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Post by insurrectomad on Jan 23, 2012 1:46:39 GMT -5
Being just 2 miles down the road From Angeles City Museum, Pampanga, where U.S. Pvt. Hayden Lawrence was imprisoned for almost a year inside; I am trying to learn more about him. Taken prisoner in Bataan, He managed to escape from the 'Death March' and join up with the HUK guerrillas in the hills. Being ardent communists, they had no liking for the American and so abandoned him asleep in the jungle one morning. Lawrence was then captured once more as he was begging for food in one of the villages. He was befriend by Hermino Tiotuico when hearing Lawrence singing American pop songs, but slipping in verses pleading for someone to speak with him privately inside the jail."Miniong" Tiotuico took extra food rations for his lunch with which to bribe the japanese guard and was able to spend time with Lawrence on many occasions. Then Lawrence was taken to a Cemetery and bayonetted to death. Having obtained Hayden's name and family address in De Ville, Luisiana, "Miniong' was able to assist in the return of the body to the USA. What I would like to know is how to obtain a photo of H. Lawrence and any other details possible. I hope to persuade a Phil. TV channel Drama director to make a Doc. Drama about the last year of Hayden Lawrence. During the WW2 the Museum building was the old municipal hall and used by the Japanese army officers for their sleeping quarters and local H.Q. The ground floor jail is now being used as an office but still retains the iron bared cell door. The BNK, 26th Cav. & Phil. Scouts re-enactors number enough for almost all the extras, completely equipped with necessary weapons so that only an actor to play the part of Lawrence himself is required. Of course a script is also required! Can anyone help?
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Post by frank on Jan 23, 2012 19:35:05 GMT -5
Nice Idea. Lets talk about it in April when we visit. Frank
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Post by friscohare on Jan 24, 2012 0:33:17 GMT -5
World War II bombs discovered in SRP site[/u][/url] (Cebu Daily News, 01/24/12) Workers of a private firm yesterday found 10 World War II vintage bombs during an excavation in the shores of Kawit Island in the South Road Properties (SRP) in Cebu City. A Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) police team accompanied by military personnel arrived at the scene at 2 p.m. and ordered the area sealed off. There’s a risk the unexploded bombs could still go off, said Staff Sgt. Sergio Dominguez of the Central Command bomb disposal unit. He said eight Japanese aerial bombs and two “depth chargers” were found. The aerial bombs weigh 250 pounds each while the depth chargers which are used by ships and submarines weigh 150 pounds. “If the tip of the Japanese vintage bomb is hit, it is very delicate. If one bomb will explode, the rest of the bombs will explode,” Dominguez said in Cebuano. Vintage bombs are “high explosive” and have no expiration date, he said. “We don’t have bombs like these today.” Read more...
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Post by friscohare on Jan 29, 2012 23:13:09 GMT -5
Great post on the 4th Marines. Keep posting. Buy you a beer when you are in town. Frank Thanks, Frank! Hope to meet you one day!
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Post by friscohare on Jan 29, 2012 23:17:14 GMT -5
August DiPaolo, U.S. Army Air CorpsIN MEMORY... Remembering area war veterans: August DiPaolo, U.S. Army Air Corps[/u][/url] (Observer Today (Dunkirk, NY), 01/29/12) August DiPaolo was born in Buffalo on Oct. 17, 1918 in the Fillmore District and Sidney-Humboldt area. His father worked in the concrete business. Dipaolo as a child picked up the trade and learned fast. Later the family started the idea of building a new style home. It was a ranch style home with two floors, two levels. Architects later named this idea a split-level home. The DiPaolo family was the first builder to construct a split-level home. DiPaolo Construction Co. was born. Since DiPaolo came from a family of nine children, getting up early was a must if one was in a hurry to get somewhere. He, as many men of that era, woke up on a Sunday morning on Dec. 7, 1941 and found out that his country was involved in a world war. When first announced, many people had no idea what or where this place called Pearl Harbor was. Many couldn't believe a small country like Japan would provoke a war. Were they wrong! This war was on the other side of the world. World War II had to be fought on two different fronts. The east was the war in Europe. The west was the war with Japan. Within weeks Japan had quickly took over and controlled many islands in the Pacific which were near them. Our leaders in Washington, D.C. prioritized the war effort. Seeing that the war in Europe was escalating at a faster pace, Washington gave the war in Europe its priority sending whatever was needed. First east and the remaining going west into the Pacific. The same day Pearl Harbor was being bombed Dec. 7, the Philippines was also being bombed. Because it was in a different time zone, the bombing of the Philippines is recorded as happening on Dec. 8. August DiPaolo enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corp on Feb. 2, 1941. At that time receiving orders to the Philippines was a gift. ... Read more..._________________________________________ RIP, sir. Roland "Rol" D. Gallaher[/u][/url] (Mail Tribune (Oregon), 01/29/12) Roland "Rol" D. Gallaher, 85, passed away January 19, 2012, at Arbor Place, Medford, Ore. Rol was the eldest child born to James and Anna (Keeling) Gallaher, on February 21, 1926, in Umapine, Ore. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy at 17, and proudly served aboard a tank landing ship in combat during World War II. He saw action primarily in the Philippines, New Guinea, and Corregidor. He served his second tour in various areas of the South Pacific and Australia. Read more...
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Post by friscohare on Jan 29, 2012 23:18:25 GMT -5
This one is a little older, but given the subject, I decided to post it up anyway. Former U.S. Guerilla Leader Has Veterans Day Message for President Obama[/u][/url] (Mabuhay Radio, 11/10/11) On the eve of the Nov. 11 Veterans Day, one of the most- famous American guerilla leaders during World War II in the Philippines is calling on President Barack Obama to sign an executive order, allowing the Department of Veterans Administration to accept benefit applications of Filipino WW II veterans even if their names are not found in the roster of the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri. Retired Lt. Col. Edwin P. Ramsey, who was in command of the 40,000 guerillas during WW II in the Philippines, told this reporter in a phone interview from his home in Los Angeles, California, Wednesday (Nov. 9) that President Obama should consider signing the executive order because many of the records of the guerillas under his command were lost during the war and these veterans are in their nineties. Mr. Ramsey, 94, U.S. commander of the famed 26th Cavalry, said he had testified to the heroisms of the “Filipino guerillas under my command three times in the U.S. Congress. What more do they want?” Ramsey, a lawyer, also testified before a U.S. Federal Court some years ago, attesting that one of his men, Silverio S. Cuaresma, was under his command. But the Department of Veterans would still not accept Cuaresma’s benefit application. CUARESMA IS NO “FAKE” GUERILLA Originally, I appeared before the Federal court on his (Cuaresma’s) behalf. What more could I do? I appeared there and submitted an affidavit. I think it is an injustice. What can I do?” according to Mr. Ramsey, who raised a family in the Philippines after the war. When told by this reporter that some claimants might be pretending to be guerillas, Mr. Ramsey said, he is aware that there might be “fake” guerillas but Mr. Cuaresma is a “legitimate guerilla. He (Mr. Cuaresma) was under my command in Pangasinan military district of my guerilla forces. I presented papers in court many years ago on his behalf. I remember his name came up originally.” When asked if he would testify again on Cuaresma’s behalf, Mr. Ramsey said, “No. I don’t think I will be called again. I will but it is very hard for me to travel. There is just too much that I can do. If they did not accept my testimony in Congress and in Court, they will not accept anything.” Cuaresma, 99, a U.S. citizen, was denied the $15,000 lump-sum benefit tacked in the ARRA when he applied for the benefit before the deadline on Feb. 16, 2010. ARRA was also conferring one-time $9,000 benefit for veterans, who are not U.S. citizens. Cuaresma was listed as 2nd Lt., USAFEE, and No. 7 on a list of 85 soldiers under the roster dated April 22, 1943 for the Pangasinan-Tarlac Military District. Ramsey was leading the last horse cavalry charge in U.S. history on Jan. 16, 1942, as Troop E of the 26th Cavalry Regiment toward the village of Morong, Bataan. Japanese forces had landed at Lingayen Gulf, outnumbering Americans and Philippine scouts and soldiers who made a retreat into Bataan. WAINWRIGHT ORDERED RAMSEY TO TAKE COMMAND Gen. Jonathan Wainwright, the North Luzon commander, ordered Ramsey, a first lieutenant at the time, to take the lead into Morong. A Filipino-American veterans group in Las Vegas, Nevada led by Ceasar Elpidio rolled out last week a petition addressed to President Obama, asking him to sign an executive order after it was disclosed that there are 24,000 applicants for beneficiary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 who were rejected because their names were not found in the NPRC. There is a pending H.R. 210, Filipino Veterans Fairness Act, sponsored by Rep. Jackie Speier [Dem.-CA-12] that mandates the Secretary of the VA to accept applicants whose names are not in the NPRC while another S. 63 sponsored by Sen. Daniel K. Inouye [Dem.-HI] requires the Secretary of the Army to “determine the validity of the claims of certain Filipinos that they performed military service on behalf of the U.S. during World War II." It asks the Secretary of the Army to consider “all information and evidence that is available to the Secretary, including information and evidence submitted by the applicant, if any.” Arturo P. Garcia of the Justice for Filipino American Veterans in Los Angeles, California said that U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer [Dem.-CA] was going to introduce a companion bill to H.R. 210 that now teems with 75 co-sponsors. Even if H.R. 210 reaches 100 on Nov. 14-15, it will not be enough to muster the 218 votes needed for it to pass at the end of the Congressional session before Christmas. For this reason, Luke Perry, of Las Vegas and son-in-law of the Filipino veteran, said there is a need to appeal to family and friends of veterans to view and sign up at the White House page the executive order, asking President Obama to sign it, by accessing this site: wh.gov/TpwRead more...
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Post by friscohare on Feb 4, 2012 15:01:52 GMT -5
Milo O. SmithFallen Heroes 1-10[/u][/url] (Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, 01/10/12) (Editor’s note: Following is part of an ongoing series honoring Washington County veterans who died while serving in the military.) Milo O. Smith was born in Chanute, Kan. He moved to Bartlesville where he lived until he joined the Army Air Corps. Smith was assigned to the 724th Aviation Ordnance Company in the Philippine Islands, based at Nichols Field. When the Japanese invaded the Philippines, Manila was declared an open city and the Air Corps was issued rifles and became provisional Infantry. They fought the Japanese and retreated down the Bataan Peninsula and were taken prisoner April 9, 1942. Smith survived the Bataan Death March and was placed in the Cabanatuan Prison Camp. In Cabanatuan the prisoners were put in Blood Groups of 10 men. If one escaped the other nine would be shot in front of the whole camp. Smith was in Cabanatuan until December 1944 when he was forced on the Oryoku Maru to be taken to Japan as slave labor. There were 1,619 American prisoners jammed in the Oryoku Maru. The survivors said it was so crowded everyone had to stand the entire journey and when someone fainted, he wouldn’t fall and there were no toilet facilities. The ship was not marked as carrying POWs and the Army Air Corp strafed and bombed the ship Dec. 15, 1944. Smith died in the attack which only 450 survived. His body was not recovered and his name is inscribed in the Tablets of the missing in the American Cemetery in Manila.
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Post by friscohare on Feb 4, 2012 23:01:17 GMT -5
Filipino defenders of Bataan, Mariano Berona, 93, left, and Rosendo Luna, 96, at the unveiling of a new monument honoring veterans and survivors of the march. New Seattle monument honors bravery of Bataan soldiers[/u][/url][/size] Three of Seattle's Filipino-American World War II veterans, who were among those fighting on the Bataan Peninsula, were honored for their bravery at a ceremony Saturday, Feb. 4, and with a new monument at Beacon Hill's Dr. José Rizal Park. (Seattle Times, 02/04/12) Seventy years ago, they were young soldiers, Merchant Mariners and sailors faced with what for many would become impossible odds for survival, after the American surrender to the Japanese forces in the Philippines in 1942. The event would become known as the Bataan Death March, one of the most horrific war crimes in history. Saturday, three of Seattle's Filipino-American veterans, who were among those fighting on the Bataan Peninsula, were honored for their bravery. Beneath a tent in the front row, all now in their 90s, were Rosendo Luna, Gene del Rosario and Mariano Berona. On the sunny day at Beacon Hill's Dr. José Rizal Park, dozens of people from the Filipino community gathered to hear excerpts of their written recollections; to hear the men praised by U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott and Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn; and to see them honored with a military color guard and a new monument. The Association of Bataan and Corregidor Survivors, a group founded in 1959 by 157 Filipino-American veterans from Washington towns, made the monument, which details the historic event, a reality so future generations would not forget. While three survivors were able to make the ceremony, two others were not: Nick Golla and John Abuan. As committee member Fannie Sumaoang, whose husband fought on the Bataan, filled plates with dessert before the reception, she said she wants her "children to remember, even my great-grandchildren to talk about it." Taking pride in the Filipino-American veterans' heroism is like "a new birth for the community," said Luna, 96. Most of the veterans served with the American military but, because of U.S. laws at the time, were denied veterans benefits until 2009 when President Obama approved the Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund. "The U.S. made promises to these people and then we forgot," McDermott told the audience. Thousands of soldiers would be executed before the grueling march began. Of the 78,000 American and Filipino prisoners who began the 60-mile march from the Bataan Peninsula to Camp O'Donnell, only 54,000 would make it to the prisoner-of-war camp. Forced to march without water and little food, sometimes going barefoot over hot rocks, suffering from dysentery and malaria, some 15,000 Filipino soldiers and 4,000 Americans would be killed en route. Numerous Filipino civilians who tried to aid the soldiers by throwing them food or giving them water were killed. And at the camp, 25,000 Filipinos would die. "Each of our groups were fed only once, a saucerful of rice," Luna wrote in a remembrance. But others were fed only every seven days. "Along the road we were laughed at, spit upon, struck down and beaten," he said. "I cannot forget the kindness and caring of my Filipino countrymen who threw food and cigarettes at us, leaving us cans of drinking water near the end of the march. ... I witnessed my comrades dying at 30 to 50 men a day." Berona, who was with the Philippine Scouts, was among those marching to the prisoner-of-war camp. When he saw the opportunity to escape, he lay down next to a dead man and pretended to also be dead. Eventually, he was able to run into a ditch, cross a stream and with the help of civilians, he escaped, becoming a guerrilla in the Philippine resistance. Del Rosario was a Merchant Mariner when his ship was bombed by the Japanese. He decided to join the U.S. Navy and was part of a unit that landed behind enemy lines in Bataan, on a mission to pick up straggling American soldiers after the U.S. surrender there. In the crowd Saturday were great-great grandchildren of those who made the infamous march, among them Isaiah Luke Cambronero-Harris, 11, who didn't know about his family history. "I don't think you ever told me," he said to his mother Mildred Cambronero-Harris, who pledged to tell him the stories she'd heard from long ago.
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Post by friscohare on Feb 12, 2012 9:54:43 GMT -5
World War II veteran Charles Heffron recounts his experience as a prisoner of war after the fall of the Phillipines last week at his home in Athens, Tenn. The 93-year-old is one of about 4,400 ex-POWs from the Pacific theater who are still alive according to the American Ex-Prisoners of War organization.Japan POW lives with scars of World War II[/u][/url][/size] (Knoxville News Sentinel, 02/12/12) ATHENS, Tenn. — Charles Heffron has neither an explanation nor a clear understanding of why or how he survived one of World War II's most infamous crimes against humanity 70 years ago. He says simply he lived through 1,278 days as a Japanese prisoner of war after the fall of Bataan and Corregidor, where he was assigned to Gen. Douglas MacArthur's staff and was present when the general left the Philippines ahead of the defeat of the important islands. Although he was not on the Bataan Death March in 1942, Heffron suffered through a longer march from Corregidor one month after the fall of Bataan. He endured the Hell Ships, lived through working in a steel mill and then walked out to freedom through the atomic-bombed wrecked city of Nagasaki in 1945. Heffron, 93, is one of the very few prisoners of war from the Philippines alive today. He is in decent health, although he says his legs give him trouble and are brittle from 3 1/2 years of captivity in which he received little protein, fruit or adequate vegetables, and no medical care. Most days in captivity, his meals consisted of one rice ball in the morning and one in the evening. The rice ball fit in the palm of his hand. Heffron, who lives in Athens with his wife, Frances, continues to suffer from the trauma of his imprisonment. He has post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and is on 100 percent disability from the Veterans Administration. The COPD, he says, is the result of working in a Kyushu, Japan, steel mill where he was forced to make railroad cars and castings for hand grenades. He also had to climb inside of hot furnaces to clean out steel slag. Heffron was among the estimated 8,000 American soldiers, sailors and marines and 5,000 Filipino troops and civilians captured at Corregidor. These prisoners were first sent to an area called 92nd Garage, which was a motor pool for the 92nd Coast Artillery. Some 12,000 Americans languished there before being herded into boats for the trip to Manila and then to Cabanatuan, one of the more infamous Japanese POW camps on Luzon, largest of the volcanic isles in the Philippines. Cabanatuan (KA-ba-na-TWHN) was known as "The Rock." Its name means "place of rocks." How Heffron arrived at The Rock is the story of a trip to hell and back. In 1941, after enlisting in the U.S. Army, he was trained in the new science of radar and was then sent to the Philippine islands. As a sergeant, he was put in charge of a crew on Iba, on the cost of Luzon, 60 miles north of Manila, on the edge of the South China Sea. On the same day Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Japanese fighters and bombers strafed and bombed Iba, killing five of Heffron's men. With the fall of Bataan imminent, Heffron went to Corregidor, about three miles across from the peninsula, and was assigned to MacArthur's staff where he encoded and decoded messages for the general's headquarters. In a controversial decision, President Franklin Roosevelt ordered MacArthur to leave Corregidor. Heffron and other staffers escorted the general and his wife and daughter to a waiting PT boat in the dead of night. "It was a very dark night," says Heffron. "And the general left." Bataan fell to the Japanese April 9, 1942. The Japanese 14th Imperial Army found itself with close to 100,000 prisoners, which included American and Filipino soldiers and Philippine citizens. The Japanese were neither prepared nor capable of feeding, housing or caring for that many prisoners. Corregidor capitulated about a month after Bataan, which began the "death marches." About 12,000 soldiers, sailors and marines were captured on Bataan. Another 60,000 Filipinos were also rounded up and marched from Bataan north to POW camps. Along that march, prisoners were shot, bayonetted, starved and left to die in the heat. After helping MacArthur and his family escape, Heffron says he went to an area near Malinta Tunnel, which served as a hospital and as MacArthur's headquarters. Here, Heffron waited for the inevitable. The Japanese infantry took him prisoner, along with about 8,000 other soldiers and 5,000 Filipinos and secured them in the 92nd Garage. Heffron was wounded by a piece of shrapnel just before Corregidor fell. The inch-long gash hadn't healed and there was no medicine. But, there were larvae from a blizzard of blowflies, which had infested the makeshift latrines that quickly overflowed with human waste. "I got some of that larvae and put it in my wound," he says. The maggots ate the dying flesh and actually helped the healing process. "It itched when they ate," says Heffron. Soon, with the tide turning in the war, Japan was running short of laborers. POWs were herded aboard "Hell Ships" bound for Japan. Heffron found himself in the hold of a Hell Ship for about three weeks. One bucket of food a day was lowered into the hold where men were suffering from diarrhea, dysentery, malaria and sweltering heat. The Japanese transport ships were unmarked and constantly attacked by American submarines. Heffron says he heard two of them "break up." Each Hell Ship carried about 1,000-1,500 prisoners. He was taken to Kyushu to a steel factory. He had to shovel iron ore, which he says was very heavy, dirty work. During the time he labored in the mill, he said a Japanese woman running a large crane and bucket tried to drop the heavy equipment upon the American soldiers. His POW camp was about 50 miles from Nagasaki. When President Harry Truman decided to end the war with atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Heffron says his "guards disappeared over night." When he was liberated, he weighed 92 pounds. The POW's in the Philippines experienced a mortality rate of 40 percent, with approximately 11,107 deaths out of the total 27,465 internees in the Philippines. The latest figures from the American Ex-Prisoners of War organization, shows that as of 2003, roughly 4,400 ex-POWs from the Pacific theater were still alive. He spent seven months in a U.S. hospital recovering from his ordeal at Bataan and Corregidor. Later, he went to Cornell University on the GI bill and earned a degree in electrical engineering. Heffron went to work for Westinghouse developing color television. He and his wife teach ballroom dancing at a McMinn Senior Activities Center."We dance twice a week," says Heffron.
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Post by friscohare on Feb 12, 2012 9:57:08 GMT -5
Legislative roundup, Feb. 11, 2012[/u][/url] (Santa Fe New Mexican, 02/11/12) [...] Tony Reyna, the oldest living survivor of the Bataan Death March, will be honored Tuesday morning in the House of Representatives. Born in 1915, Reyna is a former governor of Taos Pueblo.
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Post by friscohare on Feb 18, 2012 11:45:48 GMT -5
Ed Rossi holds a photograph of the B-24 he flew aboard as a nose gunner during World War II.Wings of Freedom Tour rekindles memories for former B-24 gunner[/u][/url] (Bradenton Herald, 02/14/12) The names are just tiny specks on a map surrounded by the vast blue Pacific Ocean. Angaur Island. Koror Island. Babelthuap. Though obscure, they remain emotional touchstones for Edward Rossi, especially today. The Collings Foundation’s Wings of Freedom Tour is landing at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport, bringing three vintage warbirds for three days at Rectrix Aviation, 8250 15th St. E., Bradenton. One of them is a B-24J Liberator, a heavy bomber like one Rossi knew so well as a young man during World War II in the South Pacific. Still fit and feisty at 90, he was a nose gunner with the Army Air Corps’ 494th Bomb Group, flying 40 missions aboard “Rover Boys Baby” from Nov. 3, 1944 to April 11, 1945. Angaur Island was the base for the 494th, “Kelley’s Kobras,” commanded by Col. Laurence Kelley. Koror Island and Babelthuap were Japanese targets at Palau, northeast of Anguar, just two of many Rossi flew over in those perilous times. “I had a front-row seat,” said the Distinguished Flying Cross recipient. “I had no fear until we hit the target. Then the fear came and you prayed to God.” In fact, 70 years ago on Valentine’s Day, Rossi flew his 26th mission, bombing Corregidor, the Philippines’ island fortress. Read more...
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Post by friscohare on Feb 18, 2012 11:50:25 GMT -5
Evelyn White, left, and Don Lucero decided to get married on Valentine's Day after being together for 32 years. They started dating in 1980. Taking their time[/u][/url][/size] (Kennebec Journal, 02/14/12) [...] She and Lucero attribute their good health to a diet full of produce and low on chemical additives. They both have pacemakers, however, and Lucero is hard of hearing because of injuries he sustained when the Japanese bombed Clark Air Base in the Philippines on Dec. 7, 1941, the same day of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Lucero later escaped the Bataan Death March and spent the duration of World War II in the jungles of Luzon as a prisoner. Lucero owns two planes that he keeps in Norridgewock and still enjoys flying -- when White lets him. The two of them tease each other constantly, with White frequently commenting on the attention Lucero receives from women. Read more...
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Post by friscohare on Feb 18, 2012 11:53:59 GMT -5
Veteran to Discuss Bataan Death March at Lakeville VFW[/u][/url][/size] (Lakeville MN Patch, 02/17/12) For Brainerd native Wallace McKay, visiting the site of the Bataan Death March is like returning to somewhere he used to live. Wallace never lived in Bataan, but the 60 mile march of terror that took place in that historic province of the Philippines shaped his entire reality. During World War II, Wallace served with the navy in the South Pacific. However, his sister, Hortense, worked as an army nurse in Bataan. Many of Wallace’s friends and acquaintances from Brainerd were also stationed in Bataan, with the Army's 194th Tank Battalion. On Saturday, Wallace will speak about the historical significance of the Bataan Death March, the impact the military activity in Bataan had on his life and the personal experiences of his family and friends, who faced imprisonment and death while serving in the Philippines. He will give his speech at Lakeville VFW Post 210. “It’ll really be an eye-opener,” said VFW Post 210 commander Arnold Zach. Hortense was not forced to march when the U.S. surrendered Bataan to Japan in April 1942. She was evacuated the night before the surrender, along with several other U.S. nurses, and was taken to Corregidor, a neighboring island. Hortense remained in Corregidor for a month, until the night before the U.S. surrendered the island. That evening, the head nurse was told to select 10 women who would travel to Australia by submarine, where they would be safe from imprisonment. Hortense was among the fortunate 10. There was no such escape for the soldiers of the 194th Tank Battalion. Over 60 men left Brainerd to serve in the Philippines. Most of these men took part in the death march and were imprisoned in Japanese war camps for years afterward. Approximately half of the men in the 194th returned home to Brainerd. Three were killed in action, Wallace’s childhood neighbor among them. The rest died during the march or in Japanese prison camps. “Their actions probably saved an invasion of Australia,” said Wallace. The war continued and Hortense eventually returned to the Philippines, where she worked as head nurse in a hospital. When the nurses taken captive in Corregidor were released from the prison camps, they were brought to Hortense’s hospital to be treated before returning to the U.S. Hortense, who passed away in the 1980s, suffered from survivor syndrome caused by the unanswered question of why she was among those chosen to escape to safety. Since the war ended, Wallace has traveled to Bataan and Corregidor three times, and has even brought his children to the place that so strongly impacted his life and the lives of those he loved. On these trips, Wallace has met death march survivors and heard their stories, seeking to understand his sister’s circumstances and experiences. This April is the 70th anniversary of the Bataan Death March. “Seventy years has gone by,” said Wallace. “It’s probably something that a lot of people don’t know very much about.” Wallace, however, has a lifetime of knowledge regarding Bataan and the atrocities that took place there. His speech will be presented at noon on Saturday at the Lakeville VFW Post 210 dining room.
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Post by friscohare on Feb 18, 2012 11:59:52 GMT -5
Remembering Doña Aurora A. Quezon[/u][/url][/size] (Manila Bulletin, 02/18/12) MANILA, Philippines — Doña Aurora Aragon Quezon was known for her humanitarian activities. She was the first Chairperson of the Philippine Red Cross. Although she was in the background during the presidency of her husband, President Manuel Luis Quezon, she left a legacy of empowering women by campaigning to give Filipino women the right of suffrage, which was granted in 1937. Aurora Antonia Aragon Quezon was born on February 19, 1888, in Baler in Tayabas Province (now Quezon Province) to Pedro Aragon and Zeneida Molina. She received her early education under the tutelage of her aunt, Maria Dolores Molina, mother of Manuel Luiz Quezon. She was also taught by another aunt named Emilia. When her father was imprisoned during the Philippine Revolution, she lived with her aunt Maria Dolores and uncle Lucio. With support from Manuel, she enrolled at the Philippine Normal College in Manila in 1911, but after two years, she had to quit school due to poor health. In 1918, she and Manuel got married in Hong Kong. Their marriage was blessed with four children but the third child died in infancy. Manuel was elected President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines on November 15, 1935, and was inaugurated in Corregidor on December 30, 1941, with Aurora present during the inauguration. After Quezon was reelected in 1941, Aurora accompanied him in Corregidor where he was sworn in by Chief Justice Jose Abad Santos in December 24, 1941. In February 22, 1942, they left the country ahead of advancing Japanese Forces and reached the United States in June, 1942. Aurora devoted her time caring for her husband who was ill with tuberculosis. When he passed away on August 1, 1944, she moved to California together with her daughter and they worked as Red Cross nurses. In 1945, Aurora returned to the Philippines. She declined government assistance and an offer from the Liberal Party to run for Senator in the 1946 elections. She continued her involvement with civic work. She rehabilitated the Antipolo Church. She was conferred honorary doctorates by the University of Santo Tomas, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, the Marygrove College of Detroit, and the Philippine Women’s University. She was bestowed the Ozanam Award by the Ateneo de Manila University and the Pro Ecclessia et Pontifice Cross from Pope Pius XII. On April 28, 1949, Aurora and her daughter Baby were assassinated while they were on their way to Baler to inaugurate the Quezon Memorial Hospital. President Elpidio R. Quirino declared a nine-day national mourning period. She was buried at the Manila North Cemetery. On April 28, 2005, her remains were transferred to her husband’s sarcophagus at the Quezon City Memorial Circle in Quezon City. Let us offer prayers as we remember Doña Aurora Aragon Quezon on her 124th Birth Anniversary and may her memory live on.
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Post by frank on Feb 20, 2012 20:11:13 GMT -5
newsinfo.inquirer.net/148407/bloody-liberation-of-manila-during-wwii-recalledHistorian Ricardo Jose on Saturday called on his Filipinos to keep alive the lessons learned from the battle to liberate Manila 67 years ago, as he lamented that the generations that followed had taken for granted the 100,000 innocent lives lost as Allied forces mounted the offensive to free the country’s capital from Japanese occupation.
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Post by friscohare on Feb 22, 2012 0:06:15 GMT -5
Maj. Gen. Taylor was a man who inspired with his service through hardships. Chapel honors WWII hero[/u][/url][/size] (San Angelo Standard-Times, 02/21/12) [...] Suffering and horror, he added are never "the will of God." During World War II he saw plenty of both. The East Texas native served as pastor of South Fort Worth Baptist Church before volunteering for military service in 1940. Assigned as regimental chaplain of the 31st Infantry Regiment, Philippine Division, he arrived in Manila in May 1941. When the war began later that year, he served on the front lines in the Battle of Bataan as a noncombatant chaplain and earned his Silver Star going into no man's land to help a corpsman evacuate the wounded, Keith wrote in the biography about the chaplain's war experiences. When the Americans surrendered Bataan, he and other prisoners of war were forced to walk to a distant prison camp. Many died along the Death March, though the chaplain did what he could to help. "He was beaten and tortured during the march for constantly rendering assistance to others," reads his official Air Force history. Keith, in his biography of Taylor, describes the march in gruesome detail. He also captures the chaplain's determination. "God, you brought me here for a purpose," Taylor prayed silently, at one point. "Help me be up to it." Taylor never gave up. He served as chaplain in the prison camp hospitals in the Philippines, Japan and Manchuria for 42 months, ministering to more than 10,000 patients. During that time he spent 14 solitary weeks in a hellish, cramped "heat box," his punishment for smuggling medicine and food to hospital patients. In the biography, a soldier asks Taylor why he volunteered for the service. "God led me here to help these men," Taylor replied. "He knew about this great tragedy ahead of time and wanted me here to try to give spiritual help. That's why." Toward the end of the war, the Japanese moved the prisoners onto "hell ships." Packed with nine other men in a 4-by-6-foot hold, Taylor told his biographer the experience was "worse than the heat boxes" and he "had never felt so miserable." When American planes attacked the Japanese ships, not realizing Americans were on board, more than 1,000 prisoners died. Hot shrapnel hit Taylor in his right arm and hip. Read more...
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Post by friscohare on Feb 22, 2012 18:06:28 GMT -5
Japanese builds schools along 'Death March' route[/u][/url][/size] (ABS-CBN News, 02/22/12) MANILA, Philippines -- A Japanese philanthropist has donated school buildings set along the Death March route, where thousands of Filipino and American prisoners of war died at the hands of the Japanese forces during World War II. The Department of Education (DepEd) accepted the turnover of the school buildings donated by Katsutoshi Shimizu on Tuesday. The recipients of the buildings were Bantan Elementary School in Orion Bataan, and Angelina Jimenez Elementary School in Capas, Tarlac. Each school received a two-classroom building with toilet, a Japanese garden, two sets of computer units, two sets of LCD television units, school uniforms, tables, chairs and chalkboards. DepEd said Shimizu's donation was lodged under the agency's Adopt-A-School program, which invites the private sector to donate to public schools. "We thankfully accept this donation from R. K. Shimizu (Nagasaki) Foundation Inc. through its president Mr. Katsutoshi Shimizu, whose mission is to help build dreams and bridge societies. We hope many will follow suit," Education Secretary Armin Luistro said in a statement released Wednesday. Read more...
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Post by friscohare on Feb 22, 2012 18:08:52 GMT -5
Bataan Death March vet honored by DAR[/u][/url][/size] (Laurel Leader Call, 02/22/12) LAUREL — Two Jones County war veterans were honored at the Nahoula Daughters of the American Revolution’s (DAR) Annual National Defense Luncheon Tuesday. The event, held at the Laurel Country Club, recognized Laurel residents Arnold Flowers and Jimmy Bass. Flowers received the National Society Daughters of American Revolution (NSSDAR) Founders’ Medal of Heroism for surviving the Bataan Death March and three years in a Japanese prisoner of war camp during Word War II, while Bass was recognized for receiving an award at the Mississippi State Society of DAR’s state conference in Jackson on Feb. 16. The state organization honored Bass for his work in founding Laurel’s Veterans Memorial Museum. Dr. Robert “Bob” Hilbun, who worked with Bass to get national officials to present Flowers with the Purple Heart medal he earned 70 years ago, introduced Flowers to DAR members. He noted that Flowers finally received his Purple Heart in May. Hilbun also spoke of how Flowers survived a brutal chapter in war history known as the Bataan Death March. He noted that Flowers was wounded at the hands of Japanese soldiers during the Bataan Death March, a 60-mile trek involving the forcible transfer of 75,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war after the three-month Battle of Bataan in the Philippines. The march began on April 9, 1942, after General Edward King surrendered to the Imperial Japanese Army. The length of the march depended on where you were at the time of surrender. For Flowers it was an eleven-day journey to the northern tip of the peninsula. On the 12th day he was among 65 men picked and loaded into trucks and transported back down to the southern tip of the peninsula where he started and where the last battle took place. The men walked for hours with no food or drink, and it had been over a day since they had eaten anything. They were weak, tired, hungry and thirsty. Hilbun said 16,950 American and Filipinos died in the March. “Sometimes when I hear Arnold tell this story, I have to go to my private office and cry,” Hilbun said. “I admire Arnold not only surviving what he went through at the hands of the Japanese, but for the man he is despite all that.” Flowers stood to a standing ovation from those in attendance. He humbly thanked everyone for the honor. Read more...
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Post by friscohare on Feb 22, 2012 18:21:46 GMT -5
Veterans of the 11th Airborne Division, from left, Seymour Silverman, 85, of Hartsdale, John Noonan, 85, of New Hempstead, Larry Lenahan, 72, of Mahopac and Frank Forlini, 89, of Yonkers gather at a diner owned by Nick Hogan, right. The vets are helping Hogan find answers about his uncle Dennis Hogan Jr., missing in action since 1945.Rescuers of World War II camp take on new mission 'to bring a fellow member home'[/u][/url][/size] (Lower Hudson Valley, 02/20/12) On the same day the U.S. flag was raised on Iwo Jima in one of the pivotal battles of World War II, a daring and dangerous rescue mission by U.S. forces in the Philippines was under way. That raid, far behind enemy lines, freed thousands of civilian prisoners being held by the Japanese at Los Banos internment camp — including a group of Maryknoll nuns and priests — and served as a model for future rescues. Every year a group of veterans of the Army’s 11th Airborne Division, many from the Lower Hudson Valley, meet to commemorate the Los Banos raid of Feb. 23, 1945. When they meet Saturday in a New York City restaurant owned by a Yonkers veteran, they will have a new mission: to help find the remains of a Piermont man who fought in a nearby battle and is still missing in action. “We don’t leave our dead or wounded on the battlefield,” said John Noonan of New Hempstead, who arrived in the Philippines with the division soon after the raid. “Even though it’s 67 years later, we will do everything in our power to bring a fellow member home.” Pfc. Dennis Hogan Jr. of Piermont was wounded in the Philippines two weeks before the raid at Los Banos. The 23-year-old Rockland County native recovered and returned to his unit. On the night of April 22, 1945, Hogan and other members of the 511th Parachute Infantry with the 11th Airborne Division jumped out of a plane onto a mountain on the Philippines island of Luzon. What happened next has never been fully explained to his family. MIA Word reached Piermont several days later that Hogan had been killed near Sulac in the mountains of Malipunyo, an area south of Manila that saw intense combat between U.S. and Japanese forces. Despite more than six decades of searching, the Hogans have never been able to find out the exact circumstances of his death, or, more importantly, locate his remains. His nephew, Nick Hogan, owner of Hogan’s Diner in Orangeburg, has revived his family’s long search for answers. Veterans of the 11th Airborne, including those who freed the Los Banos camp, are helping him. When the group meets Saturday, they will present him with a plaque honoring his uncle. Read more...
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Post by friscohare on Feb 22, 2012 23:30:02 GMT -5
Is it legal to lie about a military medal?[/u][/url][/size] (Fox 10 TV, 02/22/12) MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - He was one of the first charged under the "Stolen Valor Act", and the case has now made it all the way to the Supreme Court. The man's attorneys argue that the lies harmed no one and should be protected under freedom of speech. It's a case that's got a lot of people talking. Retired Army Colonel Glenn Frazier was imprisoned by the Japanese during World War II, and he watched his friends suffer horrible deaths. And he said he wasn't too pleased to hear about this case. There’s no disputing Colonel Glenn Frazier's heroic service, he chest is full of ribbons that he’s earned, and there’s picture evidence that he was on the Bataan Death March. Frazier spent three and a half years as a prisoner of war. Frazier's joyful presence hides the hellish past that he endured while he was tortured by the Japanese. He hasn't been issued a Medal of Honor at this time, and he doesn't think it's a subject worth lying about. "I think it’s an abuse of the Constitution. It's an abuse of our laws,” Frazier said. "It's not covered in the freedom of speech as far as I'm concerned." Read more...______________________________________ Frank Benteman, a Frankfort native and WWII veteran who sought the name change of K-99 highway in honor of the Frankfort Boys, sat patiently Wednesday as his 6 1/2-year effort came to fruition with the final passage of a bill in the Kansas Legislature. The bill will name part of K-99 highway the "Frankfort Boys World War II Memorial Highway."Frankfort Boys bill awaits Gov's signature[/u][/url][/size] (Topeka Capitol-Journal, 02/22/12) The Kansas Senate learned Wednesday that among 37 Frankfort servicemen killed in World War II, one was prisoner of war Paul Paden, who was aboard a Japanese merchant ship when it was torpedoed and sunk. In a voice vote minutes later, the Senate easily passed a bill to honor 37 Frankfort servicemen killed during WWII. Nearby during the vote, Frank Benteman, a Frankfort native and WWII veteran who sought the name change of K-99 highway in honor of the Frankfort Boys, wiped his eyes. For six and one-half years, Benteman, 85, of Topeka, has spearheaded efforts to get the recognition. The bill seeks to name part of K-99 highway the "Frankfort Boys World War II Memorial Highway." In 2006, he brought to light that Frankfort suffered more men killed in action than any other town its size. Sen. Roger Reitz, R-Manhattan, introduced Benteman to the Senate. Passed in the House and Senate, the bill now will go to Gov. Sam Brownback for his signature, which is likely. In an earlier visit to the Capitol, Benteman was in a hallway when Brownback spotted him wearing a ball cap with a Combat Infantryman Badge on it and had a photograph shot of himself and Benteman. Sen. Mark Tadd**en, R-Clifton, told senators about Paden, a National Guardsman captured by the Japanese in the Philippines. Paden survived the brutal Bataan Death March and two and one-half years of captivity and was being transferred to Japan as a slave laborer when the merchant ship was sunk by an American submarine. (Paul Paden was a member of HQ Company, 194th Tank Bn.) Read more...
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