650 Americans died on the March. Of the 66,000 Filipino troops, Scouts, Constabulary and Philippine Army units, it can be said the approximately 2,500 of them remained in the hospitals of Bataan; about 1,700 of them escaped to Corregidor, and a small number of them remained on Bataan as work details for the Japanese after the surrender.

Those captured on Bataan on or about April 9,1942, were in the general area of the town of Mariveles, at the southern tip of the Bataan peninsula. Large fields outside this town were used as staging areas for the thousands of captives, American and Filipino, gathered together.

Mass confusion reigned in these areas and when darkness fell, it became impossible to recognize anyone. In a brief period of time buddies were soon separated and, in many cases, never to see one another again. Two friends from the same unit entered one of these fields and did not know of each other's survival for over 40 years.

Each morning, groups of several hundred would be hustled out on Bataan's, one time, concrete road (National Road) leading north out of the peninsula and began the exodus to prison camp. No design or plans for the group ever materialized. Each sunrise, shouting, shooting, bayoneting, by Japanese, would assemble anyone they could to make up the marching groups.

As a result, individuals generally found themselves among perfect strangers, even if they were fellow Americans. Consequently, a "dog eat dog, every man for himself" attitude soon prevailed. Few helped one another on the March. Those belonging to the same military unit were fortunate, with their buddies helping when needed.

During one group's march, volunteers were sought to carry a stretcher containing a colonel wounded in both legs and unable to walk. Four men offered to help. After hours of carrying the man in a scorching hot sun with no stops and no water, they asked for relief from other marchers. No one offered to pick up the stretcher. Soon, the original four bearers, put down the man and went off on their own. The colonel was last seen by the side of the road begging to be carried by anyone.

After the first day of marching, without food or water, men began to drop out of column. Japanese guards would rush up, shouting commands in Japanese to get back in the group. When that approach failed, shots rang, out killing those who would not or could not rise. Many of those failing to obey the order to march were beheaded by sword wielding-Japanese guards, usually officers and non-coms.

Such actions on the part of the Japanese brought many captives to their feet and they continued the march for awhile longer. As each day and night passed without water, the marchers began to break from their group to run to anything that resembled water. Most often they would hurl themselves into a water puddle alongside of the road and lap up, similar to a cat lapping milk from a saucer, the so-called water. The puddles were used by the carabao to coat themselves with mud as a protection against the huge flies constantly about them. Upon rising from the puddle, the water would assume a "clear" state. Needless to say, the water was not potable and drinking of it soon brought on cramps, diarrhea, and eventually dysentery caused by the numerous flies found in the puddle. Such acts continued for each day of the March, lasting from five to ten days, depending upon where one joined the March, and continued until the marchers reached the town of San Fernando, Pampamga, P.I., a distance for most marchers of over 100 kilometers.

Upon reaching San Fernando, the prisoners were forced into 1918 model railroad boxcars (40X8) used in France during World War I. With over 100 men in each car, the Japanese then closed the doors on the prisoners. There was no room to sit down or fall down. Men died in the sweltering cars. Upon arriving in Capas, Tarlac, almost four hours later, the men detrained for Camp O'Donnell, another ten kilometer walk.

Official figures estimate that between 44,000 and 50,000 of the Filipinos arrived at O'Donnell after completing the March. Between 12,000 and 18,000 of their number are unaccounted for. What happened to them is unknown, but a safe guess is that between 5,000 to 10,000 of them lost their lives on the Death March. The death toll for both Filipinos and Americans, however, did not cease upon reaching O'Donnell. Instead, during the first forty days of that camp's existence, more that 1,500 Americans were to die. At least 25,000 Filipinos died by July 1942 in the same camp. All of the deaths were the direct result of malnutrition on Bataan, disease, and the atrocities committed by the Japanese on the March.

Shortly after the last of these prisoners entered O'Donnell (April 24,1942), Corregidor fell on May 6. Battered by constant shell fire from Bataan and aerial bombardment, with their supplies running out, Wainwright, successor to MacArthur as commanding officer of the United States forces in the Philippines, decided his situation was hopeless and surrendered Corregidor and the troops in the southern part of the Philippines. With the establishing of a beach head on Corregidor by the Japanese, he avoided a "bloodbath" that would have most certainly occurred had the Japanese fought their way from the beach to Malinta Tunnel, where most of the defenders of the island had withdrawn.

After two weeks of the famous Japanese "sun treatment" for prisoners, in the sun-baked areas of Corregidor, these troops were taken across Manila Bay to Manila and then by train to Prison camp Cabanatuan, Cabanatuan, P.I. The men were in that camp when the Bataan survivors arrived from Camp O'Donnell in June 1942. The extremely high death rate in that camp prompted the Japanese to make such a move, and thereby allowed the American medical personnel to treat the Filipino prisoners remaining behind until their release beginning in July 1942. The condition of the prisoners arriving in Cabanatuan was such as to shock their fellow Americans from Corregidor. In a short period of time, however, they, too, would feel the full effects of Japanese captivity.

It was not, however, until June 1942 that the men of Bataan and Corregidor began to share a common experience. During the first nine months of Cabanatuan's existence, when the vast majority of the camp's 3,000 American deaths occurred, most of the deaths were men of Bataan, still suffering from the effects of Bataan, the Death March, and Camp O'Donnell. That the men of Corregidor were more fortuitous than their fellow Americans in avoiding starvation, pestilence, and atrocities up to this point is beyond question.

It is the author's hope that by this writing we have contributed to the dispelling of some myths, provided some insight, and recognized those who died on Bataan, and its subsequent Death March. If we leave nothing else behind us, when we leave this earth, let us at least leave behind the truth that was Bataan. Americans on both Bataan and Corregidor share one common bond: they were both prisoners of the Japanese, but so were those captured on Wake Island and elsewhere in the South Pacific. Each group played a distinctive, vital role in World War II.

Maj. Richard M. Gordon (USA Ret.)

Death by Hanging

2002-06-01T12:35:00.000-07:00

The Story of a Tokyo Prisoner of War Camp 2-D
by Maj. Richard M. Gordon (USA Ret.)

A Japanese Soldier Hung After the War
for War Crimes He Committed.

To steal a line from the noted radio commentator Paul Harvey: "And now the rest of the story."

In July 1990, I was contacted by the Japanese television network SBC, Shin-Etsu Broadcasting Company, Ltd., of Nagano Prefecture, Nagano, Japan, regarding their forthcoming documentary dealing with Japanese war criminals from Nagano Prefecture, the program to be titled, "Death By Hanging". To complete the program, the TV network was seeking surviving American prisoners of war who had spent three years in the Japanese prison camp, Tokyo 2-D, known as Mitsushima in Nagano Prefecture. The village of Mitsushima is more properly identified as Hiraoka.

I agreed to participate in the program, as there are only two survivors of that camp who spent three years there including myself. The other surviving former POW is Arvil Steele of Houston, Texas. We two were among the 81 American POWs captured in the Philippines who entered Mitsushima late at night on Nov., 26,1942. Reaching Japan aboard the Nagato Maru, we were the first American shipment of Japan's "slave labor" to arrive in that country. Only 13 American prisoners remained in Mitsushima until Sept. 4,1945. Those who did not die in that camp were sent to a carbide mine in Kanose, Japan, in April 1944. The following day, Nov. 27, 1942, 183 British prisoners captured at Singapore arrived. All but 13 of their number either died in the camp or were also transferred to Kanose along with their fellow American prisoners in 1944.

During the first five months of captivity in Mitsushima, 48 allied POWs died from diseases, starvation, or beatings. Dysentery and pneumonia were the leading causes of their deaths. While diseases were rampant, medications to treat them were non-existent. Food, such as it was, was hardly sufficient nutritionally to rebuild one's strength, and the prisoners grew weaker by the day. To compound the situation, all prisoners were required by the Japanese to work, in ten day weeks, building a hydroelectric power dam.

Doing "coolie" labor with "coolie" tools, we found ourselves digging out the side of a mountain. The dam we helped build is one of Japan's four major sources of power today. On top of sickness, you must add the brutality of the Japanese guards. Initially guarded by active duty troops, the needs of Japanese manpower to fight the war shortly dictated that such troops be replaced with former soldiers, all of whom had been wounded by Chinese, American, or British troops. While the active duty soldier was vicious, the former wounded were even more so. It was their chance to strike back at those who may have caused their loss of an arm, leg, or an eye. With both types of guards, entire barracks of either, or both, American and British prisoners were forced to stand outside the barracks, at attention, in below freezing temperatures, all night. (Winters in Mitsushima, where the elevation is well over 6,000 feet, were extremely harsh.)

As a result of such brutalities and deprivations, charges were brought against a number of the guards at the war's end. However, the most notorious guard of all, not only in Mitsushima, but in numerous other camps, was never brought to trial. This guard, Watanabe or "The Bird" as he was nicknamed, disappeared the day after the war ended and was never seen again, nor are his whereabouts known to the SBC. This most vicious individual was sent to Mitsushima to "improve discipline", and his only duty was to go from prison camp to prison camp to improve discipline. "The Bird" obtained his name when he would sit in a circular booth shaped much like a bird cage, in the middle of the camp and watch the entire compound. Calling individual prisoners to his "cage", he would beat them on the slightest pretext: "You did not respond fast enough ...you did not bow correctly to a Japanese soldier ...you have a button open on your jacket." These charges were followed by a severe beating about the head. Taking his orders only from Tokyo, he was completely uncontrollable by even the camp commander.

The very first Yokohama war crimes trial war were held in 1946 to try the Mitsushima guards. As a result of this trial, five Japanese guards, including the first camp commander, Nakajima, were sentenced to death by hanging. Others received sentences up to and including life imprisonment. None of these guards served more than seven years in Sugamo prison, outside of Tokyo. Nearly all of those convicted were from Nagano Prefecture, hence SBC's interest in doing a television documentary.

With some of the war information available in Japan to SBC, a full scale investigation was initiated by the network's freelance writer, Mr. Takashi Higaki. A scenario of "Death By Hanging" was sent to me for my perusal. Fascinated by the Japanese lack of knowledge concerning what happened in Mitsushima, I agreed to participate. It was obvious from their scenario that they were of the impression that all five guards had been hastily executed, without sufficient proof of their guilt. (The trial of these individuals lasted two years.)

As a result of the executions, "the families of those executed are still bereaved." If these men had to be executed, the scenario went on to say, "death by shooting" would have been preferred". Also apparent in reading the scenario was the Japanese lack of knowledge of the fighting in the Philippines in World War II. They knew nothing about the fight for Bataan, the Bataan Death March, or the prison camps where the American prisoners of Bataan were held. Referring to Bataan, they knew it as Batan Island, a small island off the coast of Luzon, far removed from Bataan Peninsula.

In late August 1990, the writer, Mr. Higaki, visited my home accompanied by an interpreter, where he spent four hours obtaining the story of the American prisoners in Mitsushima. Obviously surprised at what he heard, he kept repeating "The Japanese people don't know this." Completely ignorant of Bataan and its Death March (and he honestly was) he offered to return to the United States with his program's director, Mrs, Matsuyo Iwai for filming in late October 1990. From my home, armed with a letter of authorization from me, he went to the National Archives in Washington, DC, where he retrieved copies of my depositions and of other prisoners used in the trial.

A British POW at Mitsushima

True to his word, Higaki returned on Oct. 29, 1990, accompanied by the director, a camera man, a sound man, and an interpreter. The filming of my interview took over four hours. All during this filming, the director, Iwai, also kept saying, "The Japanese people don't know this," and "Would you like to tell your story in Japan?" I recalled the words of Major Walter Hewitt, who had been with me in the early days of Mitsushima and who was a witness in the war crimes trial. In a letter addressed to former American prisoners at Mitsushima, he urged us to speak for those prisoners unable to speak for themselves, when given the chance, I quickly accepted Iwai's offer to face the surviving Japanese guards "eyeball to eyeball". While I certainly have empathy for the widows of those executed, I felt ready to face them as well. The story of what happened to the prisoners in Mitsushima has been unknown to the Japanese for too long.

Before the departure of the SBC crew, I accompanied them to East Syracuse, NY, where they obtained the story of another American prisoner of Mitsushima, Matt Braun. Matt had left Mitsushima, in April of 1944, when the main body of allied POWs were relocated to Kanose. After leaving Matt, the television people then went to New Jersey to interview Dr. Paul Loong, captured at Singapore and interned in Mitsushima in November 1942. Paul, who became an American citizen after the war, left Mitsushima with Matt Braun. Their stories of what had happened in Mitsushima, while they were there, were exact copies of my story. From New Jersey, the SBC crew traveled to Atlanta, GA, to interview the widow of Dr. Alfred £. Weinstein, author of "Barbed Were Surgeon," the latter part of which concerned Mitsushima.

In late February 1991, a call from SBC, in Japan, gave me one week to prepare for my trip. I soon found myself flying nonstop aboard a 747 from Newark Airport, in New Jersey, to Narita Airport outside of Tokyo. Flying nonstop for such a distance brought to mind the many American lives lost in an attempt by the American military to secure bombing bases nearer to Japan, while giving the crews of the planes a reasonable chance to return safely from their bombing runs.

Bored after better than 14 hours of flying, our aircraft touched down in Narita Airport, where I was greeted by the SBC crew who filmed my arrival. Anticipating a stopover in Tokyo to recover from the flight, I had a rude awakening when I found myself ushered to a train running from Narita Airport to Tokyo's main railroad station, about an hour's ride away. Here we had dinner in a terminal restaurant while we waited for our train to depart. Boarding this train, we rode for about 2-1/2 hours to Komoro City, in Nagano, arriving there about 9:30 p.m., Tokyo time. By now I had been awake over 36 hours and the prospect of a warm bed on a cold night was very appealing. That pleasure was postponed when my hosts decided they were hungry and, after checking into a modern Japanese European style hotel, we proceeded to have a very late meal in one of a Japanese chain of restaurants named "Skylark", which resembled our Howard Johnsons. Immaculately clean, with excellent food, they offered a wide range of American style meals. Our hosts were not only hungry, but curious to hear about Mitsushima from a prisoner's point of view, and we remained in that restaurant until well after midnight.

After a very brief night's rest, we began our travels through Japan. At 7:00 a.m., we motored to a suburb of Komoro City where "Little Glass Eye", a former guard sentenced to life in prison whose Japanese name is Tsuchiya, lived. Given the nickname by the prisoners, Tsuchiya was one of the worst guards,. He had lost his eye in China and was bitter to all POWs. The SBC crew told me, enroute to "Little Glass Eye's" house, that he refused to see me, but that they would try to get him outside his home for an interview with me. Arriving at his home bright and early, I was wired with a miniature microphone and recorder and advised not to mention his name on tape, should he decide to speak to me. Apparently the identity of Tsuchiya without his permission was illegal.

Little Glass Eye: "It looks like we are shaking hands.... NO WAY!"

While the camera and sound men concealed themselves in a doorway nearby, our writer, Higaki, rang the doorbell and spoke to "Little Glass Eye" through an intercom. I heard the same bellowing, threatening Japanese voice that I had heard daily for three years coming through the intercom, yelling that he did not want to see me. Higaki finally calmed him down by explaining that I had "come all the way from America to see you," Perhaps his curiosity got the best of him; he agreed to come out of the house to meet with me. Before he did so, I was asked by Higaki to try to put Tsuchiya at ease, "since he is somewhat afraid of you."

Finally, "Little Glass Eye" emerged from the rear of the house. While 46 years have passed, the recognition was instantaneous. Looking very well for a 74-year-old man (and apparently well fed), he approached me somewhat apprehensively and with good reason. Showing him my POW photograph, taken in early 1943, I asked him if he remembered me. He not only claimed he did not remember me, he also failed to remember any of the events that led to his conviction as a war criminal. Yet, a look in his eye convinced me that he did remember me. Quite surprisingly, his first comment came in the form of an apology for the treatment he had accorded me in Mitsushima, but at no time did he ever mention specifically the beatings he gave me and others. His only response when asked a specific question was, "I was only following orders."

Prior to my visiting Japan, Tsuchiya had been questioned by SBC as to his part in the beating death of an American prisoner named Gordon Teas. "Little Glass Eye" denied to SBC that he was involved in the beatings, over a three day period, saying that he was not in the camp at that time.

My testimony as an eye witness to the beatings was part of the evidence that convicted him, along with two others who took part in the beatings. "Little Glass Eye" had insisted to the Japanese TV network that he was innocent. Yet, when I raised the subject to him, his response was "My attorney told me to never discuss the matter." Standing outside Tsuchiya's house, we all became quite cold with the temperature around the freezing mark. "Little Glass Eye", shivering in a light jacket and trousers, invited us into his house with the admonition that he was living with relatives who knew nothing about his wartime experiences and he wished to keep it that way. No sooner had he opened the front door and invited us in, the sound and camera men came running into his home. Sitting on a tatami mat, he and I talked about the days and nights in Mitsushima. Each time I would raise the subject of the Teas killing, I received the same answer, "My attorney...:' By this time I am sure that the SBC people were aware that he had lied to them about his part in the case.

I then pursued the subject of why, as the camp's supply officer, he refused to issue the several hundred pairs of South African army boots, or high shoes as the Americans called them. These boots had been delivered to the camp several days after our arrival. Asking for the boots at the time of their delivery, we were told "We will save them for you until you go home." I expected that "Little Glass Eye" would tell the truth, that it would have been demoralizing to the Japanese civilians to see us wearing excellent leather shoes while they had to wear a Japanese canvas sneaker, called a "tabi". Instead, "Little Glass Eye" lied once more and said that tabis were safer for us to work in than the hobnail boots. The many prisoners who had rocks fall on their feet would dispute that claim. When "Little Glass Eye" distributed the tabis to the prisoners he issued one size-small. When our big-footed American and British would complain about the size, "Little Glass Eye" would scream at them and beat them about the head with his wooden sword, a very mean weapon considering the hardwood of which it was made. Men unable to wear these tabis went to work with their feet wrapped in gunny sack. Walking through puddles of ice water in the numerous tunnels leading to and from their work site, they often caught colds which led to pneumonia. Eventually some of these men died from such exposure and their deaths can be attributed to "Little Glass Eye." He did a lot of explaining, but he was not specific about anything. After a 30-minute meeting, we left Tsuchiya's house, with him following us to our van. I always felt he was anxious to see us go and wanted to make sure we had left town.

The picture above is of the prison guards in Mitsushima, Japan. Sitting in the center of the first row are two officers. The one on the left was Capt. Sukeo Nakajima. The other officer was Lt. Kubo. Lt. Kubo eventually took over command of Mitsushima, because of the high death rate under Capt. Nakajima. Capt. Nakajima was executed by hanging. The one to the left of Lt. Kubo was Matsuzaki, "Scareface". He was executed by hanging. To the left of Matsuzaki, was Tamotsu Kimura, "The Punk". Kimura was executed by hanging. Major Richard Gordon witnessed Kimura beat to death one of the POWs. In the last row, directly over Capt. Nakajima, was Sadaharu Hiramatsu, "Big Glass Eye". Hiramatsu was executed by hanging.

Somewhat disappointed, I apologized to the SBC people for slipping once and referring to "Little Glass Eye" as Tsuchiya. Have no fear, I was told, once he admitted us into his house that barrier had been removed. They could now identify him publicly for the first time. Having him on tape seemed to make SBC very happy.

Down through the mountainous area of Nagano, we made our way to lida City, where another former guard, Kitazawa, lived. While Kitazawa had never served in the military due to polio, he did serve as a civilian bookkeeper for the camp during the first year of its existence. The SBC, knowing he had testified on behalf of those accused, invited him to be part of the documentary. While he and I had a long conversation, the gist of it remained that the Japanese accused were only following orders from higher authorities in their treatment of prisoners. On camera he did say that in the eyes of the Japanese, all POWs were considered animals and were to be treated as animals. His honesty was refreshing. He also added, however, that "Japan is a racist nation which has to change its way of thinking." Showing the numerous photographs he had taken as the camp's photographer during the war, the SBC crew set about filming his photos, while I filed away his comments concerning the Japanese opinion of prisoners of war. We then spent this night in a true Japanese inn in the mountains near Mitsushima.

Early the next morning we drove to Mitsushima, where I had spent three very hard years of my life. Touring the dam site brought a multitude of memories, mostly bad ones. All that remained of Tokyo Prison Camp 2-D is a field that was once used for our tenko roll call formations, and where numerous beatings of the prisoners took place in front of the entire assembly of prisoners.

I recalled vividly the night I was beaten on that field by the camp commander, Nakajima, and placed into the ASO (solitary confinement cell resembling a large coffin) inside of the Japanese administration building. My offense was that I was in charge of a detail who had refused to do more work than our camari (contract) which the Japanese had called for. The Japanese in our camp felt they could obtain more work from their prisoners by setting a work quota. As a reward, the prisoners were allowed to return to their barracks upon completion of the contract, which in extremely cold weather was a great incentive. Unfortunately, once back in camp, the interior guards found work for the returning prisoners. In this one particular case, our work was completed. Being democratic Americans, we took a vote on doing additional work as proposed by our guard. Upon his learning that the prisoners intended to stick to the work agreement, he reported to the camp commander that we had refused to work. I never could understand the position of my fellow Americans on that vote, considering I received the punishment for their stance. The parade ground, as it once was known, is now a soccer field for a primary school, whose students are totally unaware of its history.

After relating my accounts of the camp as best I remembered them, we visited the railroad station high above the campsite. I remembered our arrival at that station on a pitch black night, after a two day train ride from Moji in late November 1942. Dressed in shorts cut down from our tropical trousers and short sleeve shirts, cut down, we shivered for hours attempting to find warmth that night, without success. Somewhere before our one car electric train arrived in Mitsushima, a snow slide occurred which blocked one of the several tunnels our train had to travel. Stymied at first, we sat in a freezing cold train for some time. Finally the word was passed to all, for us to detrain and climb over the mountain to the other side of the tunnel where another electric car awaited us.

Climbing a steep hill that night, unable to see where one was going, tested the physical condition of every prisoner on the train. As for me, my legs gave out somewhere near the top of the hill. If it had not been for the help of a fellow prisoner, Bill Standish of Chicago, I would have remained on that hill. Several men failed to make the climb and were never seen again.

Japanese Guards at a POW Camp in Japan

From the interview at the railroad station, we went a short distance, to the cremation site for the prisoners, sitting high on the side of a hill. To locate the site, a local Japanese guide was obtained. Mr. Masami Teradaira, a former Japanese army sergeant in charge of the Chinese prisoners who also worked in building the dam, guided us up a narrow path no wider than two feet. While 85 years old, Teradaira was as nimble as a mountain goat. As for the rest of us, we were grasping at vegetation along the path to maintain our footing.

Arriving at the cremation site, we were told what to me was the most amazing story of my trip to Japan. Teradaira, on camera and audio, readily told us that due to a shortage of wood during the war, the remains of the prisoners "cremated" at the site truly never had been cremated. Further, that wood ashes were retrieved and brought back to camp as the ashes of the dead. Unable to completely cremate the cadavers, the skulls and bones of countless soldiers - Chinese, British and American - were swept over the side of the hill into a ravine. Those remains, however, were left laying in the open at the cremation site until about 1974 when it was learned that a Chinese delegation was going to visit the site for the purpose of erecting a monument to their dead. The visit brought about a cleanup of the area and the sweeping away of the skulls and bones. From all indications, all or some of those remains are still in that ravine, laying under the vegetation added through the years by countless snow slides. I found this story incredible and kept asking, "Are the remains still here?" The answer from our guide was that one couldn't tell the difference between Chinese and American bones if you looked for them. After returning to the United States, I set about to ascertain what our official Army records indicated had happened. Having the names, ranks and serial numbers of 16 of those American who had died in the camp and were "cremated", the Army responded that 15 of the 16 were accounted for when their "ashes" were returned to our government in 1946. The Army did add, however, "that a great deal of confusion existed at the time. "Further check with Japanese friends from my trip revealed that "Those bones, mostly Chinese. were collected at the site are now laid in Zeakorji Temple, in Nagano." There is some question as to what percentage of bones and skulls were recovered. It is highly probable that some of the remains are still on that mountain. The entire story, however, leaves open the question of what ashes were returned to this country. The official U.S. Army records state that the ashes of the dead American prisoners were given to the senior American prisoner and he returned them to U.S. authorities. That senior American prisoner at the time was a Dr. Alfred E. Weinstein, author of "Barbed Wire Surgeon." In his book, Weinstein never mentions the ashes of dead American prisoners. Further, this writer accompanied Al Weinstein out of Mitsushima and he had no such item as ashes of our dead. (Unfortunately, Dr. Weinstein died a number of years ago.)

Asked my feelings about the site of the cremation and what we had been told by our guide, I responded, "Kitazawa, yesterday, stated we were like animals and to be treated as animals. Now I know what he meant. How else can one explain the treatment of honorable soldiers whose remains are thrown away like garbage." From that time on, I refused to talk to Teradaira, whose animosity, towards Americans was very evident. The callousness of his story telling will remain with me.

POWs In Japan, After Being Liberated

From here we drove across the Tenryu River, which winds its way along the campsite, to visit Mrs. Hisae Hiramatsu, widow of a Japanese guard we had the nickname "Big Glass Eye'. He had lost his eye in China as did "Little Glass Eye". While very a strict soldier, I never saw him doing anything more than slap a prisoner for some violation of the camp rules. (This type of corporal punishment was very common within the Japanese army.) I was unaware of his death until about 1980, and quite surprised to hear of his execution as a war criminal, as were fellow prisoners Braun and Loong.

During our visit to Hiramatsu's widow, we were shown her two prize mementos: her husband's medal which he had won in China, and his glass eye taken from him after his execution. The meeting, with Mrs. Hiramatsu, was a most traumatic experience. This woman, and her family, still grieves over "Big Glass Eye's" death. I was asked to read a letter her husband had written to her shortly before his execution (which had been translated into English by the SBC for my benefit). Hiramatsu had asked her not to take her own life-and the lives of their three children, but to live for the children. I believe that some of the crimes of "Little Glass Eye" were attributed to "Big Glass Eye and said as much. Stoic as Hiramatsu was, he went to his death without any attempt to find an alibi. To my knowledge, provided me by those who were in constant attendance at the trial, Hiramatsu was the only Japanese guard accused who admitted to striking a prisoner.

Widow and Grand Childred of Hiramatsu - Big Glass Eye, with Maj. Richard M. Gordon

"Big Glass Eye's" son, who bears a striking resemblance to his father, told me that the Japanese people were also hungry during the war and that we in camp had a vegetable garden, which was true. What the son did not know, and I was quick to tell him, was that we knew the Japanese civilians were hungry, but we did not eat the vegetable grown. The Japanese guards did that for us.

Initially bitter towards me, the Hiramatsu family soon became friendly, and with true Japanese hospitality, brought out a great variety of food. After a several-hour visit, we departed with an invitation from Mrs. Hiramatsu for me to return to her home at any time. She stated to the television crew. "The soul of my dead husband must be very happy to see Mr. Gordon come from so far away." Any anger towards me had vanished by the time I left the Hiramatsu house. I truly feel sorry for this woman and her family, Raising her three children in post-war Japan was extremely difficult for her, taunted as the children of a war criminal by their classmates, her children found life very difficult for a number of years. I am bothered by the possibility that her husband was innocent and paid the supreme sacrifice for "Little Glass Eye", who had been asked by the writer, Higaki, "How do you feel about living when Hiramatsu died?" "Little Glass Eye" became furious with the question and responded, "How dare you ask me such a question!"

Our next stop after a night's rest in Shiojiri City, a railroad town, was the city of Hiroshima. After several hours aboard two trains, including the Japanese bullet train from Osaka to Hiroshima, we visited the relatives of the second camp commander, Lt. Kubo. Lt. Kubo had been arrested at the end of the war, but several of us, knowing he was innocent of any crime, testified in his behalf. His family never forgot this and has always expressed their gratitude to me and others who assisted their father. Kubo, it must be said, did everything in his power to treat his prisoners in a humane fashion. Unfortunately, his hands were tied. At no time did he ever abuse a prisoner or knowingly allow the abuse of a prisoner. When told of such abuse. he would punish the Japanese offender, except for "The Bird" who took orders only from Tokyo.

Before meeting the Kubo family at the Riverside Hotel, in Hiroshima, I was taken to Hiroshima's Peace Park and Museum. The museum, a true horror show, vividly depicts what the atom bomb did to the city and its people. I learned through our interpreter, a fine lady, named Hideki Kondou who had spent four years in the United States as an exchange student, that every junior and senior high school student in Japan must visit Hiroshima during their school years. It is a mandatory part of each Japanese student's curriculum. I know of nothing that could foster anti Americanism more than this requirement, despite Heidi's comments to the contrary when I raised this issue with her. To offset this, we Americans could mandate that every student in our high schools visit Pearl Harbor. But knowing the modern American student's lack of American military history, I doubt such a trip would offer more than a chance for the student to swim at Hawaii's beaches.

I was asked to examine each exhibit, set in a circular fashion in the museum, with the SBC's camera focused on any reactions I might show. Upon completing the tour, I was put on camera and asked the question I expected. "What do you think of the crime your country committed here?" Recognizing my anger at the question, my interpreter apologized for asking it. stating she merely worked for SBC as part time interpreter. I explained that the bomb was not only necessary, but that it saved Japanese as well as American lives, especially my life as a prisoner, as we fully expected to be put to death, if American should have invaded Japan.

Not satisfied with my answer, they repeated the question. Fortunately, as I toured the museum, I had read a placard on an exhibit at the beginning of the tour, which read: "In 1941, Japan as well as the United States was working out an atomic bomb, but gave up on it as Japan felt that no country could complete such an undertaking during the war..." Armed with that information, previously unknown to me, my answer to their prime question was in the form of a question. 'If Japan had continued their work on an atom bomb and completed it during the war, would Japan have dropped it on Americans?" The answer is a positive "yes." From that point on, the question of "America's crime" never surfaced again.

On the following day, after a totally pleasant visit with the Kubo family, we left by train for Osaka. where we boarded a flight to Tokyo and then to Manila, Philippines, where the SBC crew learned a great deal about Bataan, the Death March, and the "hell hole," Camp O'Donnell, where the marchers of Bataan were finally taken. It was here that I had to admit that O'Donnell was a hundred times worse than Mitsushima, which it was. I assured the film crew, however, that the conditions at O'Donnell were created by the Japanese. We also had the opportunity here to point out the stories of the hell ships. Japanese transports taking the prisoners from the Philippines to Japan and Manchuria. In particular, we pointed out how Japanese sailors in lifeboats, after their ship was sunk, would reach for an American prisoner in the water swimming to the boat, and then, using a boat hook, hold the prisoner's head under the water until he drowned. I know the SBC film crew learned more about what happened in the Philippines and enroute to Japan than they had ever known.

Returning to the United States after an eight-day tour of Japan and the Philippines, I questioned my role in the making of "Death By Hanging". Did I accomplish what I had set out to do? The broadcast, set for May 25,1991, as I write this, will provide the final answer. While on camera over 50 hours, I am not so naive as to think that everything I said that may be detrimental to the Japanese will be heard or seen. However, I am firmly convinced that Hagaki and Iwai are both sincere in their stated goal of insuring that their people, especially the young, know what happened in Tokyo Prison Damp 2-D, Mitsushima, Japan, from 1942-1945, as well as what took place on Bataan and the prison camps for Bataan's survivors.

It was an opportunity for me to speak for so many who could not speak for themselves. It is my sincere hope that I did right by them.