Veterans Day Justice Elusive

On Veterans Day, One World War II POW Is Still Seeking Justice

by Dr. Lester Tenney, past National Commander of the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor

first published on Veterans Day, November 11, 2015 on the National Interest

For seventy years I dealt with my PTSD by looking forward, or as I say, “for the next carabao.” This is how I learned to survive the Bataan Death March and over three years of brutal captivity on the Philippines and Japan. It is a lesson I like to share.

After the surrender of Bataan to the Japanese in April 1942, 70,000 American and Filipino troops began a sixty-five-mile forced march up the Bataan Peninsula. We walked in the tropical heat with no food, little water and rare relief. I bear a shoulder wound from a botched beheading.

From time to time, we passed carabao, the water buffalo that is the national animal of the Philippines, trying to keep cool in swamps and rice paddies. I knew that once I saw one carabao, there would be another one up the road. If I could just make it to the next carabao and then the next, I would make it to the end.

I made it through the March and through the ordeals of the next three-and-a-half years. But we surviving POWs are still looking for the last carabao.

click to order

Seven years ago, on Veterans Day 2008, I found the next one. I had just completed laying the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor’s last memorial wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery. As I started to leave, my cell phone rang. It was Japan’s ambassador to the United States, Ichiro Fujisaki. He asked to see me.

For decades, I had harbored anger and resentment toward both the Japanese who tortured me and the American government that refused me justice. The Army prohibited me from talking about the horrors I endured, and the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty barred me from seeking redress for my slave labor. Multimillion-dollar lobbying campaigns by Japan and a White House intent on protecting its Japanese ally stymied all Congressional efforts to help the POWs.


It is hard to explain my excitement at the call. Never before had any Japanese official been willing to meet with a former POW. My wife and I took a taxi directly from the cemetery to the ambassador’s residence.

Ambassador Fujisaki met us at the door. In an extraordinary gesture, Mrs. Fujisaki met us with a bow and extended both her hands. She then led us on a tour of her home. She stayed with her husband to listen. A Washington “Japan hand” told me not to smile. That was advice I ignored.

I was not there to negotiate. I was there to tell my story, to share the pain of the Death March, the Hellship and the Mitsui coal mine; to describe the torture, mistreatment and starvation; and to explain why 40 percent of the nearly 28,000 Americans who were POWs of Japan did not return home. I wanted to know why the Japanese government did not include Americans in their $14 million-plus outreach programs for hundreds of British, Australian and Dutch former POWs and their families.

Ambassador Fujisaki listened. He heard that, even for decades after the war, we American POWs had been denied our dignity and humanity. But Red Cross boxes could not be delivered or medicines administered to the dead. Japan could not undo its lobbying campaign or retrieve the $12 million it had paid to Washington lobbyists. But he wanted to know how we could move beyond this and forward together to reach the next “carabao.”

To me, it was simple: an official government apology for all the POWs. For the survivors, a chance to participate in Japan’s POW visitation program. And for all the POWs who slaved at the mines, docks and factories of over sixty well-known corporations, apologies from those companies to restore a measure of dignity.

For the first time, I had been heard.

The next month, Ambassador Fujisaki wrote me that the Government of Japan offered its apology to “those who have undergone tragic experiences in the Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor Island in the Philippines.” By February 2009, a Cabinet Decision [Japanese] confirmed the statement, saying that the government extended “a heartfelt apology for our country having caused tremendous damage and suffering to many people, including prisoners of wars, those who have undergone tragic experiences in the Bataan Peninsula, Corregidor Island, in the Philippines, and other places.” This inclusive statement for all the POWs of Japan is one of only four official, Cabinet-approved apologies for any of Imperial Japan’s excessives and aggression.

In April 2009, my friend Ambassador Fujisaki accepted my invitation to repeat this apology before my fellow POWs at the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor’s last convention in San Antonio, Texas. Not all were ready to let go of their anger, but everyone admired his courage.

That fall, the new Obama administration built on this progress. With the Japanese government, they established a program for former POWs to visit Japan and their former POW camps. I led the first group of seven in September 2010, where we received an apology directly from the foreign minister. The seventh delegation will travel to Japan next month.

My last carabao is elusive. It is an apology from the Mitsui Corporation for forcing me into a dangerous coal mine and allowing their employees to beat me. Baron Mitsui often motored into my camp [Fukuoka #17 Omuta] to examine his Western charges in the primitive, if not primal, confines of his facility. Today, this mine is an UNESCO World Industrial Heritage site. There is no mention of the mine’s history of slave labor.

I hope I can still make it to this last one. On this Veterans Day, my friend Congressman Mike Honda from California has arranged for me to have breakfast at the White House. He wants me to tell the President about my carabao and to not forget World War II vets like me.

Dr. Lester Tenney was a member of the 192nd Tank Battalion on Bataan, The Philippines.The 192nd was deployed to the Philippines on October 27 and arrived on November 20, 1941. Tenney was part of American defensive efforts to hold the islands, but he was taken captive on April 9, 1942. As a Japanese prisoner, he took part in the infamous Bataan Death March. Liberated in September of 1945, Tenney went to the University of Southern California where he received his BA, MA and PhD. He became a professor of finance and insurance at Arizona State University. After he retired as a professor emeritus, Tenney wrote his memoir My Hitch in Hell, about his experiences as a POW under the Japanese.

Submission to the Joint Veterans' Affairs Committees

On March 6, 2013, Mr. Joseph A. Vater, Jr., Esq. (PA), President, president of the ADBC Memorial Society submitted the testimony below for the record to the Joint House and Senate Committees on Veterans' Affairs to receive Legislative Presentation of Multiple Veteran Service Organizations (VSOs).

Prime Minster of Japan Shinzo Abe has said that he wants to review and possibly reissue past apologies that Japan has offered for its initiating the war in the Pacific and committing war crimes--war apology (Fusen Ketsugi). This is alarming to the American POWs of Japan as they were offered one of the few official apologies given by the Japanese government. And this apology laid the foundation for Japan offering a program of acknowledgement and repair.

Officially, the Government of Japan has issued only four war-related apologies. The criteria for "official" is that the apology has to be approved by the Cabinet with a Cabinet Decision (kakugi kettei) or approved by the Diet. No war apology can be said to be approved by the Diet. Prime Minister Murayama's Statement in 1995, Prime Minister Koizumi's Statement in 2005, Prime Minister Kan's Statement in 2010 (only directed toward South Korea) and the 2009 apology to the American former POWs (buried in a February 6, 2009 reply, #171-22 [English, Question III, #3], to a Dietmember, which is legally a Cabinet Decision) are the only cabinet approved apologies. A recent paper published by Japan's National Institute for Defense Studies NIDs appears to confirm this view.

The Kono Statement offered as an apology to the Comfort Women in 1993 was not approved by the Cabinet. On March 16, 2007, however, the first Abe Cabinet did approve a Cabinet Decision affirming that the Kono Statement was not Cabinet approved. This Cabinet Decision does note that all following Cabinets have, however, acknowledged the Kono Statement as an apology, just not officially.

Thus, in this ambiguous political environment, the apology to the American POWs is likely to be in jeopardy. Further, the program of repair and reconciliation--the US/Japan POW Friendship Program--is also threatened. Indeed, the unwillingness of the Japanese Foreign Ministry to expand the program to include widows, family members, and descendants is troubling. In light of the international trends toward extending peace and reconciliation programs to conflict victims, democratic Japan, an ally of the United States has an opportunity to turn the successful visitation program for the surviving POWs into a model.

With these issues in mind, Mr. Vater offered his testimony to the Veterans' Affairs Committees:

Chairmen Sanders and Miller, Ranking Members Burr and Michaud, Members of the Senate and House Veterans Affairs Committees, thank you for allowing us to present the concerns of veterans of World War II’s Pacific Theater to Congress. The American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor (ADBC) Memorial Society represents surviving POWs of Japan, their families, and descendants.

In 2009, the Government of Japan belatedly recognized the extraordinary abuse suffered by the American POWs of Japan. An official apology was offered by the Japanese Ambassador to the United States and a course of reconciliation established called the POW/Japan Friendship Program.

Imagine our dismay when we learned that the new Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, may rescind Japan’s war apologies. We naturally worry that the reconciliation effort, the POW/Japan Friendship Program, is also in jeopardy. Although our membership was, understandably, divided on the value of the 2009 apology, a repudiation of the apology and cessation of the popular visitation program would send an unambiguous message of disrespect to the former POWs and harm the U.S.-Japan Alliance.

The U.S. State Department’s involvement was vital to the effort to obtain the apology and to establish the visitation program. It is our hope that Congress will work with the Obama Administration to persuade Japan to hold to its promises and responsibilities. Japan needs to be encouraged to do more.

As way of background, it was at the final convention of the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor (ADBC) in May 2009 that the Government of Japan through the Japanese Ambassador to the U.S., Ichiro Fujisaki, and then again in 2010 through its Foreign Minister, Katsuya Okada, offered the American POWs of Japan an official apology:

We extend a heartfelt apology for our country having caused tremendous damage and suffering to many people, including prisoners of wars, those who have undergone tragic experiences in the Bataan Peninsula, Corregidor Island, in the Philippines, and other places.

The Japanese Government followed up the apology by initiating a provisional program for American former POWs to visit Japan and return to the places of their imprisonment and slave labor. Nearly all the original Japanese companies that used POW slave labor still exist and often continue to operate facilities at the same sites associated with their assigned POW camps. Thus far, there have been three trips: 2010, 2011, and 2012.

It concerns us that the Abe Administration wants to limit the program to former POWs and possibly end the program this year. Widows, children, and other descendants have also been profoundly affected by the POW experiences of their relatives and they should be included in future programs. We are concerned about how little Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has publicized the program’s accomplishments and goodwill. We are troubled that some Japanese companies have refused to allow our nonagenarian POWs to visit the sites of their imprisonment and slave labor.

The success of the POW/Japan Friendship Program should encourage Japan to do more. 

Still we wait for Japan’s great multi-national corporations to acknowledge their use and abuse of POW labor. Still we wait for Japan to create national memorials to the POWs who slaved and died on Japanese soil. Still we wait for memorials for American POWs who died on Japan’s Hellships and in occupied territories outside Japan such as Taiwan, Northeast China, Wake Island, and Guam. And still we wait for Japan to establish a fund to continue this visitation program and to include research, documentation, people-to-people exchanges, and promotion of human rights.

We want to see the trips to Japan continued and to include widows, descendants, and researchers. We want the visitation program to be turned into a permanent program not subject to the Japanese government’s yearly budget review. 

Prime Minister Abe is in a unique position to extend and enhance this visitation program. Two of his Cabinet members have family ties to companies that used POW slave labor during the war.

By showing his government’s acknowledgement of the pain inflicted on soldiers of what is now Japan’s closest ally, the United States, Prime Minister Abe can strengthen bilateral relations at a fundamental level. It would engender trust among the Americans tasked with protecting Japan by honoring their veterans, and would signal to Japan’s other wartime victims that meaningful reconciliation is possible.

As you can see from this sampling of impressions by former POWs of their trip to Japan, it has brought closure and peace of mind to those who participated:

This program has really helped my Dad [Harold Bergbower, Past National Commander, ADBC]. For years, Dad would have nightmares after any talk, show, or sometimes just because of his years as a POW. Since our visit his nightmares have gone. I cannot really put in words what that day at the Japanese Factory in Takaoka, Toyama, Japan did. He has not forgotten or totally forgiven but there is now a peace to his remembrance. If you are able please consider participating in this program. My Dad's memory is failing on his daily activities but he continues to recall his trip to Japan. Now when he talks about his POW experience he can now add closure. The audience is amazed at his story. I was honored to go with Dad to Japan. If you are a descendant please talk with your parent about the program. It truly is a life changer.

Mr. James Collier later reflected on the trip to Takaoka, whose natural beauty he had never recognized while being a POW: “After meeting the kind people at JMC and after observing the beautiful surroundings of the city, I realized that I had been robbed of the opportunity of truly knowing this place for the past 66 years. Takaoka had always remained as a dark and depressing place in my mind. Yet this visit has finally afforded me the opportunity to appreciate its beauty.”

Mr. Roy Friese met up with Mr. Kensuke Morooka, Representative of the Association for Recording Air Raids of Omuta. His family home was completely destroyed in the fire-bombing of June 18, 1945. “I remember I saw POWs when I was a boy of thirteen. The skeletal POWs were crammed upright into trucks,” he told Mr. Friese as they shook hands. “The facts of sixty-six years ago should never be forgotten. But instead of animosity, we have to hold onto our belief that stupid wars should never happen again,” said Mr. Morooka. “I had felt various prejudices but they are all gone now,” said Mr. Friese as he left the POW camp site. More observations by former POWs who have participated in the POW/Japan Friendship Program are on the Outreach section of our website at www.dg-adbc.org. The program is a tangible benefit of the acknowledgement by Japan of some of Imperial Japan’s injustices.

We are grateful for the State Department’s recent efforts to encourage the Japanese government to do the right thing by initiating a process of reconciliation. The irony is that in 1995 the Japanese government established a program of reconciliation and exchange for all former Allied POWs with the exception of American POWs. We hope that Congress will now encourage the State Department to continue to make up for lost opportunities and time.

We ask for Congress and the Obama Administration to insist that Japan maintain its visitation program for former POWs and expand this remarkable program to include family members, to initiate a plan to preserve their history, and support for human rights education.

Thank you for this opportunity to address your committees.

Veterans Day Appeal to Japan

Japanese Companies Used American POWs as Slave Labor
- Where’s Their Apology?

by Ms. Kinue Tokudome

"If you don’t mind, please tell us how our wartime colleagues treated you because we want to learn."

It was a magical and decisive moment when these words were uttered by Takashi Toriyama, the Director of Japan Metals & Chemicals Co. (JMC)’s Takaoka Works. I immediately realized the significance of his words and how much they meant to two aging former POWs who made the long trip from the U.S. to this small city near the Sea of Japan to visit the company.

It was not the first time for Harold Bergbower (91) and James Collier (88) to be in Takaoka, Japan. In the spring of 1942, both became POWs of the Japanese in the Philippines in what turned out to be the largest surrender in American military history. They were among 150 American POWs who were brought to Takaoka from the Philippines on September 8, 1944 to become forced laborers for JMC’s predecessor company, Hokkai Denka. They were to be joined by 150 British POWs in May of 1945.


Just liberated POWs at Takaoka Nomachi camp
Mr. Bergbower 4th from the right on the 5th row, Mr. Collier far left on the 2nd row

Their twelve hour-a-day work was grueling—shoveling, mixing of ore, and carrying the ore to open furnaces without any safety measures. Very little food and medical care was provided. Any violation of the rules met with severe punishment. By the end of the war, eleven American POWs and two British POWs had died due to the horrible conditions.

Bergbower and Collier were among seven former American POWs who were invited to Japan through the Japanese/POW Friendship Program (a program started in 2010 with the goal of promoting mutual understanding between the people of Japan and the U.S.) funded by the Japanese government. The delegation had just arrived in Japan two days earlier on October 16, each being accompanied by one family member.

Both Bergbower and Collier had reservations on returning to their former campsite as the memories of their hardship still haunted them after more than 66 years. They did not know how they would react upon returning to Takaoka and meeting with JMC’s officials. But Bergbower had decided that he would meet the succeeding generation of Japan and the new management of the company with the hopes that dialogue would help put his ill feelings from the past behind him. Indeed, he had come back to Japan in the mid-50s as a member of the U.S. Air Force to train the newly created Japan Air Self-Defense Force. He and his family had enjoyed their stay in Japan, but could not bring himself to visit Takaoka as the memory of being a forced laborer was still too painful.

Collier, a retired teacher and guidance counselor, was torn over his decision as to whether he should join the program. Would he have a flashback of the moment when he thought he was about to be executed? Would he be able to control his emotions? But in the end, like Bergbower, he decided to give the visit a chance with the hopes of some good coming out of it.

Now, with this question posed by Mr. Toriyama, these two men found themselves in an almost inconceivable position. An official of the successor company to the one that had enslaved them wanted to learn and hear how his predecessors had treated them! It seemed that all the reservations and trepidations they had had before the trip disappeared at this crucial moment.

Coincidentally, internment and slave labor struck close to home for Mr. Toriyama. His late father, who was interned in Siberia after WWII, had also been forced to perform hard labor in very harsh conditions. When he learned from the Japanese Foreign Ministry about the possibility of two former POWs wanting to visit his company, his response was certain. He confessed to Bergbower and Collier that he felt as if they were his own father. How could he not want to meet them and listen to their stories?

Debra Bergbower-Grunwald, the daughter of Bergbower, described what followed this initial exchange at JMC when she spoke at the National Press Club in Tokyo a few days later:

Whatever politicians do is formal. But the true peace that I saw on Tuesday and the friendship that happened between generations—between the generation from the Japanese Metals Company in Takaoka, Toyama, and these two gentlemen, Mr. Jim Collier and my father Harold Bergbower, sitting down at a small table, drawing a diagram, and discussing what the camp history was in 1944. And those men laughing and talking and communicating—that was where the friendship was. This was the peace that happened on Tuesday afternoon. And this peace of mind helped and is helping my father at the age of 91. I want to thank the Japanese government for helping my father with this.
(Entire proceeding of the POW Press Conference)



Takashi Toriyama, the Director of Japan Metals & Chemicals’ Takaoka Works (in blue uniform), listens as Harold Bergbower and Jim Collier speak about their POW experience

What led up to this decisive moment? What made this remarkable trip possible?

During World War II, some 27,000 American soldiers became POWs of the Japanese, of which 40 percent perished while in captivity. Many died while being forced to work for some 60 private Japanese companies such as Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Sumitomo, Nippon Steel, Kawasaki, and Hitachi. Yet there has been very little effort to promote understanding and dialogue on the history of American POWs of the Japanese between the people of the two nations, at least until recently.

But it is well known among those who were interested in the history of Allied POWs of the Japanese that the Japanese government has been inviting former British and Dutch POWs to Japan for many years to promote reconciliation. According to an official report the Japanese government has conducted the following programs between 1995 and 2005:

Invited 784 former British POWs and their families (approximately $7.5 million spent)
Invited 425 former Dutch POWs and their families (approximately $5.8 million spent)

The report further mentioned that these programs would continue as they might deem necessary. Indeed, the Japanese government kept spending a substantial amount of money on the continuation of these programs past 2005.

But former American POWs were completely excluded from these programs for almost fifteen years, even though they suffered very similar experience at the hands of the Japanese.

In early 2006, I twice asked the Japanese Embassy in Washington D.C. about this exclusion. I received a reply dated on May 17, 2006, which stated:

While our feelings of deep remorse and heartfelt apology are no different towards British, Dutch and American POWs, the circumstance surrounding the POWs are different with each country and no similar program currently exists for the former American POWs.

This was the beginning of the pursuit for equal treatment for former American POWs. A free trip to Japan was of little consequence to them. What infuriated these former POWs the most was the way they were again treated by the Japanese as unworthy of respect. They were reminded of what they had been told by the Japanese military in the Philippines—“You are lower than a dog.”

Dr. Lester Tenney, a survivor of the infamous Bataan Death March and one of the leaders of the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor, a national organization of former POWs of the Japanese, started writing letters to anyone he thought could help rectify this unfair treatment of American POWs—the president, the American ambassador to Japan, the secretary of state, members of Congress, the Japanese prime minister, Japanese Foreign Ministry officials, members of the Japanese Diet, and many media outlets in both countries.

For several years, nothing ensued, although some members of the Japanese Diet became sympathetic to Dr. Tenney’s fight. In June of 2008, Dr. Tenney traveled to Japan to personally appeal to Japanese politicians and the Japanese people. While he was able to meet with some members of the Japanese Diet and received good publicity in Japan, his request for a meeting with a representative of the Japanese government was declined.


Upper House member Azuma Konno, Upper House President Satsuki Eda
and Upper House member Yukihisa Fujita welcome Dr. Tenney and Betty Tenney

Finally, a breakthrough came on Veterans Day, 2008 when Dr. Tenney was invited by Japanese ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki to his official residence in Washington D.C. Why it happened when it happened is probably unimportant. All that mattered is that Dr. Tenney, now the last National Commander of the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor (the organization was to be disbanded the following year due to dwindling membership and failing health of surviving POWs) finally met an official representative of the Japanese government. It took 63 years for this meeting to take place.

Dr. Tenney always believed in face-to-face dialogue. He knew that the best way to deal with Ambassador Fujisaki was to be himself. No strategy was needed. He simply requested three things:

1) An apology from the Japanese government.
2) An apology from those Japanese companies that enslaved American POWs.
3) An invitation program for Former American POWs and their families

The ambassador promised that he would relay these requests to Tokyo and get back to Dr. Tenney, to which Dr. Tenney responded, “Even if the answers are negative, I would rather know them soon. Please do not keep me waiting long.” Once this exchange was made, the two men quickly developed what an AP article later described as an "Unusual bond."

The Japanese government offered to apologize the next month. Ambassador Fujisaki’s letter to Dr. Tenney stated:

We extend a heartfelt apology for our country having caused tremendous damages and suffering to many people, including those who have undergone tragic experiences in the Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor Island in the Philippines.

And on May 30, 2009, Ambassador Fujisaki personally delivered his country’s apology at the last convention of the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor held in San Antonio. This apology was approved by the Japanese Cabinet and was the very first apology specifically offered to U.S. POWs by the Japanese government. Dr. Tenney’s first request was fulfilled.

For the invitation of former American POWs to Japan, Dr. Tenney had to wait another year to receive an official confirmation that it would indeed take place. Given the long process of submitting a budget for the next fiscal year and having it approved by the Diet, the Japanese government could not have stated the program any earlier. But it was still a long wait for aging former POWs.

The first delegation for the Japanese/POW Friendship Program led by Dr. Tenney arrived in Japan on September 22, 2010 for a week-long stay. Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada met with the delegation and said in front of reporters of both Japanese and foreign media:

You have all been through hardships during World War II, being taken prisoner by the Japanese military, and suffered extremely inhumane treatment. On behalf of the Japanese government and as the foreign minister, I would like to offer you my heartfelt apology.


(Photo: Kyodo)

Dr. Tenney’s last remaining request, an apology from the companies that enslaved American POWs, was not fulfilled even after he suggested that Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) issue a collective apology. Most companies that had used POWs for forced labor belong to Keidanren. Yet Keidanren was silent while the POW delegation was in Japan and never seized the opportunity to make amends.

Still, there were some encouraging signs. Showa Denko in Kawasaki accepted a visit by two members of the delegation, Ed Jackfert and Joe Alexander, while Ishihara Sangyo in Yokkaichi also welcomed Earl Szwabo. Although no clear apology was offered by either company, their willingness to meet former POWs was a welcome occurrence and clear distinction from the silence of all other companies and Keidanren.

Building upon last year’s historic first trip, this year’s delegation was upbeat about their trip to Japan. The leader of the group, Robert Vogler (90), expressed his admiration many times, saying, "This trip is beyond my expectation. The Japanese people are so kind to us. I cannot believe that it ever took place."

But while there was the definitive moment in Takaoka, a request for a visit by two members of the delegation was declined by the successor company to Mitsui Mining, at whose coal mine they had been forced to work.

From the beginning, monetary compensation had never been the goal for these former POWs in pursuing these companies. Dr. Tenney was one of the plaintiffs that sought unpaid wages from them a decade ago. It had initially been their hope that forthright acknowledgment would come if these companies were held legally accountable for restitution of these former slave laborers. But the highest courts of both the U.S. and Japan have ruled that there was no legal responsibility for the Japanese companies to compensate their WWII POW forced laborers because of the peace treaty. Former POWs accepted that decision.

While these companies no longer had legal obligation for recompense, these former POWs have continued to seek acknowledgment from these companies on the basis of moral responsibility.

The German forced labor foundation, Remembrance, Responsibility and Future serves as a commendable example of what could be within reach. The foundation was not established based on the legal responsibility of Germany for their World War II forced labor, but on their willingness to take moral responsibility for it. The U.S. government was heavily involved in facilitating this historic resolution. The five-billion-dollar foundation, to which the German government and German companies contributed equally, paid individual compensation to more than a million and a half victims of German forced labor, while supporting many educational/exchange programs so that the history of German forced labor would not be forgotten.

All in all, some 6,500 German companies, many of which did not even exist during WWII, voluntarily contributed to this foundation. In comparison, very little is being asked of these Japanese companies that used POWs—a sincere apology for the inhuman forced labor and support for the effort to remember the POW history.

The possibilities for these Japanese companies are numerous. The most apparent method would be to help support the Japanese government’s Japanese/POW Friendship Program financially. The current allocation by the Japanese government is quite small, and financial donations would allow more former American POWs, as well as family members, to participate.

There are other ways for Japanese companies to make contribution. They include, but are not limited to:

1) Donating to the ADBC Museum in Wellsburg, West Virginia.
2) Setting up scholarships for students who study the POW history.
3) Supporting educational projects by POW descendants.
4) Sending young Japanese people to the annual Bataan Memorial Death March in New Mexico so that they can learn about the POW history while having an exchange with American participants.
5) Supporting production and distribution of documentaries on the POW history such as “Tragedy of Bataan”.
6) Building memorials at former POW campsites that they still own so that people can learn what took place at those places.

Other countries and their business communities have already been making similar efforts in order to deal with their own dark histories. For example, the French National Railway, SNCF, recently started its history project to deal with its involvement in transporting Jewish victims to the death camps during the war. On their website, the company states, “By acknowledging its complex history, SNCF is eager to do whatever is necessary to ensure that the historical questions raised are examined through dialogue, historical research and remembrance.”



Jim Collier later reflected on the trip to Takaoka, whose natural beauty he had never recognized while being a forced laborer. "After meeting the kind people at JMC and after observing the beautiful surroundings of the city, I realized that I had been robbed of the opportunity of truly knowing this place for the past 66 years. Takaoka had always remained as a dark and depressing place in my mind. Yet this visit has finally afforded me the opportunity to appreciate its beauty."

The visit of Bergbower and Collier to their former place of imprisonment and forced labor clearly demonstrates that endorsing open dialogue provides a means for further progress and understanding.

Thanks to the tenacity of Dr. Tenney and to the courage shown by Ambassador Fujisaki, who, unlike his predecessors, did not choose the easy way out of ignoring this issue, the effort to bring about honorable resolution to the history of American POWs of the Japanese has been on the right track for the past few years. Japanese companies that once enslaved American POWs find themselves in an extremely opportune season to do the right thing.

Last June, long-time POW-supporting Congressman Mike Honda (D-CA) introduced a resolution praising the Japanese government’s offer of an apology to former POWs and establishing a visitation programs for them. (H. Res. 333) It includes the following provision:

The House of Representatives requests that the Government of Japan respect the wishes and sensibilities of the United States former prisoners of war by requesting those successor Japanese firms of private entities that used United States prisoner of war labor to emulate their government's sincerity by offering an apology and supporting programs for lasting remembrance and reconciliation that recognizes their sacrifices and forced labor.


Former POWs Ed Jackfert and Lester Tenney visiting Congressman Honda with their wives

Next year, 2012, will mark the 70th anniversary of the fall of Bataan and Corregidor. What happened to those Americans who became POWs of the Japanese is too compelling to be forgotten. We are fortunate that some former POWs are still with us today to share their stories. These decisive and opportune moments, like the one in Takaoka, can be duplicated many times over if only more Japanese companies could clearly see how much they can contribute to this great effort of learning together.


* Kinue Tokudome is a Japanese author and the founder and Executive Director of the bilingual website, US-Japan Dialogue on POWs. She is the author of Courage to Remember.

This article first appeared on the History News Network.