Bataan March survivor remembers ordeal.

Sierra Vista Herald, Sierra Vista Arizona ^ | 4/15/04 | Michael Maresh

[dennisw]

btttttttt

[Alamo-Girl]

Bump!

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

Ping and a bump for incredible stories of survival and strength.

[Conservababe]

Often ignored by history is the story of the women prisoners of war taken captive during World War Two. Sixty seven Army nurses and sixteen Navy nurses spent three years as prisoners of the Japanese. Many were captured when Corregidor fell in 1942 and were subsequently transported to the Santo Tomas Internment camp in Manila, in the Philippines. Santo Tomas was not liberated until February of 1945. Five Navy nurses were captured on Guam and interned in a military prison in Japan.

[GOPJ]

Thanks for sharing.

I have my uncles story from D-day, but this was even better. Amazing what they lived through -- again, thanks.

[GeorgiaYankee]

My Uncle Lawrence (my Mother's only brother) died on the Bataan death march. I never got to meet him.

[tiki]

Almost all the young men of our town were sent to the Phillipines in WWII. Our town drunk was a survivor and even as a kid I knew that everyone tolerated him and treated him with special care but it wasn't until I was an adult that I found out how heroic he had been and how many local lives he had saved. I remember what made me start reading all the books about the march. I was at a friend's house and her father-in-law was drinking coffee at the table and I saw that his thumbs were red and swollen. It looked like it had just happened so I asked him about them. He laughed and said "I stole a chicken and the Japanese hung him from his thumbs for three days. Then he told how they ate rats and cockroaches and anything they could find.

I don't know if it can be found but there is a little book out there with the title of "Kora" the author's last name is McDonald I think and if you can find it read it.

Most of them are dead now but we grew up respecting what they did.

[tiki]

Are you from NM?

[SAMWolf]

Richard Cooksley - Bataan Survivor - American Hero

[Chad Fairbanks]

Thanks. I can't wait to go to the Bataan Memorial this spring... (versus the Baton Memorial - dedicated to the cheerleaders who have lost their lives at the hands of psycho moms...)

Again, thanks for the ping!

[endthematrix]

As I read the post I was eating large helping of pasta. The brutality of war sickens me and my food tasted bad.

"The boys began to die, we got little or no food, sometimes a ration of rice could be measured out by a tablespoon. "

[backhoe]

Recalling Past Wars- the Bataan Death March, the Fall of Corregidor...

[chilepepper]

Nope. Family has most of its roots in Kansas.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

Great post!

[New Perspective]

Do you know what makes all of these men and women of thier time heroes ?? The fact that they DO NOT call themselves heroes. They simply see it as something that had to be done. Heroes are something that you want to be like, I don't think I could ever be like them, they are on a completely higher plain.

[blackie]

God Bless our heroic WW2 Veterans!!

[eyespysomething]

He said he never saw any of the men he served with ever again.

That's sad. Thanks God as many survived as did.

Does anyone think the Islamicists seem like the Japanese did in WWII? I think there are many parallels.

[Axenolith]

My Grandfather on my Dads side was taken at Corregidor. Here's a 1956 shot of him on the Navy Memorial page (he's still alive, it archives all Naval Personnel added). He was 86 pounds when liberated from mainland Japan where he was a slave in a mine. He was on the Canopus (AS-9) awaiting an S Class sub that never showed up when TSHTF on Dec. 8 at Cavite. Standing in his shoes I have to hoist myself up to peer over the edge...

Axenolith's Grandfather

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

You're welcome. I'm so glad you're going to the Bataan Memorial Museum; I've been there, and I think you'll find it quite moving.

[backhoe]

Fine-looking man. Thanks for the link.