Post by friscohare on Nov 13, 2011 2:21:36 GMT -5
RIP Mr. Austria... 
Austria, 89, escaped from Bataan Death March[/u][/url]
Philippine Scout was honored by Texas Legislature.
(MySanAntonio.com, 11/12/11) Benjamin C. Austria, a Philippine Scout during World War II who escaped from the Bataan Death March and witnessed the deaths by bayonet of several family members during the war, died Wednesday of pneumonia.
He was 89.
His life was punctuated by forgiveness and faith in the face of horrific loss, said his wife, Irene Austria.
Among the most difficult was seeing his mother and two sisters attacked by Japanese soldiers. All three died.
“He said the soldiers were not to blame. He said (Japanese Emperor) Hirohito was to blame.”
In 2005, Austria was among the Bataan survivors honored by the Texas Legislature.
He was born into a military family. His grandfather and father were Philippine Scouts, his family said. He and his father, a medical service corps officer, were captured by the Japanese. While he escaped the death march, his father died in captivity.
“We saw a lot of bodies along the way,” Austria once said. “Some were almost skeletons, left there from battle.”
His daughter Lona Sanchez said her father “escaped by giving the Japanese watches.” For the rest of his life, “he liked to give people watches.”
After his escape, Austria joined Philippine guerrilla forces and then the U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry Division, serving as a medic. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in the Philippines, his wife said.
During the war, she ran a country store, where they met.
“My father didn't like him at all,” she said, once threatening him with a bolo knife when he saw Austria kiss her.
They were married for 66 years.
“He was funny,” she said of her husband. “He had two left feet. He couldn't learn to dance.”
They shared a love of bowling and Vegas.
He became an Army nurse and served during the Korean War, where he also eluded capture.
Other Army assignments took him to hospitals in Hawaii, Washington, D.C., Fort Hood and Brooke General Hospital (later Brooke Army Medical Center), where he was chief ward master, a position he held until his retirement in 1971 as a master sergeant.
He then worked at Nix Hospital as director of central supply, his family said.
The Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster recipient was awarded a Combat Infantry Badge, Army Commendation Medal, Prisoner of War Medal and many others.
Austria, 89, escaped from Bataan Death March[/u][/url]
Philippine Scout was honored by Texas Legislature.
(MySanAntonio.com, 11/12/11) Benjamin C. Austria, a Philippine Scout during World War II who escaped from the Bataan Death March and witnessed the deaths by bayonet of several family members during the war, died Wednesday of pneumonia.
He was 89.
His life was punctuated by forgiveness and faith in the face of horrific loss, said his wife, Irene Austria.
Among the most difficult was seeing his mother and two sisters attacked by Japanese soldiers. All three died.
“He said the soldiers were not to blame. He said (Japanese Emperor) Hirohito was to blame.”
In 2005, Austria was among the Bataan survivors honored by the Texas Legislature.
He was born into a military family. His grandfather and father were Philippine Scouts, his family said. He and his father, a medical service corps officer, were captured by the Japanese. While he escaped the death march, his father died in captivity.
“We saw a lot of bodies along the way,” Austria once said. “Some were almost skeletons, left there from battle.”
His daughter Lona Sanchez said her father “escaped by giving the Japanese watches.” For the rest of his life, “he liked to give people watches.”
After his escape, Austria joined Philippine guerrilla forces and then the U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry Division, serving as a medic. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in the Philippines, his wife said.
During the war, she ran a country store, where they met.
“My father didn't like him at all,” she said, once threatening him with a bolo knife when he saw Austria kiss her.
They were married for 66 years.
“He was funny,” she said of her husband. “He had two left feet. He couldn't learn to dance.”
They shared a love of bowling and Vegas.
He became an Army nurse and served during the Korean War, where he also eluded capture.
Other Army assignments took him to hospitals in Hawaii, Washington, D.C., Fort Hood and Brooke General Hospital (later Brooke Army Medical Center), where he was chief ward master, a position he held until his retirement in 1971 as a master sergeant.
He then worked at Nix Hospital as director of central supply, his family said.
The Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster recipient was awarded a Combat Infantry Badge, Army Commendation Medal, Prisoner of War Medal and many others.
