Tears in the Darkness by Michael & Elizabeth Norman

I read the book and found it interesting following Ben Steeles personal life and exploits during the Philippine campaign and subsequent imprisonment in the Philippines and Japan. I was especially captivated by chapter nine which described his experiences on the Tayabas Road Detail which my father barely survived as well.
However, after reading into chapter 13 about General Homma, I threw the book across the room. Homma, the soft hearted, gentleman, Poet General. Homma, who admitted driving up and down the Old National Road several times during the Death March and never saw a single body along the road. Homma, who had no idea that his officers were going against his orders and mistreating Filipino and American prisoners of war. Estimating that between five and ten thousand pow's died during the March in the 65 mile journey, there should have been beween 76 and 152 bodies per mile. If you couldn't see them, one would assume that after a couple of days one could smell them.
What drivel! What started out as an enjoyable piece of non fiction, ended up sugar coating the experience and evolving into a piece of fiction. I can only guess that the Normans had no idea that Homma was the propaganda minister for Japan for some time and knew the American people and spoke English reasonably well. He understood American psyche and how to play up to it. A consummate actor in a courtroom where his fate depended on his demeanor as well as his testimony.

Robert

Images from 2009 ADBC Convention

More Images from the 2009 ADBC convention

New thoughts on an apology.

This blog is my blog and the thoughts contained herein are mine and mine alone. Since these thoughts are localized to this blog and not posted to an Internet site where my opinions are not asked for nor shared by others then I alone am responsible for them. Any affront to those who read it is not my intention but merely a positional statement.

I have accepted that the Japanese have apologized, if for no other reason than to get the damned thing behind me. Some of our POW's have asked for an apology for years. On Saturday, May the 30th, 2009, the Japanese ambassador to the United States flew to San Antonio to deliver an apology to those attending the last convention of the ADBC.

As it always occurs, an argument ensued as to whether the apology was genuine, heartfelt or addresses all the grievances held by ex pow's. I would like to address these issues. I shall make it short and to the point.

What weight can an apology past, present or future from the Japanese carry when those responsible for the murder, torture and enslavement of our soldiers/fathers are revered and enshrined in a temple constructed for hero's, martyrs and Gods? When the day comes that the Yakasuni shrine removes those criminals from its grounds and denounces them as the monsters they really were, will I believe that any apology is valid.

Yet, let me make this perfectly clear, an apology made at this point in time, shall never have the meaning coming from modern day Japan that it would have sixty some odd years ago by those responsible or the leadership of the Japanese government from that time.

Just as we modern day Americans can not apologize for the systemized destruction of indigenous Indian tribes in our past as well as those Africans who were brought to America as slaves, modern day Japanese cannot apologize for the sins of their fathers. We can only acknowledge that what was done was wrong and we resolve to never repeat the past.

Moreover, no apology or form of compensation will ever fill the void created in the lives of former pow's and their descendants. So let us stop trying to compensate the past and begin constructing a dialogue with our former enemies in an effort to educate the world, including the Japanese and we Americans about the realities of war. WAR is RAW savagery and human intellect at its absolute worst. Our brains are supposed to put us intellectually above the level of animals. What has occurred is our destructive capabilities are now above that of animals because we are still primitive emotionally.

There is no time better than this moment in time to start looking forward to what can be as opposed to what has been.

Robert Hudson

After eight months and in excess of eight hundred hours, the Bilibid departure roster is complete. This roster discovered at the National Archives in October 2008 contains the names of nearly 13,000 American Army personnel and some 300 cilvilians who were transferred aboard their "Hellships" through Bilibid Prison. Some as early as 1942, but mostly in 1944. There are names of British and Dutch soldiers who survived the sinking of the Hofuku Maru off the coast of the Philippines and were transferred to Bilibid and Cabanatuan. I only discovered the names of three Navy personnel and no Marines as far as I know.

I apologize for any incorrect information in the roster. Some of the documents were in poor condition and discerning their content was difficult at best. Names and information that contain misspellings are often recorded by me as they appeared on the documents, others are caused by my poor typing ability and haste.

The Bilibid roster in its entirety is on the Battling Bastards of Bataan website.
http://www.battlingbastardsbataan.com/bilibid21.htm Copy & paste this website address into your web browser, or simply click on the link and it will take you there.

If you find information that is incorrect about your relative who appears on the roster, contact me at roberthudson@alyricman.com and I will correct the roster with the information you provide me. The roster will always be a work in progress. I will no doubt discover new information or will be given new information by others about the men listed on the roster. Every few months, the roster will be updated with the newest information available.

Each and every man on this roster is a hero. What they endured on behalf of their country is beyond our poor powers of comprehension. They deserve our respect, our admiration and our devotion to their memories. No American soldier has given more, suffered more and received less attention than the brave men on this roster. We must always cherish their memories and to the best of our abilities, educate those ignorant of their sacrifices.

Robert Hudson




BILIBID PRISON

Photos from National Archives Oct/2008

Lt General Shigemori Kuroda, Commanding General
in the Philippines in 1943, shown waiting in
Yokohama prison for transfer to Omori Prison
Camp, where he will await trial for War Crimes.



Margaret Utinski decked out with Campaign Ribbons
What? Is that a Philippine Campaign Ribbon on the bottom?


A Liberated Johnathon Wainwright being served tea in Japan


Happy reunion between Percival, MacArthur and Wainwright?

WHY SOME LIVED

The battle for Bataan and its aftermath was a particularly brutal and horrifying event. Our forces were not prepared for the rapid succession of events in 1941 or for the abominable conditions they were to endure as the war unfolded. Forced to fight with outdated weapons and ammunition, undernourished and fainting from hunger, and dealing with all the indigenous tropical diseases, many perished. Believing that their four and one half months of torment was coming to an end at the time of surrender, they were to discover a higher level of suffering. Some soldiers could not believe that they had survived up to that point. Many of their friends and fellow combatants had perished for no other reason than having been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The Death March was to teach them the depravity to which the Japanese soldier could plumment. Many Filipinos and Americans suffered for lack of nourishment, water, disease and the new component, unchecked cruelty and barbarism. Again some lived and some died. There was no rhyme or reason. The somewhat fit soldiers died from abuse as well as the sick and injured who could not endure the hardship.

The next blows in close succession were the railroad ride from Capas to San Fernando where many died of suffocation and dehydration. Afterwards was the ordeal at Camp O'Donnell. The conditions at O'Donnell are well known. Many thousands died from no other reason than a total lack of decency, compassion, humanity, kindness or whatever you wish to name it. Yet again many survived.

Cabanatuan was somewhat better, yet many perished there in the next few months for the same reasons stated above. Then the insanity of the Hellships began to manifest itself. To have survived up to this point was a testament to courage and willpower, yet this was something almost unendurable. To be caged inside a somewhat furnace like situation, sitting in animal filth and forced to wallow in your own filth with limited water and food, was a new low even for the Japanese. Many survived these trips of a month or more, however, again some perished. Those who suffered the conditions in these Hellships and eventually made to slave labor camps could consider themselves fortunate. I say this because they had the fortune to be given a number by a nameless Japanese official which put them on a hellship that was not doomed to be attacked by air and by submarine of U. S. forces. Thousands of men who had the preserverence to survive the battle for Bataan, the Death March, the train to San Fernando, Camp O'Donnell, and Cabanatuan were killed by their own countrymen. They were slaughtered unknowingly because they had the misfortune of being shipped in unmarked Japanese freighters.

The final insult was to become a slave laborer on the Japanese mainland or elsewhere. Forced to work long hours in dangerous mines and factories, many more died. Some from accidents and some disease and malnutrition and of course the ever present mistreatment by their tormentors.

My father was one of the fortunate who survived the war. He was not one to speak about the horrors he endured. I do know that he carried with him a tremendous guilt for having survived when so many of those he knew did not. He could not reconcile his feelings. Having had a belief in God before the war, it was ripped from his heart by the events of his captivity. In many others the reverse was true.

The reason for this article in my blog is to share with you my belief in the reason why so many survived all of the perversive acts of the enemy over three and a half years. It is my belief that God on some level secures the lives of some soldiers so that they may testify to the hideousness of war. That they may bear witness to those of future generations that war is too great of horror to repeat. That they may substantiate the sufferings of their fellow soldiers and give evidence to those who will hold those guilty of perpetrating grievous injury and suffering for no other reason than to cause it. War is Hell in uniform. The affect and effects of war must be transmitted to the next generation and must be done by those who have existed within its grip.

Robert Hudson

8/17/08

The Legend of Bataan & Corregidor

Bataan and Corregidor were not only defeats for the United States during World War Two but record setting surrenders as well. The battle for the Philippines was not particularly well documented by the media as were later battles around the globe. The harsh environment of the terrain, the swiftness with which the battle proceeded, the known brutality of the Japanese Army, and the fact that most all reporters were required to orbit around MacArthur, all conspired to dilute the number of reporters who wished to brave the coming tide of devastation.

There are times when the defeated rise above the stain of their loss. When an underdog in battle inflicts severe losses on the enemy and are deficient in arms, food, materiel and medical supplies, it can only inspire in generations to come a feeling of awe. The suffering these men and women endured mixed with the incredible heroics of their efforts combined to thwart the time table of Japanese domination in the Pacific and ultimately changed and shortened the course of the war.

Our troops although out numbering the enemy were not battle hardened and were out gunned and under supplied. The Filipino and American soldiers were compelled to find within themselves the resolve to fight artillery, bullets and bombs with guts, determination and stubbornness. Using the terrain to their advantage and the countless heroics of countless men, again and again they fought the Japanese to a standstill. One can only guess at the number of unseen and untold acts of heroism that occurred in remote areas of jungle trails and river crossings. We will never know the pain and sacrifice of so very many who perished and are known only to God.

In the course of time, many books have been written and stories related by those involved in this epic battle. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of verified and documented reports of valor beyond description. There are those of us who are possessed with an irresistible desire to investigate that never ceases to vex the unknown with its how and why. Whatever answers that we may uncover, to err is not to fail, if the error, once recognized, leads us to a closer approximation of the truth. In the effort to attain elusive knowledge, one can be lead too quickly to adopt the simple solutions of an impulsive imagination. Yet, time after time, I came across the gleams in the dark storm of war. I found men amid the mist of pride that rose about them; stand resolute as the scaffolding of civilization came crashing down. I saw men who were forced to surrender their bodies, yet who never surrendered their conscience. I found men who died helpless and hopeless but never lost their identity to their cause. In many, God helped them escape their miseries through the blessed aid of death.

They transmitted to us through their efforts the most precious treasure of freedom. They have conferred to us the anticipation of happiness and have given us the comfort of their example. They produced within us those noble emotions which produce the finest moments of our existence; our love of freedom, our pride in the men who preserve that freedom and our earnest resolve to see that all people of earth enjoy the same benefits of freedom. A soldier whose heart is in the right place and finds plenty of opportunity to love, to defend and to help, will be astonished to discover that the highest human joy is to give of yourself.

We are all that remains of life past and gone. As of today, sixty three years have passed since the end of their nightmare. Much has been said and little has been done to reward their character and their sacrifices for we who live today. It is my belief that enough time has passed to graft the deeds of these men to the Tree of Legend. They ARE Legend and their feats are Legendary and they are deserving of more than we can possible give.

Robert Hudson 8/3/08

THE DAUGHTER MY FATHER LOST IN THE WAR

The picture above is of my sister. I have never met her. She does not know I exist. It is a picture that my father cherished until his death. She was born to him and his Filipina girlfriend in October/ Nov 1941, just prior to the start of hostilities in the Philippines. At the time of the bombing of Manila, my father was going through the necessary red tape to marry this Filipina. When the 31st Infantry moved out, it was the last he saw of his intended wife. During his captivity in Cabanatuan, not that far from Manila and unknown to him of course, she was raped and murdered by the Japanese. His daughter was rescued by the Catholic Church and put into their orphanage.



Her name was Angela. Soon afterwards, a Filipino doctor in Manila by the name of Augusto Cortez and his American wife, adopted Angela. My father was still destined at this time for a ride in the Hellship Nissyo Maru and an apprenticeship as a coal miner in a Japanese coal mine not far from Nagasaki. Its designation was Keisen #23. At this point, my father had seen and experienced so many unspeakable acts of cruelty and barbarism and enough tragedies for 20 lifetimes. More were yet to come.

At wars end and at deaths door, weighing 88 pounds, he was rescued and sent to Madigan General Hospital in the state of Washington. There he spent many months recovering his health and released in the spring of 1946. His every thought since his realization that he was not going to die but very likely survive, was of his girlfriend and his daughter. His parents and family had visited him at the hospital.

From this point on, his thoughts were to go back to the Philippines as soon as possible and search for his girlfriend and daughter. It wasn't until late in 1946 that he was able to finance and receive transportation from the Army to the Philippines. With the help of the local Philippine government, he was to discover the fate of his girlfriend and that his daughter had gone into an orphanage. It was a discovery that tortured him as much as any Japanese beating or bayonet. He then began the search for his daughter. In short order he found the orphanage and the records showed who had adopted her and where she was.

As soon as possible, he telephoned the Doctor and his wife and explained who he was and why he was in Manila. He made an appointment to see them. He met with them one evening at their home in a prestigious neighborhood at 3045 Taft Ave. in Pasay City, a rural area of Manila. It was an emotional meeting in which they pleaded with him to leave her with them. Having the good sense that he did and his daughters best interest in mind, he decided to leave her with the only family she had ever known. They were good parents and loved her dearly, it was plainly evident. After telling them his decision, he said he wanted to meet her. They decided that he would be introduced as uncle Richard. I can only surmise what went through his mind and his heart at this moment. He left that evening with the above picture of Angela in his pocket and the understanding that the Doctor and his wife would send pictures and updates about Angela as she grew and matured. They did this faithfully until something happened in 1960 and contact was lost with them. The picture of Angela sat in a frame next to his bed until he passed away in 1988.

Through some investigating and the help of Mr. James Litton in Manila, I discovered that Angela married an ethnic Chinese man in 1961-62 and emigrated to another country. She is nearing the age of 67 and at this point in time and to this day she has no idea who her real father or mother were and that she has a brother. I have done what I can within the scope of my ability to find her and have failed.

So, in requiem to a lost sister and heartsick soldier/ father, I have posted this story in memory to what could have been. I did not come along until 1948. When I reached the age to where I can remember, the picture of Angela was always on the nightstand next my fathers side of the bed and after he passed away, I was the one to box it up and remove it from the light of day where it had been for 42 years. It wasn't until five years ago that I unpacked it and began my search for her. Her picture now sits on my desk next to a picture of a young Filipino girl who I sponsor through "Children International". It is my attempt to link my father through me to a young Filipino girl in a nuturing relationship. She is a sweetheart and writes me interesting letters of her life and family. Someday soon, I will meet her and embrace her as I would my sister, would I have had the chance to find her.

Robert Hudson

THIS COULD HAVE BEEN MY SISTER

Philippine civilians were killed by the Japanese as reprisals for guerrilla attacks. This young girl was murdered and left in a creek bed in the village of Bingas, Llocos Norte Province on April 9th, 1945. The fact that her underwear are missing is an indication that she was molested prior to being murdered.

I will ask all who view this photograph: what threat did this small child pose to the Japanese Army? What kind of country produces monsters in vast numbers who murder children such as the young girl above in wholesale quantities for sheer sport and recreation? Can any one of you not be outraged to this day for such events that occurred in obscurity so many years ago? Does it not make your blood boil and stir your passion for the light of truth to expose such dark events. Can we not call evil, EVIL? Are we content to let bygones be bygones? Can we not speak the truth rather than whisper it for fear of political ramifications? Will we view the murder of innocent children as the debris of war or collateral damage? Can you even imagine the terror in this child's heart in the last moments of her short life? Can you not hear the echo's of her screams in the halls of history? Does it not bring an immense sadness to your heart as it does mine?

The picture speaks for itself. No soliloquy on my part can imbue this one tragedy with any greater effect than to simply gaze upon the lifeless body of this young child.

It is acts like these that compel me to action. My only weapons are my words. Yet, it is often words that change perceptions and attitudes. When history is written it is important that small voices be heard in addition to the prevailing word. Who will tell us when our power of perception is to become the measure of things?

Robert Hudson

Wainwrights Homecoming Speech in Washington D.C. September 9th, 1945

"Thank you, all of you. I still find it hard to believe that I am really here, back among my own people. We lived in a blacked out world during our prison days. One of the least, and the greatest, of the cruelties practiced by the Japs was to keep us from frequent contact with home. We seldom knew what happened to our loved ones.

From the poverty of our existence out there, we have returned to find America strong and great. Even before we set foot on the American continent at San Francisco last Saturday we knew how this country had rallied from our defeat at Corregidor.

We saw the strong, seasoned American troops who had defeated the Japanese in campaign after campaign. We saw the wealth of air power in great planes which were hardly blueprints in the days when we anxiously scanned the skies for the relief that did not exist. We saw the mighty naval armada, risen from the grave of Pearl Harbor, stretched out across the waters of the Pacific to menace the now cringing Japs. The power of America was assembled out there, and we thanked God for it.

The men who fought on Bataan and Corregidor were never beaten in spirit. Exhausted by thinning supply and the ordeal of terrific pounding by siege guns and bombers, it was useless to continue the struggle. We surrendered as honorable soldiers.

You know what happened after that. The rights and privileges which civilized nations have agreed to grant prisoners of war were denied by the Japs. Many brave and gallant soldiers died under the torment and starvation they were forced senselessly to suffer.

The tables are now completely turned. No humane person could desire that the Japs be forced to endure what many of our men went through. Yet I know that Americans will insist that the full meaning of Japans surrender be brought home to every subject of the Emperor. These truculent men must be forced to realize the folly of their ambitions. Until the Japanese display sincerely a desire for peaceful ways, we must not abandon our watch.

It will be many days before I shall feel that I know my country again. You cannot realize what it is like to return home without the day to day happenings which you learn from the press and radio.

Yet there is one thing apparent on every hand- the deep sincerity with which this country has devoted itself to avenging what we suffered in the early days on Bataan and Corregidor. I am grateful for it. Nothing can restore the men who died to their loved ones. Yet, their sacrifice, living on in the thoughts and deeds of America, can protect this nation from the lack of practical foresight which brought about those tragic events.

As I stood on the deck of the Missouri, at the right hand of General MacArthur, watching the signing of the surrender document, I fervently wished every American could feel the full significance of that moment. Nearly four years had elapsed since the Japs launched their attacks on Pearl Harbor and on the Philippines..

That moment of surrender in Tokyo Bay had been bought with the blood of more than a million Americans who died or were wounded in the struggle. Billions of dollars and countless hours of work by Americans at home had been required to to bring that little party of beaten Japs to the Missouri's deck. All because we were careless of the nations safety. We let down our guard.

It is over now and we are at peace. But in the name of all my comrades who suffered with me, I pray that this nation will never again neglect the strength of its defenses; in all the joy I feel in returning to my own land, there is the memory of the last days of Corregidor and of the awful months that followed.

Those memories can never be erased from my mind. I hope that the story of what America suffered will always be remembered in its practical significance... as a lesson which almost lost for us the land that we love.

My comrades and I have been profoundly touched by all these evidences of your great regard. I thank you in their name and in my own. This is truly such a welcome as a man dreams of, locked away behind barbed wire and the bayonets of cruel jailers. It is the surest evidence I could have that you still keep before you the words which I know fired you to great effort after our sorrowful defeat.

"Remember Bataan! Remember Corregidor!"

General Jonathon M. Wainwright

Note: General Wainwright received the Medal of Honor later in the day from President Truman on the grounds of the White House. It was a fulfillment of this soldiers dream. It was followed by a parade in New York attended by more than four million people. Americans had not forgotten Bataan and Corregidor.

It is important that as we age, we detach ourselves from the shallow artifices of life and heed the lessons of history. This blog intends to remind Americans to be ever vigilant and to remember the cost of freedom, paid for and claimed by our fathers and mothers who stood and faced the menace of tyranny on BATAAN, CORREGIDOR and the many other Islands of the Philippines.


Robert Hudson

Sleep the Sleep of the Noble Slain, Defeated yet Without a Stain: Proudly and Peacefully!

Memorial Day / Manila / May 2008

Purple Hearts, Apologies and Compensation?

Is it possible or could someone possibly believe that anyone who fought on Bataan, Corregidor, Wake Island, Mindanao or any battle arena in the pacific, who endured the Bataan Death March (BDM), or endured Camp O'Donnell, Cabanatuan, work details, beatings, Hellships, slave labor at whatever hellish job assigned to...could have somehow escaped a bleeding wound somewhere on their bodies during the prolonged battle and imprisonment at the hands of the Japanese? Could any American Prisoner of the Japanese not have shed blood for his country during those 42 months? What are the odds? My calculator only has 12 digits. Has a descendant of any former POW not seen the scars on their fathers bodies? How many former POW's have actually received a Purple Heart for their sacrifices and suffering? I'll assume the percentage is small.



This is a subject that does not come up at the dinner table. I have seen the scars on my father. Several of which were jabs by a bayonet according to my father. Several scars on his head from not bowing to a prison guard or something as serious as having a different idea of what "speedo" is. A terrible scar on his hand from an injury on the Tayabas work detail. He was one of 50 men who survived out of 325-350 who began the detail. Numerous scars from injuries working in a coal mine not far from Nagasaki. Many of you share the same circumstamces and memories.



Would I like a purple heart for my father? Would I like an apology and monetary compensation from Japan whose corporations share a moral guilt for the atrocities perpetrated against my father?

My answer is yes and no.

Let me explain. When my father passed away in 1988, I went through his belongings. Most of his belongings were of the usual stuff. Clothes, a watch, old family photos etc. In a box at the back of his closet were mementos of his 31 years in the Army. Some pictures, lots of official military documents such as his DD214 (discharge papers), forms relating to his promotions and last but not least, a box containing mementos of his days as a POW. In this box were photos of his daughter, born just prior to December 1941. His daughter and his Filipino girlfriend were lost to him during his captivity. The girlfriend whom he was trying to marry was murdered by the Japanese and daughter sent to an orphanage. In this box was a pamphlet with his writings of experiences in captivity, the names and addresses of men he wished to stay in touch with after the war if he survived, a very worn pair of dice, a little wooden piece with Japanese writing on it which has been translated as a good luck charm. He received the charm from a Japanese worker in Zero Ward at Cabanatuan. He eventually recovered, so the charm was important to him. There were also a couple of very small packages of cigarettes with Japanese writing on them. I'm not sure where they came from. Last but not least were many of the post cards he had sent home while a POW, his mother had kept them and there were news clippings about him from the local paper, a letter from the governor of Idaho to his parents about the news of his disappearance after the surrender in Bataan, a telegram from the War department about his return to the U.S in Oct.1945 to Madigan General Hospital for recovery. Many other items but too many to list,

All of these items, but where are his medals I thought? He fought in a major campaign during the war, was a prisoner, spent 31 years in the Army and has no medals to show for it? I read his DD214 discharge papers and there they were. A list of every medal he had received. Too many to list but there was a Philippine Defense Medal and a Bronze Star just to mention two. Yet, where were they?

When the events of my fathers death had settled down, I asked my mother where his medals were. This is what she told me; When he had sufficiently recovered his health after the war, in late 1946 or early 1947, he went to the Philippines to find his girlfriend and daughter. After discovering their fate and before returning to the U.S., he buried his medals on Bataan somewhere in a place which had special meaning to him. He left them there for the men he served with who never returned. Apparently the medals meant nothing to him.

In 1989, I received a POW medal for him as next of kin. I then petitioned the government for replacement medals that he had earned during his years in the Army. I received them within six weeks. I have them together with the American flag which was given to me by the VA.

Now it is 2008. I have had years to reflect on the past. Years of speaking with other ex POW's and years of pondering my own feelings and thoughts of my fathers experiences. Here is what I have come up with regarding a purple heart, an apology from the Japanese and monetary reimbursement.

1. A purple heart. Yes, I would like a Purple Heart for my father to go with the others I
received. Call it pride if you will. My father would not begrudge me that.

2. An apology? NO, I do not want nor do I expect an apology. My father is not here to accept
it. Furthermore, it would be given by a people who for the most part, were not alive at
the time and not involved in the atrocities. What would it change? Would my father have
felt better about his experiences with an apology? I damn sure won't!

3. Monetary compensation? A very tricky question. Compensation from the general fund in
Japan? NO. Compensation from those Japanese firms still in business that profited from my
fathers labors in a coal mine? YES, but with caveat. Monetary compensation to those ex-
POW's who are still alive, YES.
Compensation for those who have passed away should to go to the construction and
maintenance of a large memorial in Japan to those who worked, suffered or died
in the employ of Japanese corporations during their captivity.

As much as I would love to receive $20, $30,$40,or $50,000 dollars from the Japanese, it benefits only me.
A monetary reward is over quickly and does not benefit the memory of the men who
toiled in Japanese mines and factories. A monetary loss would not be humbling to those
Japanese corporations, but a large memorial on Japanese soil to those who paid the
price for their success would be a more fitting reward in my estimation. It would provide an alternative perspective to the Yasukuni Shrine which honors Japanese war dead as well as the Japanese War Criminals who made life a hell on Earth to soldiers and civilians of all nations who dared stand in their way.

"On the serious side of this of this discussion, I would like to see all those Japanese executives and politicians who are still alive and who benefitted from the soldier / slave labor during the war, dressed in tights, gagged, hand cuffed and thrown into a San Francisco Gay Sex Bar on a Friday night". A sign hanging around their necks, announcing them as "Comfort Men"!

No disrespect intended toward the Gay population of San Francisco who do not frequent those bars.


Robert Hudson

Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Apologizes for Atrocities during World War Two

^ Click on the forword arrow above to watch the the news video.

Here was the long awaited apology. It was given on April 9th, 2007 at the Mt. Samat Memorial.

I must tell you that I do not feel one bit better. I'm not relieved, assuaged or unburdened. I am happy for the apology because that in itself is an admission of guilt. Any future denials of the atrocities by the Japanese government will carry less weight. An admission of guilt or apology by Japan is a good start. Now we need monuments to that guilt on Japanese soil. We need memorials to our men who suffered and/or died toiling in Japanese mines and factories as slave laborers rather than prisoners of war. Reminders need to be in place to the citizens of Japan who have voted in the same party for decades now.

I will reiterate that I would like to see a memorial to former pow's who were treated as slaves. A memorial funded by the Japanese corporations who directly benefitted from their labors, their sufferings and their deaths. Those corporations can be easily identified. Many are in business today and could easily afford to fund the construction and maintenace of a memorial. A memorial would stand for decades and remind the people of Japan and tourists who visit what unchecked egoism can lead to.

A one time payment from the Japanese to remaining pow's, no matter the amount, would take place quickly and be forgotton quickly.

Robert Hudson

Names of POW's my father knew

Names and addresses of POW's my father knew during his years as a pow. These are the names of pow's he became close to and agreed to contact family members should anyone of them perish before the end of the war. Some of these men were in Cabanatuan with him because one or more of them perished on hellships.

The Trail of a Tale

From my Father to Pictures of MacArthur

My father died in 1988. Coaxing information from him about his ordeals in the Philippines was a long lesson in futility. I learned tidbits here and there over the years, but overall I was pretty ignorant about the siege of the Philippines, the Bataan Death March and the brutal conditions of POW's. It wasn't until 2001 when I got my first computer and starting surfing that I began to enter the realm of information stockpiles available to me on this subject.

In 2003, I came upon a website called; "Battling Bastards of Bataan". I read the various web pages and came to a page which listed the officers of the organization. At the bottom of the page was the name "Fred Balsassarre" as Webmaster. That name I had heard spoken in my home as a child and teenager, I was sure of it. I sent an email to Fred and told him that my father knew him well in Manila before the war and during the Battle of Bataan because he had spoken of him so often. I informed him that my father spoke so highly of him and that they were in the same unit during the war.

Fred emailed me the next day. "You are wrong" he said, "you're actually thinking of my father, Jimmy Baldassarre". We emailed each other several times that first week and I sent him a list that my father had kept throughout the war of the men in their unit, 22 in all. After the war my father was able to determine who had survived and who had not and marked next to their respective names "Dead". Of the 22men in his unit at the Quartermaster detachment at the Cuartel De Espana, 17 of the 22 attached to the 31st Infantry men had died on the March, at Camp O'Donnell, Cabanatuan, Camp Hotem, Mukden, or on a Hellship. With the knowledge that five had survived, Fred and I decided to embark on a quest to find the three other survivors. We discovered that one of the three had died, James Knight had died in 1951 from complications of being a POW. That left two, Donald Oakes and Fred Duncan.

I chose Donald Oakes and Fred took Fred Duncan, the choice was an obvious one. We began a google search for those names and both came up with their home towns and we searched phone records in those areas. I came up dry on Donald Oakes but Fred got two hits on a Fred Duncan. Fred called the first Fred Duncan and Fred Duncan answered the phone. This is where the story takes a bizarre twist and fate, luck or whatever you would call it comes into play. Fred Baldassarre explains to Fred Duncan on the phone that he was with the Battling Bastards of Bataan organization and why he is calling. He tells Fred Duncan that his father and my father survived the Bataan campaign, the Death March and three years of imprisonment and that a Fred Duncan was one of five men in their unit to survive as well and asks if he is the Fred Duncan that we are looking for? "Well...no he says, but believe it or not, I was in the signal corps, attached to the 38th Infantry when we retook Bataan and Corregidor". Now, Fred Baldassarre is disappointed and dumbstruck at the same time. After talking to the wrong Fred Duncan for some time, Fred Duncan told Fred Baldassarre that he has boxes and boxes of prints, negatives and reels of film from those days in storage in his garage and offers them to him because his own children have no interest in those materials and would probably throw them away when he died. He stated that although they were viewed by MacArthur censors during the war, no one had looked at them since. Fred Baldassarre graciously accepted them. Fred Duncan only asked that we not profit from the photos and to use them judiciously. Fred mailed them to us and Fred Baldassarre scanned every picture, negative and document into his computer and made copies of the reels of film.

Sad to say, Fred Baldassarre called the second Fred Duncan on his list and it turned out to be the right Fred Duncan from our fathers unit but he had passed away the month before.

Now, here we are in possession of hundreds of photos, most if not all of them unpublished as per Fred Duncan. Many photos of Douglas MacArthur, photos of battle damage, of war dead (Japanese as well as American), pictures of Filipinos rescuing American soldiers, and an hour or two of movie film taken from the nose camera of a P-38 as it is strafing Japanese positions on the Philippine mainland. Those pilots have nerves of steel because you can clearly see the flak and tracers coming towards them on their runs. What stunned us was some photos of a MASH unit in Bataan and wounded GI's being evacuated by helicopters. We had both assumed that this was something that started during the Korean War.

Apparently after Manila had been retaken, there was a huge platform ship the size of an aircraft carrier in Manila Bay that was a floating machine shop. Baskets were attached to the struts on the helicopters to transport parts and material to and from areas around Manila, Bataan and Corregidor. Someone got the idea to ferry wounded in the same basket that parts were being carried in. Wounded then began to be picked up and transported to medical facilities. Helicopters were then first used in WWII, in the Philippines to transport the wounded.

I will be sharing some of the many photos we have, here on this blog. They will be watermarked to prevent reproduction. They will not be sold or turned over to anyone who may wish to profit from them. At some point in the future, they may be donated to a non profit POW organization or museum. For now, I will release some photos from time to time in the hopes that they find someone interested in seeing them

Robert Hudson

Reason for being / THE ADBC

2008 is a memorable year for the ADBC (American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor). Being the largest POW organization in the U.S. representing former prisoners of the Japanese, it is a year of change, a year of rebirth and rediscovery and a changing of the guard. The new guardians are the descendents of the pillars on which rests our freedom. These pillars are the men who followed the tortuous course laid out for them in battle, in defeat, and in survival during the epic battle of the Philippines. With luck, with will and with courage, they came home to their families. The ADBC's primary mission was to tell the world the story of their struggle for survival as well as the stories of the men who still lay beneath those sacred grounds where they fell in defense of their country and in defense of their lives as prisoners of war. Over the years they have been active in the redress of their grievances toward the Japanese. Their goal has been to persuade the Japanese government to admit to the atrocities perpetrated against them as POW's and to appologize for the actions of their soldiers during the second world war, and to provide a means for citizens of this country and relatives of allied combatants to discover information about those engaged in this battle.

The numbers of surviving POW's have dwindled over the years and administrative duties are necessarily being passed on to descendents who have been active in their behalf over the years. As time wears on and over our remaining POW's, it becomes incumbent on we descendents to carry their torch into the future. In essence, time has done what the Japanese could not do. For those taking over the reigns of the organization it is a privlege rather than a burden.

The public at large knows little of the early battle for control of the Pacific arena except for the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Pearl Harbor attack at the onset of the war and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the culmination of the war are well known. Everything between is merely text.

We decendents represent a father, mother or close relative who endured the unendurable. We are rich in love, admiration, respect and rich in memories left to us by our loved ones. Their struggles are carved into our minds and hearts and we shall never rest in keeping their memories alive in the public perception until the events of time take us to our fate as well.

Best of Luck to you, ADBC!

Robert Hudson

Our Enemy the Japanese / US Government Film from 1942-43

Click on the arrow above to watch this 20 minute film produced by the US government for the Navy, titled "Our enemy the Japanese". It is an attempt to show the total dedication of Japanese civilians and the military establishment to dominate the world. It is, of course a propaganda film, so one must keep that in mind. It not totally without truth, yet one cannot determine when or where the boundary is crossed. It is educational nonetheless.

Robert Hudson

An Introduction

MY BIASED OPINION OF THE PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN

I am but one of thousands of proud sons, daughters, nieces, nephews and grandchildren whose relative fought in the Philippines during the early months of World War II. Those of us who have been in the environs of POW groups or have done independent study, understand why so little is known of the trials of those on Bataan, Corregidor and other Islands of the Philippines.

There are two major reasons in my estimation for this lack of knowledge. First let me state that I am not a scholar nor a historian. I have read and researched extensively. I have also communicated with a number of surviving Philippine combatants, my father being one of them. If I have a bias, it was transmitted to me by my father. One cannot discount the magnitude or effect that a parent has on your perception of events when they were a direct participant in your area of study. It is also impossible to remove the emotion from what I write for the events that I write about are emotional in nature. I have learned that some things are beyond the power of words to describe. One cannot delve into the history of this epic battle without believing that life is an incomparable privilege. Like the tides of the ocean, life hurls its waves at whatever obstacles oppose it. For anyone, much less thousands, to have survived the battleground, the diseases, the brutal treatment, and malnourishment is a testament to the men who survived those grinding years. I am also compelled to honor those who did not survive. Those who were killed in combat, those who did not have the physical make up to withstand the indigenous diseases of the area, those so undernourished and had not the strength to withstand the rigors of the DEATH MARCH and imprisonment, those singled out by nameless enemy soldiers for torture and death, those unfortunate enough to have been placed on a doomed hellship,those who perished as slave labor for jobs considered too dangerous for Japanese laborers and the countless other ways to die at the hands of of an enemy who has so little regard for life. Ask any survivor and they will tell you that the real hero's didn't come home to their families.
My father once said that hope can only be extinguished with our lives. It is the one thing that makes life bearable. It was the one thing that kept him going. That tomorrow would be a better day.

We are never more than a fleeting moment, and since each of our moments governs the one that follows it, we have to judge them as a whole and by their effects. We humans are curious creatures. We believe we are masters of the universe yet we we live on a trembling planet with entrails of fire beneath its flowers. At times I believe that we are the products of a defective creation. We do not live long enough to put what we have learned to use. Each new generation has to disappear into the light of maturity, yet often it does not arrive soon enough. Imagination is quick and knowledge is slow and we tend to lose our imagination as we age. Knowledge being the ore that is mined from thought hurls us into the future, yet knowledge evolves faster than our emotions which tend to send us on a path to destruction.

Let me get back to what I believe to be the two main reasons why the defenders of the Philippines are not remembered or regarded by the citizens of today.
First of all, the fall of the Philippines was a defeat. One of many defeats in the early stages of the war.It was the largest surrender of American forces in the history of our country. Valiant as the battle may have been, in the overall totality of the war, it was only one battle of very many in a war lasting for almost four years and a war on two fronts. Victories give us hope and pride.We remember the "Battle of the Bulge" and the Victory of "Iwojima". Hero's and movies are made from victories. Most of the POWS from the Philippine conflict did not consider themselves hero's. They did not come home to waving flags. The came home emotionally and physically damaged. It took years for some to talk and write about their experiences. Some never could. They came home feeling they had been betrayed by their country. Not exactly the stuff of a best selling novel. It took years for this country and historians to shed some light on the fact that the tremendous fight and sacrifice by Filipino and American soldiers gave our country the time to congeal into a force to be reckoned with, as they tied the hands of the Japanese forces in the Philippines and elsewhere in the Pacific. The war may have taken a much different course and lasted much longer.
Secondly, General Douglas MacArthur was much more interested in his legacy than the safety and judicious use of his men. MacArthur controlled any news from the Philippines during the battle for the Philippines as well as information after the war regarding information on POW's. Nothing unflattering about him ever made the news. MacArthur committed a number of serious military blunders in the early days of the Philippine Campaign in his disastrous attempt to meet Japanese thrusts everywhere, a strategy based on his exaggerated estimate of the prowess of the Philippine Army. In addition, his failure to transfer the vast food stocks that had been earlier assembled for removal to the Bataan Peninsula resulted in the largely unnecessary hunger that so debilitated its doomed defenders. His failure to protect the small air force under his command with the knowledge that Pearl Harbor had been attacked is beyond belief. His disbelief of the condition of his troops after months of fighting on half and quarter rations defies logic. Visiting Bataan only once during the four and one half months of vicious combat speaks for itself. The decision to award him the Medal of honor was a political one. Nothing he had done militarily in the Philippines warranted the medal. The country needed a hero and he was more than willing to be that hero. It is also shameful that he was against General Wainwright receiving the same honor. He snubbed General King after the war for surrendering against his orders. This in itself shows his complete disregard for the men under his command in the Philippines, whom he was so ready to sacrifice to the last man. To wrap it up, MacArthur managed the news. The devastating torment of years scantly made the news at the end of the war. There was a victory to celebrate and the public was in no mood for bad news.The failure in the Philippines were failures of MacArthur's staff and any successes were because of his brilliant strategizing. His photo ops were a testament to his career. Bataan and Corregidor were a successful failure in his mind. The Aura of MacArthur casts no light over my home. Again, this is a biased view. Read it in the light in which it was offered.

Needless to say, this is my opinion based solely on the actions taken during the Philippine conflict. I will mention that MacArthur was against the use of the Atomic bomb to end the war. He was ready to hurl a million men against the Japanese mainland to add to his glorious career, heedless of the tens of thousands of casualties it would have cost. The Atomic bomb ended the war in a number of days without the loss of a single American soldier. Where was the glory in that? The added time element required to defeat the Japanese on their homeland would have certainly meant that remaining POWs most likely would have perished at the hands of the Japanese.

I was in effect, a creation of the bomb. My father was on his last legs, weighing a mere 88 pounds at wars end. If the bomb had not ended the war when it did, many of us including myself, would not be here. Is it necessarily a bad thing to kill in order to save lives? That argument will never come to a conclusion. If we did not have the unknown to decipher, how would we employ ourselves? What reason would there be for any activity on our part. We are here in this place and this time because everything that has occurred in history happened exactly as it did. The slightest variation anywhere in time would have had immense repercussions in the future. Is our presence here and now a bad thing? For some, definitely, for others, not at all. I for one am happy to be here for whatever reason occasioned it.

Thank you

Robert Hudson

Note in my babybook from my father

To my Son, February 25th, 1948

I want you to know when you turn 18 that this babybook was given to me by the parents of a fine young man who died in my arms in the Jungles of Bataan. He was only one of thousands of young men who died in as ruthless and ferocious a war as this supposedly intelligent human race has thus far engaged in. If in your lifetime, you can expose the folly and stupidity of mass conflicts, you will have done well.

Your Father

My fathers unit at the Cuartel De Espana, Manila

Quartermaster Depot, 31st Infantry - Company A
Cuartel de Espana Roster as of 12/8/41
and
Disposition of Unit at Wars end

Horton, Thomas R. Lieutenant Colonel Infantry O-16513 9/6/42 Died of diseases in Cabanatuan.

John C. Hayes First Lieutenant, 0-374853 Quartermaster Corps 4-15-42, Murdered on the Bataan Death March, in Orani, Bataan,

Richard C. Hudson: Tech Sgt Survived. Released from Fukuoka Camp #23 at Keisen. Died 1988

James Baldassarre, M/Sgt Survived. Released from Camp Hoten, Mukden, Manchuria. Died 1972.

Luther G. McElhaney, S/Sgt. QMC 06529331 Died on the Death March, April 13, 1942.

William H. Green Sergeant, Quartermaster Corps 06296790 October 8, 1943 Died of Diseases in Cabanatuan.

Fred Duncan, Cpl., Survived: 6661241=CPL=Released from Camp #11 in Japan.

James G. Barnhill, QMC 6796317 7/31/42 Died in Cabanatuan of Diseases.

Merritt B. Estus Private First Class, U.S. Army 06983394 QMC, died on board the Arisan Maru, 10-24-44.

Densel T. Snyder Private First Class, U.S. Army 19019216 QMC, Died: June 10, 1942, in Cabanatuan of diseases.

John E. Hecker, Private First Class QMC 6840601 died on 9/14/42, in Cabanatuan, of diseases.

Abraham Cohen Private, U.S. Army 06519808 QMC Died: June 16, 1942, in Camp O'Donnell.

John D. Cox Private, U.S. Army 19019971 QMC Died: September 7, 1944, on the Shinyo Maru.

Edward Gorodesky Private, U.S. Army 06145897 QMC Died: September 7, 1944, on the Shinyo Maru.

Joseph O. Meklensek Private, U.S. Army 19052523 QMC Died: May 30, 1942, in Camp O'Donnell.

George William Greenwood, Private, 06931952 QMC Sept. 7, 1944, died on board the Shinyo Maru.

Savage, Herbert N. Private QMC 20930296 11/5/42, died in Cabanatuan of diseases.

Thomas Wilson, Pvt. 31st Infantry Regiment 17018698 7/18/42, Died in Cabanatuan

James E. Knight, Pvt, 19051756=QMC=Released from Camp #17, in Japan. Died 1951.

Edmund C. Alexandrowicz Private, U.S. Army 06947996 31st Infantry Regt. Died 12-22-42, in Camp Hoten, in Mukden, Manchuria

Lester O. Miller, Private QMC 6728269 8/17/42, died in Cabanatuan of diseases.

Donald D Oakes Pvt., QMC released from Camp #17, Japan.

There were 22 members of the Quartermaster depot for Company A, 31st Infantry, Manila.

Seventeen of the Twenty two did not survive the war. A 77% death rate.

Two died on the Death March-

Two died in Camp O'Donnell

Eight died in Cabanatuan

Four died in Hellships

One died in Camp Hotem- Mukden, Manchuria

As of 4/20/08, all are deceased.

Philippine Requiem / An attempt at Poetry

The hands of time have passed the years
As you lay neath the earth so green
Far from home and family
In the land of the Philippine
Your sons and daughters yearn for you
And study days of yore
When death stalked you every day
In a country wracked by war

It saddens us your next of kin
The details of your fight
Bataan and Corregidor
We are witness to your might
If courage alone could win a war
And blood could douse the flames
Then enemies would tremble
At the sounding of your names

But fortunes necessarily
Put Armies to the test
And soldiers cannot carry on
Without bullets, guns or rest
Valiant and so proud you were
Until your lines retreated
Then Generals who had no choice
Declared you were defeated

Hell began to take its shape
Along the jungle trail
Men began the march of death
Which history knows no scale
Our soldiers weakened by disease
By thirst and injury
Began to see the nature of
The conquering enemy.

The worst was as yet to come
Camp ’Donnell was the first
With death disguised as walking ghosts
Tormenting men with thirst
With flies as thick as locusts
And food in short supply
The weakest simply closed their eyes
And willed themselves to die.

Men can only take so much
When cruelty is their master
Death can seem the better choice
Amid such mass disaster
Though many soon became inured
To torture and privation
They could not clearly see the road
Leading to their salvation

Prisoners must surely cope
And learn to deal with fate
Some can only live on hope
And some can only hate
Yet all came to see the path
Of caring for fellow lives
So that the final victory
Was merely to survive

Today your sons and daughters
Your nieces and nephews too
Have banded one together
In remembrance of you
All live in awe and wonder of
Your sacrifices and we see
If not for the best in you
There would not be a we
-------------------------------------------
Robert Logan Hudson ©2007

Personal POW Medical History Of Richard C Hudson

1942 MIXED MALARIAL INFECTION WHILE ON BATAAN CAMPAIGN. TREATED WITH QUININE IRREGULARLY. AFTER CAPTURE HAD NO TREATMENT.
DEVELOPED JAUNDICE FOR WHICH NO TREATMENT WAS AVAILABLE. IN JULY 1942, IN JUNGLE OF TAYABAS PROVINCE WHILE A MEMBER OF A POW LABOR PARTY, I DEVELOPED BLOOD POISONING OF THE RIGHT HAND. TREATED THIS WITH FOUR (4) SULFADIAZINE TABLETS. ON 19 JULY 1942, DEVELOPED AMOEBIC DYSENTERY. NO TREATMENT WAS AVAILABLE. MALARIA WORSENED. DAILY CHILLS AND FEVER. WAS SENT TO BILIBID PRISON IN MANILA ON 21 JULY. NAVAL MEDICAL PERSONNEL CURED BLOOD POISON WITH SOME KIND OF SULFA DRUG. RECEIVED 15 GRAINS OF QUININE PER DAY UNTIL MALARIA BECAME INACTIVE. DYSENTERY INCAPACITATED ME. IN AUGUST, RECEIVED THREE (3) SMALL INJECTIONS OF EMETINE. DYSENTERY CONTINUED BUT MODERATED. EYESIGHT THEN BEGAN TO FAIL, AND AT THE SAME TIME GENITALS TURNED GREEN, SHRIVELED AND SCROTUM CRACKED, FEET DEVELOPED A BURNING, TINGLING SENSATION BETWEEN TOES AND INSTEP. ALL THESE SYMPTOMS ABATED UPON DRINKING COD LIVER OIL.

1943 SPORADIC MALARIAL ATTACKS OF LESSENING SEVERITY. DYSENTERY SLOWLY ABATED AND BY JANURARY 1944, CEASED TO TROUBLE ME.

1944 EDEMATOUS BERI BERI BECAME CHRONIC.

1945 ACCOMPANIED BY PELLAGRA AND SCURVY, HAD HOOKWORM AND TWO OTHER TYPES OF WORMS. NO FORMAL TREATMENT RECEIVED. ATE TANGERINE SKINS. DEVELOPED SEVERE EDEMA WHICH WAS TREATED WITH SOAP PELLETS, REDUCING SWELLING BY MEANS OF DRASTIC DIARRHEA.

RETURNED TO U. S. CUSTODY IN SEPTEMBER 1945 AND HOSPITALIZED AT MADIGAN GENERAL HOSPITAL UNTIL 1946.

Cuartel De Espana 1940

Sgt. Richard Hudson
Cuartel De Espana
Circa 1940

POW Psalm of 42

Our fathers who art in Cabanatuan
Hollow are thy cheeks
Thy kingdom gone
Thy will diminished
On Earth as it is in hell
Give you this day your daily rice
And forget not your daily tortures
Nor those who torture against you
Be not led into starvation
But delivered from your captors
For thee are our hero’s
Our leaders
And our glory
For ever and ever
Amen

Robert Hudson 2006

Robert Hudson / Son of a POW

Greetings to all who were curious enough to get this far into this blog. Since I do not have the time and am not knowledgeable enough to maintain a website, this will serve my purpose. We sons and daughters of former POW's of the Japanese have a unique perspective on the viciousness, brutality and inhumanity of war. In particular the inhumanity that exists outside of battle. When the heat of battle is exhausted and the victors have to deal with the human spoils of war, then the true character of the victorious soldier nation comes to light. We know the the true character of the Japanese soldier firsthand from the lips of our surviving fathers and the bleached bones of our fathers that lay beneath the sea and earth in the land of the Philippines. Robert Hudson