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Post by friscohare on Sept 7, 2011 23:11:45 GMT -5
Hi everyone, I thought we could start a thread where we can post recent articles that talks about WWII Philippines, including news about WWII veterans, celebrations, etc. Maybe it could help researchers or the curious. There are some great stories out there. So, here's some headlines to start off: - Cherokee Nation Honors Veterans During Their National Holiday Celebration(09/07/11-Indian Country Today Media Network) Muscogee Creek Nation member and Bataan Death March Survivor Philip Coon and his wife, Helen, during the Cherokee Nation Holiday event honoring veterans on September 3. - Mims Attends monument Dedication for Old Unit(09/07/11-The Pilot) Bataan Death March survivor John Mims of Aberdeen was in Columbus, Ga., on Aug. 12 for dedication of a memorial honoring the 31st Infantry Regiment. - World War II Veteran Receives Long Overdue Awards in Roscommon County(09/03/11-9&10 News) For one World War II veteran, today is a day for some long overdue recognition. Corporal Robert Alexander served in World War II for five years. As part of his service, he fought at Corregidor. He earned several awards - but never actually received those medals. - The Story of a POW Survives: A journal documents a soldier's time in three Japanese camps(08/14/11-The Register Guard) .... The box contained a few pictures, official documents, and most poignantly, a makeshift journal, written on a booklet of brown, lined paper stitched down the center and folded in half. Its cryptic entries offer a glimpse into Duncan’s life as a prisoner of war in Japan from May 1942 to September 1945. Augmented by historical information, it’s a testament also to his accuracy in documenting his captivity....
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Post by friscohare on Sept 7, 2011 23:12:00 GMT -5
Here are also some heroes who recently passed. My prayers and condolences go out to their families. - Juan Aninao, 98, survived Bataan Death March(08/25/11-Cincinnati.com) When asked, "What did you do in the war?" Juan Aninao kept his mouth shut. He did not tell his five children he survived the Bataan Death March. He did not talk about enduring seven months in a Japanese concentration camp. He never told stories about being a guerrilla fighter in the Philippines during World War II. - Bataan Death March survivor dies at 90(08/12/11-San Antonio Express) William J. Mitchell, 90, a survivor of the Bataan Death March and more than three years as a prisoner of war during World War II, died Aug. 8. He served 29 years in the Army and Air Force.
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Post by VeeVee on Sept 8, 2011 12:42:52 GMT -5
Excellent idea Friscohare Please keep adding to this thread as you find content. I'll do the same.
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Post by friscohare on Sept 9, 2011 20:51:27 GMT -5
Exhibit Features Art Of WWII Veteran, Bataan Death March Survivor[/u][/url] (University of Montana News 09/07/11) As a survivor of the Bataan Death March and a Japanese prisoner of war for more than three years, Montana artist Ben Steele’s work provides some of the most haunting images of World War II. A new exhibition opening Friday, Sept. 23, at the Montana Museum of Art & Culture at The University of Montana features oil paintings and drawings donated by Steele and his wife, Shirley, in 2010.
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Post by friscohare on Sept 10, 2011 12:10:15 GMT -5
Slavery, Dignity and Japan, 66 Years Later [/u] American prisoners of war still await apologies from the companies that enslaved them. (By Lester Tenney. Wall Street Journal, 08/01/11) My slavery in Japan officially ended on Sept. 2, 1945, when Japanese and American representatives signed the formal surrender documents for the Pacific War. For nearly three years I was an American prisoner of war slave laborer for Mitsui Mining. I had survived the Bataan Death March on the Philippines and a "hell ship" to Japan only to be sold by Japan's military to the Mitsui conglomerate. Since liberation I have struggled to regain the dignity that both Imperial Japan and Mitsui stripped from me...
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Post by friscohare on Sept 12, 2011 23:28:03 GMT -5
I got the dates wrong so I didn't get to go: Illinois National Guard Infantry Soldiers Honor the Heroes of Bataan[/u][/url] MAYWOOD (09/12/2011)(readMedia)-- Soldiers from the 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT), including Col. Paul C. Hastings of St. Charles, commander of the 33rd IBCT, honored Soldiers who fought in the Battle of Bataan during World War II for the Maywood Bataan Day Organization's annual service Sept. 11 at Veterans Park in Maywood. The Maywood Bataan Day Organization and the Village of Maywood jointly sponsored the event to bring awareness to the harsh conditions Soldiers endured during America's campaign in the Pacific in World War II.
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Post by VeeVee on Sept 13, 2011 22:34:12 GMT -5
I got the dates wrong so I didn't get to go: Too bad. Maybe next year.
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Post by friscohare on Sept 15, 2011 7:53:08 GMT -5
RIP Mr. Davis. Ex-POW harbored no grudge against captorsOne of his favorite stories was about how a Japanese guard once shared his own lunch with him at a work site. (Tulsa World, 9/15/11) As he looked over at his buddy who was digging beside him, Warren Davis must have wondered briefly whether it had all been worth it. A Japanese prisoner of war since just a few months after the U.S. entered World War II, the former farm boy had spent the last 3 1/2 years in a grueling fight to stay alive, even catching and eating rats to sustain him and others through long days of forced labor. Now, he and his friend were going to die. Read more...
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Post by friscohare on Sept 16, 2011 19:07:14 GMT -5
Today, 9/16/11, is POW-MIA Recognition Day. A salute to all POW/MIA who have served gallantly and courageously. Congress Is Missing in Action for the POWs/MIAs (Huffington Post, 9/16/11 by Ralph Levenberg) On this National POW/MIA Recognition Day, I am at a loss as to why H. Res. 333 honoring POWs from World War II languishes in the House of Representatives. The Resolution, introduced by Representative Mike Honda (D-CA), thanks the Government of Japan for offering last year an apology to the American POWs of Japan and encourages the Japanese companies that used them as slave labor to follow the example of their government. Most important, it acknowledges the sacrifices of these veterans of whom nearly 40 percent died in merciless captivity. My story is not much different than many Americans captured by Japan. I was a member of the Army Air Corps stationed on the Philippines when the Japanese invaded in December 1941. I was surrendered by my commanding officers on April 9, 1942 and survived the infamous 65-mile Bataan Death March in the tropical sun with little water and no food. I saw my friends beheaded, bayoneted and beaten to death. Read more..._________________________ Dedication Ceremony Today For Statue Honoring POWs(10News 9/16/11) MIRAMAR, Calif. -- A 15-foot-tall bronze, concrete and stainless steel monument to prisoners of war will be dedicated Friday at the Miramar National Cemetery in honor of National POW/MIA Recognition Day. "The Liberation Moment" statue was sponsored by the San Diego chapter of American Ex-Prisoners of War, which was created in 1942 by the mothers of two POWs as the Bataan Relief Organization. Read more..._________________________ Ceremony held to honor POWs, missing soldiers(Elk Grove Citizen, 9/16/11) Elk Grove City Council Member Sophia Scherman told a crowd of former World War II prisoners and their supporters on Sept. 10 about a realization she had that morning. She was trying to decide what to wear for the occasion in the hot weather, until she thought of her audience. “All of you that were in the service, you had no choice – you were up in the heat, the rain, the snow, the bugs, the piss, and on top of that, you were happy to fight the enemy,” Scherman said. Read more...
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Post by friscohare on Sept 16, 2011 23:59:46 GMT -5
Prisoner of war survivor honored in Tyler(CBS 19 KYTX, 09/16/11) Oliver "Red" Allen, from Tyler, was a prisoner of war during World War II. He was part of the Bataan Death March, in the Philippines, where thousands of prisoners died. He talks about his memories as a prisoner or war and explained why it's so important that his story be passed on. Terrifying memories, that still sting with pain. "I'll never forget, Ill never forget," Allen says. Pain, that seemed to go away, even just for a while, as the highest recognized veteran in East Texas was honored by his community. Read more...
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Post by friscohare on Sept 19, 2011 13:44:51 GMT -5
Vigus recalls adventures of 530th Army Engineers[/u][/url] (The Baxter Bulletin, 09/18/11) W.H. "Bill" Vigus, 93, had a box seat for some of the biggest battles of World War II in the Pacific, but he got little time in that seat. A motor pool mechanic with the 6th Army's 530th Engineers Light Ponton Bridge Company, Vigus saw Japanese fighters and bombers shot down in numbers in such rapid succession they couldn't be counted by a single observer during invasion of Leyte. He also helped keep the 530th running as it played a key role in laying down vital ponton bridges on Leyte and Luzon, at times in front of battle lines and often under fire. On Oct. 20, 1944, liberty ships, S.S. Adoniram Judson and Clarence Darrow, carried the 530th in one of the Pacific war's largest invasion forces to the shores of Leyte. "The Filipino people met us in outrigger boats, bringing us bananas and coconuts. The Jap army met us in their zeros and Betty bombers bringing us bombs and machine-gun bullets. One group wanted to make us welcome and the other one wanted to blast us out of the water. Read more...
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Post by friscohare on Sept 19, 2011 22:21:23 GMT -5
They fought and died for us: Cemetery tour looks at WWII [/b][/u] (North Platte Bulletin, (NE) 9/19/11) During World War II, soldiers in the South Pacific fought beriberi plus the enemy. Gunners flying on bombers over northern Europe suffered in bitter winds, 25,000 feet high. People at home planted victory gardens and donated food to soldiers at the North Platte Canteen. The Army built defense factories and prisoner of war camps in Nebraska. Troops were trained at Ft. Robinson. North Platte students considered quitting high school and enlisting. World War II was one of the worst times in the history of the world, with nations bent on destruction. Many young men enlisted and did not come home alive. But the war brought out great things: loyalty, devotion to freedom, the highest bravery and the deepest generosity. Actors honored the World War II effort Friday and Saturday, exemplified by a handful of people buried in the North Platte Cemetery. Read more...
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Post by friscohare on Sept 26, 2011 11:05:22 GMT -5
WWII airman to be honored with VA markerSylvia Chapa's mission to honor a Lubbock victim of a World War II-era Japanese "Hell Ship" is going further than she hoped. (Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, 09/26/11) Sylvia Chapa’s mission to honor a Lubbock victim of a World War II-era Japanese “Hell Ship” is going further than she hoped. After a summer of seemingly endless line of phone calls, faxes and emails with government and cemetery officials as well as many hours searching through archives, the coordinator for the City of Lubbock Cemetery finally has the official VA grave marker she was initially told Lt. Claude W. Paulger had not earned. And Lubbock’s Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2466 is working to coordinate a ceremony some time this weekend to place the new bronze marker on Paulger’s grave. Read more...
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Post by friscohare on Sept 26, 2011 22:32:57 GMT -5
Letters to my grandfather, a World War II hero: Manila, Dewey blvd. (Washington Times, 09/26/11) Philippine Islands -Matt Payne recently spent nearly a month in the Philippine Islands retracing the footsteps of his grandfather, Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice William A. Berry from his early days as a Naval Ensign on the shores of Manila to his capture on Corregidor Island. His cathartic journey took him along the path of the famed Bataan Death March to the jungles of Northern Luzon where his grandfather escaped from the Japanese, sheltered by villagers and was ultimately recaptured. These are letters that Matt wrote to his deceased grandfather, sharing his experiences and insights along the way. Read more...
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Post by friscohare on Sept 28, 2011 19:37:38 GMT -5
IMAGE: Darrell Koon shakes the hand of Brigadier General Burton Francisco of the Michigan Army National Guard after the presentation. Koon's uncle, Staff Sergeant Everell Olson, was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart Wednesday at Pilgrim Manor in Grand Rapids.Overlooked Purple Heart presented to Bataan Death March victim's family 68 years later[/b][/u] (Michigan Live, 09/28/11) GRAND RAPIDS — On Jan. 11, 1943, Staff Sgt. Everell Olson, 22, died in the Cabanatuan prison camp of disease and injuries he suffered during the infamous Bataan Death March. As one of thousands who died in the Philippines at the hands of their Japanese captors, the Michigan man’s sacrifice was nearly forgotten until Wednesday, when his 109-year-old sister, Edith Koon, was presented with a Purple Heart on Olson’s behalf. Read more...
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Post by friscohare on Oct 2, 2011 23:08:11 GMT -5
Remember when: Veteran recalls World War II events[/b][/u] (TC Palm, 10/01/11, By Robert Humphrey) Sixty-two years after serving in the Navy, I remember events from World War II when I served from 1944-48. I was recognized during a Veterans Day ceremony last year as one of those in the Navy who cleared the way for Gen. Douglas McArthur to land in the Philippines. We also saved 500 American prisoners of war held by the Japanese. We learned the Japanese were doing to kill the prisoners, most of whom were forced to participate in the Bataan Death March that started in 1942. I and others confronted the Japanese before dawn. Read more...___________________________________ John M. Zubay Sr., 92[/b][/u] (The Review, 10/02/11) EAST LIVERPOOL - John M. Zubay Sr. went to be with the Lord while surrounded by his family on Friday, Sept. 30, 2011, at his residence on Shadyside Avenue following a lengthy illness. He was 92. He was born on Sept. 26, 1919, in Leechburg, Pa., a son of the late John F. and Anna Francis Huska Zubay. He served in the U. S. Army during World War II, was a Japanese prisoner of war, survived the Bataan Death March, and had received the Purple Heart and Bronze Star for his meritorious service. [Note: Mr. Zubay was a PFC with HQ Company, 803rd Engineer Aviation Bn. during WWII] Read more...
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Post by VeeVee on Oct 4, 2011 7:46:19 GMT -5
Thanks Sean. This thread is very much appreciated.
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Post by friscohare on Oct 9, 2011 11:28:44 GMT -5
R.I.P., Mr. Foy. Ex-legislator, Bataan Death March survivor Thomas Foy of Bayard dies, age 96[/u][/url] (The Republic, 10/08/11) BAYARD, N.M. — Former state legislator Thomas P. Foy, a survivor of the Bataan Death March in World War II, has died at age 96. Family members said he died of natural causes Saturday at his home in Bayard. Foy, a Democrat, served in the House of Representatives from 1971 to 1998. He was district attorney in the Sixth Judicial District from 1949 to 1956. Foy was among thousands of American and Filipino troops who surrendered in the Philippines in 1942 and were forced to march to Japanese prison camps in what became known as the Bataan Death March. He is survived by two daughters, two sons, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. ("Tommy" Foy was a 1st Lt. in F Co., 200th Coast Artillery Regiment) ________________________ IMAGE: Bob Rosendahl of Springfield, Mo., recalls experiences as a soldier and prisoner of war during a reunion Saturday at Holiday Inn & Suites. POWs Swap Stories[/u][/url] (Southwest Iowa News, 10/09/11) Three men who survived 3 1/2 years of captivity at a prisoner-of-war camp during World War II shared their stories Saturday morning as dozens of relatives, friends and members of the public listened. The session was part of the annual Mukden Survivors and Descendants Reunion held this past week at the Holiday Inn & Suites at Ameristar Casino-Hotel. Read more...
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Post by friscohare on Oct 10, 2011 0:09:42 GMT -5
Two WWII vets: Frank Smith, 84, and Bill Brown, 92[/b][/u] BILL BROWN, 92, Salem Bill Brown says everybody knows about the exploits of the Marines in the Pacific Theater, but few know about the role of the Army Rangers. But he and the 6th Ranger Battalion engaged in island-hopping invasions from New Guinea to Luzon. He later served as a scout, a demolition squad leader and a headquarters guard. As a scout, he and a small squad were surrounded by Japanese who flooded their area to avoid an American bombing run. After some tense discussion, they decided their best chance was to simply walk out through the Japanese troops in the dark. They made it. Read more...
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Post by friscohare on Oct 14, 2011 8:45:58 GMT -5
Actors Akeem Davis and Griffon Stanton-Ameisin perform in an original theatrical production as part of the "Fighting for Democracy: Who is the 'We' in 'We the People?" exhibit at the National Constitution Center.Heroes to their country and heritage, World War II vets honored at Constitution Center[/b][/u] (Newsworks, 10/13/11) A new exhibition at the National Constitution Center features World War II veterans of minority races and nationalities. With intertwined biographies rendered in photos, videos and text, "Fighting for Democracy: Who is the 'We' in 'We the People?' " profiles seven men and women-- black, Hispanic, Jewish, Filipino, Native American and Japanese American--as heroes to their country and their heritage. [...] All the veterans are now dead, except for Domingo los Baños who grew up on a pineapple plantation in Hawaii. He is Filipino, and comes from a family with a long line of military service. However, before 1942, the United States considered Filipinos in America as aliens. They were not permitted to join the military. Read more...
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