My dad "Bill" WW2 Veteran (his story)

[laugle]

This post is for all of you who were kind enough to write my dad "Bill" this past memorial day, and expressed an interest in his story.

I joined the army December 7, 1941. I was a Buck Private in the 31st infantry, company A. We were having our Christmas dinner at topside, Corregidor, when the Japanese bombed us, killing many of our men. I was wounded by schrapnel and flying debris. After the bombing was over, what I saw was enough to make a man sick to his stomach. After Corregidor, our troops left for Bataan, where we fought the Japanese for three months. We finally surrendered in April. You can't fight a war without planes and tanks!

After we surrendered, we marched several days in the hot sun, without any food or water. This was known as the Bataan death march. Many of our boys passed out. Those who fell were shot or bayoneted. We finally reached camp Cabanatuan where we stayed for several years. I was caught talking to another guy, so we were forced to slap each other until blood oozed out of our mouths.

After a year in this camp, I was shipped to Japan. After we left the ship, we marched several miles to camp 17, Fukuoaka, Japan. a coal mining camp, owned by Mitsui Co. I was injured when an air pipe exploded shooting particles of coal in my chest and stomach. I was also in a cave where a slab of rock pinned me against a rock wall injuring my neck and back.

My parents and sisters, all American citizens were put in prison at Santo-Thomas, Manila, Philipines. My father spent most of the time scrounging in garbage cans for food. He finally died of starvation. My father was in the Spanish-American war.

My brother Henry was in the army corp. of engineers and also a prisoner. He was killed on his way to Japan. His ship was torpedoed by our submarines.

When they dropped the atomic bomb and Japan surrendered, B-29 planes came over and dropped us food. All the Japanese left, and we joined our liberators. On the way our pilot flew over the area where the bomb was dropped. A 3-mile area was flattened and blackened. You can only imagine how many people were killed.

In closing, lets not forget these few old men that are still alive to tell their stories, who fought for freedom and a better world for us to live in. I will be 84 years old this September 1st.

God bless these men for what they went through and god bless this great country of ours!

Thank you for your interest in my story. I now know that I am NOT FORGOTTEN..........I hope others will tell their stories.

P.S. Dad told me to tell you that he was a POW for 3 years. He received 7 medals, including the purple heart. Also a citation from President Harry Truman. This is the only time I have seen dad in a pridefull moment.

[JDPriestly]

1. Thank you, Bill

[Kipling]

2. Interesting story.

Thanks.

[welshTerrier2]

3. what a story !!!

hi again Bill ... you're really developing quite a following here at Democratic Underground ...

i was wondering how far you were from where the A-Bombs were dropped and whether you could see, hear, feel or smell anything when they were ...

i also wondered if you can recall your feelings when you knew you really were free after going through such a horrible incarceration during the war ...

even in warfare, it's staggering to hear how incredibly inhumane we humans can be to one another ... the story you told about the Bataan Death March and how you were treated as a prisoner made me think of how the US government under bush has condoned torture around the world ... it doesn't seem like we've learned much about morality since WWII ...

[AmBlue]

4. Wow, I am honored to hear your story, Bill

Your family has suffered immeasurably and are all, every single one, heroes. Thank you and God bless you, sir, for all that you have been through for all our sakes. I am humbled by your story.

& nominated

[NMDemDist2]

5. thanks so much! nominated n/t

[lucca]

6. Thank you Bill for

sharing your story with us.
What a life you have lived.
I will never forget you.
You are an amazing person.
You are my hero.

[whatgives]

7. Thank you n/t

[Mairead]

8. Thank you again, Bill (and Laura!)

Bill, your story of that time, brief though you made it, is a powerful one. Those of us who are old enough to have had family over there (my stepdad did infantry and signals in New Guinea) have at least a wee bit of understanding about all you left unsaid. It is very saddening to know that your dad and brother were lost, but it's wonderful that you came through that horror to enjoy a full life.

I only wish we could all really bring home to you how proud of and grateful to you we are. This is only a virtual hug, but it's heartfelt (and perhaps Laura wouldn't mind standing in for me) {{{{{HUG}}}}} {KISS}

Very best wishes for as many more years as you like!

Mairead

[housewolf]

9. Thanks for telling us more of the story

Bill's strength in surviving such a horror is an inspiration to all and, I hope, a treasured legacy to you.

I'm curious... have you known this story all of your life, or has your father only recently begun to speak of it?

[laugle]

12. He wrote it 4 years ago, when I was

trying to gain support for a veterans bill HR 1198, which died a slow death in the house. It would have enabled vets to sue the company's which they worked as slave labor in. I'm 52 now and he never talked about it till I was 47 and asked him to write his story. Obviously, I had to edit it down for this forum. Thanks for writing.

[katinmn]

10. Bill, I am flabbergasted by your story.

Thank you so much for what you have given to this country.

I am sorry your family was treated the way you described. I don't understand it but that is another story.

Thank you for sharing your experience with us.

[noamnety]

11. Thanks for sharing that

It's unbelievable that anyone survived such things - he must be an amazing man.

[fishnfla]

13. Thank you sir

thanks

[Nothing Without Hope]

14. Please thank your father for sharing this story with us. The events he

describes are so extreme in every way, it's remarkable that he is here to tell about them. It's also remarkable that he is well-balanced enough after so much trauma that he CAN tell about them.

No, he is not forgotten. I have never met him and was not yet born when he diid the things he describes, but I feel awe, gratitude and pride.

I also hope that as he says, others will tell their stories. They more than deserve our thanks and support, and they need to know they are not forgotten. And WE need to know what kind of a price real people have paid to keep our country safe.

[Sacajawea]

15. Thank you, Bill! My dad was an Army photographer in the Philipines...

But he was never captured. He was sent to Japan right after the bombs were dropped.

His birthday also is September 1st. He would have been 90 this year.

Thank you again, Bill, for what you did for me and for our country.

[roguevalley]

16. Bless you, Bill and all your generation.

[laugle]

21. Thanks again for posting the doggy pictures, the

whole family is loving them!! Sooooo cute!

[AmBlue]

17. When you hear a story like this...

doesn't it make you all the more upset when you know our government is cutting veterans' benefits left and right? How much are these families suppose to take??? That so many vets are homeless or without adequate healthcare or income is absolutely beyond belief. Where is our governments' sense of decency? What has become of us?

(I'm not saying this is Bill's situation, I've just been reading about our Afganistan and Iraq vets turning up homeless and it breaks my heart.....)

[CBHagman]

18. I'm glad your father survived.

What a lot of determination he must have had to endure that suffering.

It occurs to me that the Smithsonian is collecting WWII veterans' stories. I recall that last summer, when the WWII Memorial opened in DC, volunteers were transcribing and recording (or whatever) the accounts of veterans and home front workers. Can you get your father's story to an organization, library, or oral history project? It can be shared with future generations.

Surely there must be a website for these brave people's stories. You might look into that.

[laugle]

22. I plan to look into that, thanks for writing n/t

[alcuno]

23. I think they have a kit.

The relative does the interview.

[Booster]

19. Absolutely nothing in my life compares to what you went through,

and I have you to thank for that. You're quite a guy - you've been to Hell and back and I applaud you.

[faithnotgreed]

20. kick for bill and all those who put America first in their fight

[chalky]

24. Thank you, Bill. n/t

[burrowowl]

25. My sister has a friend

whose father (he died recently and had a small theater in the North Valley named after him). In Albuquerque we have a park and memorial named after them.
Tell your Dad he and many others are not forgotten.

[Wilms]

26. Welcome home, Bill.

http://www.npr.org/programs/wesat/features/2001/010526....

[CarolNYC]

27. Thank you Bill

[lucca]

28. Thanks again Bill. (kick for Bill) n/t

[laugle]

30. Thanks lucca,

for kicking my dad Bill's post. 150 people from DU wrote my dad on memorial day. Many expressed an interest in his story. I'm afraid that by posting on a weekend many people were unable to see it. Thanks again.

[Historic NY]

29. Thank Bill for me....he and his family endured much.

also give him a big hug.

[ChickMagic]

31. Thank you Bill

for the terrible sacrifices you made for us. My father was also in Bataan. Before the march he was at Camp O'Donnell. There was another prisoner who had just gotten out of dental school. Dad had a cavity that was really hurting, so this newbie dentist melted down a coin and filled his tooth. He still has it to this day! Dentists have marvelled at it all these years.

He's 85 now and very active in the Purple Heart Society along with several other veteran programs.

[DinahMoeHum]

32. God Bless You, Bill.

This daughter of a WW II vet/POW-survivor has not forgotten and will not forget.