The Atomic Bombings and some events

PURCHASE BOOK

80th Anniversary of the Atomic Bombings

By Takuya Nishimura, APP Senior Fellow, Former Editorial Writer for The Hokkaido Shimbun.

The views expressed by the author are his own and are not associated with The Hokkaido Shimbun.
You can find his blog, J Update here.
August 11, 2025. Special to Asia Policy Point

This month the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki commemorated the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings in 1945. While the sufferers of the atomic bombs, or hibakusha, aspire to eternal peace without the devastation of nuclear weapons, the gap between their hopes and the reality of world politics has widened. Hibakusha face a challenging task in handing their movement over to next generation, as the sufferers in Hiroshima and Nagasaki pass away.
 
In Hiroshima, in the Declaration of Peace at the Peace Memorial Ceremony on August 6, the Mayor, Kazumi Matsui, introduced a story of an unnamed man who was injured by the atomic bomb in Hiroshima. “Building a peaceful world without nuclear weapons will demand our never-give-up spirit. We have to talk and keep talking to people who hold opposing views,” Matsui said, quoting words of the hibakusha.
 
That unnamed man is thought to be Sunao Tsuboi who shook hands and had a short conversation with then U.S. President Barack Obama on his visit to Hiroshima in May 2016. “Never give up” is the phrase Tsuboi likes to use in his conversations. He once told me that he came to pursue peace and to hate war. Instead of continuing the resentment he held against America after the end of the war, he realized that retaliation would produce nothing. This principle is commonly held by the hibakusha.
 
Mayor Matsui also warned against a growing perception that “nuclear weapons are essential for national defense,” a view that he and many other believe heightens the risk of the use of these weapons.
 
In Nagasaki, Mayor, Shiro Suzu urged in his Nagasaki Peace Declaration on August 9 for the world to take the path to a peaceful future through dialogue with different people. Suzuki pressed world leaders to end disputes that are based on a principle of “force is met with force.”
 
One event at which the world community seemed to meet the hopes of the hibakusha was the award of the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize to the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organization, or Nihon Hidankyo. The Norwegian Nobel Committee recognized that “Nihon Hidankyo has carried out extensive educational work on the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of the use of nuclear weapons. Hence the motto ‘No more Hibakusha.’”
 
However, the reality of world politics has recently visited more disappointments on the hibakusha. Recognizing that it can use its nuclear weapons stockpile to blackmail Ukraine, Russia has continued its war. Commenters have noticed that the invasion by a country with nuclear weapons of another that abandoned nuclear weapons undermines the international non-proliferation regime. Ukraine gave up its status of the world’s third largest nuclear power with the Budapest Memorandum in 1994.
 
A growing concern among the hibakusha is the fact that the nuclear powers are increasing their involvement in international conflicts. Despite efforts to find a peace deal in the Gaza Strip, Israel – widely thought to have nuclear weapons capability – has continued to destroy cities in the region to eliminate a terrorist organization, Hamas. India and Pakistan, both of which are recognized as nuclear powers, exchanged military strikes in May over a terrorist attack in Kashmir.
 
The hibakusha were astonished that the U.S. conducted air strikes in June on three of Iran’s nuclear sites. Aggravating the situation for the hibakusha was U.S. President Donald Trump’s justification for the attacks on Iran as a means of ending the conflict between Iran and Israel. Trump likened the U.S. attack on Iran to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, characterizing the strikes on Iran as “essentially the same thing.” “Nothing has changed 80 years after the war,” said one of the hibakusha.
 
The survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki are also frustrated with the diplomacy of the government of Japan on nuclear non-proliferation. In their peace declarations, Matsui and Suzuki strongly recommended that the government join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, issued by the United Nations in 2017. The Japanese government has routinely rejected that request because Japan is under nuclear umbrella of the U.S.
 
In his speeches at the ceremonies in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Prime Minister Ishiba stressed Japan’s efforts toward “the world without nuclear weapons” not through the 2017 UN treaty, but the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in 1970. Ishiba also quoted the Hiroshima Action Plan, a plan first proposed by his predecessor Fumio Kishida in a speech to NPT Review Conference in 2022. The plan would preclude the use of nuclear weapons and enhance the transparency of a country’s nuclear development.
 
When we look at the reality of the hibakusha, they are decreasing year after year. Hibakusha who have kept their copies of the Atomic Bomb Survivor’s Handbook, issued by Japanese government, fell below 100,000 in 2024. It means we have fewer and fewer people who can talk about the direct experience of the devastation brought by atomic bombs. How the narratives of Hiroshima and Nagasaki can be passed down to future generations is an important – and unresolved – question.
 
In his peace declaration, Matsui urged young people to think less about themselves and more about each other. “Clearly, nations, too, must look beyond narrow self-interest to consider the circumstances of other nations,” Matsui said. This tenet is grounded in the  preamble to the Constitution of Japan, which states that “no nation is responsible for itself alone.” While Hiroshima’s hope for peace is as fresh as ever, the reality of the world, including that in Japan, looks as if the great tragedy of the atomic bombings has been forgotten.

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BOOK TALK: RAIN OF RUIN BY RICHARD OVERY. 10/7, 6:30-8:30pm (BST), IN PERSON ONLY. Sponsor: Imperial War Museums. Speaker: author Richard Overy, one of Britain’s most distinguished historians. https://www.iwm.org.uk/events/iwm-in-conversation-richard-overy-rain-of-ruin. Fee. PURCHASE BOOK: https://amzn.to/45hyoOU

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POP CULTURE, PROPAGANDA, AND POLITICS: REFLECTIONS ON THE PACIFIC WAR 80 YEARS LATER: 2025 ANNUAL CONFERENCE. 10/17-18, HYBRID. Sponsor: Admiral Nimitz Foundation at the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, Texas. Speakers: Richard B. Frank, an internationally recognized leading authority on the Asia-Pacific War; Rob Buscher, a film and media specialist; Janet M. Davis, Professor of American Studies and History at the University of Texas at Austin; Dr. Ambyre Ponivas, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies and Psychology at Young Harris College in Georgia; Steven Rawle, Professor of Film at York St John University, UK; Henry Sledge is the son of Eugene B. Sledge, author of With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa and China Marine. https://www.pacificwarmuseum.org/education/museum-programs/conference 

THE SURRENDER OF JAPAN: ORCHESTRATING THE END OF THE WAR. 9/2, 11:00am-Noon, HYBRID. Sponsor: National WWII Museum. Speaker: Colonel Mike Bell, PhD, Executive Director of the Museum’s Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/events-programs/events/137098-surrender-japan-orchestrating-end-war

2025 CONFERENCE TO HONOR 80TH ANNIVERSARY OF END OF WORLD WAR II. 8/30-9/2. IN PERSON ONLY, Hilton Garden Inn, Arlington, VA. Sponsor: American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor Memorial Society. Various presentations on the American POW experience with Imperial Japan. https://www.adbcmemorialsociety.org/

FINALE IN THE PACIFIC: THE ROAD TO JAPAN'S SURRENDER. 8/23, 9:00am. IN PERSON ONLY, MacArthur Memorial Visitor Center, 150 Bank Street, Norfolk, VA. Sponsors: MacArthur Memorial, Military Aviation Museum, and Hampton Roads Naval Museum. Speakers: Military historians Richard B. Frank, author of Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire, D.M. Giangreco, author of Truman and the Bomb: The Untold Story, and Timothy J. Orr, co-author of Never Call Me a Hero: A Legendary American Dive-Bomber Pilot Remembers of the Battle of Midway. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/finale-in-the-pacific-the-road-to-japans-surrender-tickets-1371578601519?aff=oddtdtcreator

80TH ANNIVERSARY END OF WAR SYMPOSIUM. 8/8-9. Sponsor: National WWII Museum-New Orleans. Speakers: Guenter Bischof; Michael Neiberg; John McManus; Craig Symonds; James Scott; John Curatola; Jonathan House; Richard Frank; Jim Zobel; Noriko Kawamura. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/events-programs/events/135816-80th-anniversary-end-war-symposium VIDEO

THE CONTESTED HISTORY OF WORLD WAR TWO: THE HOTTEST FLASHPOINTS TODAY. 8/1. Sponsor: Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan. Speakers: M.G. Sheftall, Professor, Modern Japanese Cultural History and Communication, Faculty of Informatics, Shizuoka University; Alexis Dudden, Professor, Department of History, University of Connecticut and Visiting Professor of Japanese Studies, National University of Singapore; Koichi Nakano, Professor, Political Science, Sophia University.  https://www.fccj.or.jp/news-and-multimedia/press-conference-contested-history-world-war-two-hottest-flashpoints-today-mg VIDEO

Who Bombed Pearl Harbor

On December 8, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave his famous "day in infamy" speech describing Imperial Japan's "dastardly attack" on Pearl Harbor and condemning Tokyo's "surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area."

Immediately following the speech, the U.S. Senate declared war on Japan. A state of war with Germany was declared December 11, hours after Germany had declared war on the United States.

There was no official, national remembrance of the tragedy at Pearl Harbor until 1994. The 103rd Congress passed a joint resolution in 1994 designating December 7, 1993, as "National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day." President Bill Clinton signed it into law (Public Law 103-308) on August 23rd. The law states: December 7 of each year is designated as "National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day" and the President is authorized and requested— (1) to issue annually a proclamation calling on the people of the United States to observe the day with appropriate ceremonies and activities; and (2) to urge all Federal agencies, and interested organizations, groups, and individuals, to fly the flag of the United States at halfstaff" each December 7 in honor of the individuals who died as a result of their service at Pearl Harbor.

Historians will wonder why the law identifies the nonexistent Japanese "Air Force" as the aggressor and is not specific about the number of casualties at Pearl Harbor. At the time, Japan did not have an independent Air Force. It was the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service that attacked Hawaii. In addition, unlike in President Roosevelt's speech, there is no mention of Japan's other lightning strikes throughout the Pacific on December 7th. These attacks famously destroyed the American Asiatic Fleet and the Army's Far East Air Force while cutting off U.S. outposts in the Pacific from the mainland and resuplly.

The Proclamations
The first proclamation was issued by President Clinton on November 29, 1994, 53 years after the Pearl Harbor attack. His 1994 proclamation, as all that followed, did little to enlighten Americans about the day's history. Notably, it began the "tradition" of not identifying who "attacked" U.S. Forces in Hawaii that day. All that we learn is that the attack "involved America in a worldwide battle against the forces of fascism and oppression."

In an examination of the 30 Pearl Harbor Presidential proclamations made since 1994, 11 have no mention of Japan. In other words, the "enemy" who attacked the American territory is not identified. It could have been any of the Axis powers. Thailand had a modern, able air force, albeit no aircraft carriers.

President George W. Bush (43) recognized Japan in only two of his eight Pearl Harbor Day commemorative statements. His administration had a close relationship with Japan and notably squashed a joint congressional resolution remembering the 60th anniversary of the end of WWII and the defeat of Japan. President Biden, who lost his uncle and a cousin to the Japanese, has mentioned Japan in only one of his three statements. Here is the link to this year's Proclamation. (I have a memo outlining all 30 statements. If interested, email me.)

California Governor Gavin Newson's 2023 Pearl Harbor Day proclamation clearly mentions Japan. His grandfather, Arthur Menzies, was a soldier on Corregidor with the 60th Coast Artillery Regiment (AntiAircraft) K Battery and endured a hellship and nearly four years in Japanese POW Camps. He was not on the Bataan Death March as some reports say. Sadly, while experiencing a flashback in 1973, he threatened to kill Newsom's mother and her twin sister. When he realized that they were not Japanese prison guards, he turned the gun on himself.

Missing
I have not found any member of congress, even members of the Veterans Affairs Committees in the House and Senate who have publicly remembered Pearl Harbor Day. If you find one, please tell me.

Also missing in the proclamations is mention of all the other attacks Japan made that day throughout the Pacific, especially against the American territories of Wake Island, Guam, Midway, and Howland Island. I leave to my loyal readers to figure out how many other Americans died that day in battle (tell me if you run the numbers). President Roosevelt, in contrast, was quite clear in his speech to Congress that December 7th was a day of multiple Japanese attacks in the Asia-Pacific (territories in continental Asia were bombed as well as islands in the Pacific).

To be sure, Pearl Harbor saw the greatest number of casualties and Medal of Honor (MoH) honorees among the American territories in the Pacific attacked that day. For their actions during the attack on Pearl Harbor, 15 sailors in the U.S. Navy (from seven ships and one Naval Air Station) and 1 Marine were awarded Medals of Honor. The 16 recipients held a wide range of ranks, from seaman to rear admiral. Eleven (69%) received their awards posthumously.

The first Marine to receive the Medal of Honor during World War II was killed on Midway, December 7, 1941. First Lieutenant George H. Cannon, USMC, from Michigan, remained at his post until all of his wounded men were evacuated, though severely wounded himself. His selfless action and concern for his men was an inspiration.

When war began, the American Embassy rushed to burn documents before the Kempeitai arrested and interned them. Niles W. Bond was a consular officer in Yokohama, Japan from 1940-1942 and was there during the attack on Pearl Harbor. His accounts of the time make interesting reading.

COMMEMORATING THE SURRENDER: TUNE IN

• 
  75th Commemoration of the End of WWII: Salute their Service, Honor their Hope. 9/2, 8:10-11:00am (HST), USS Missouri Memorial Association and the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum, Hawaii.
• V-J Day 75th Anniversary Commemoration. 9/2, 10:30am-10:30pm (EDT), Friends of the National World War II Memorial, Washington, DC.
• End of War 75th Anniversary: The Pacific. 9/2, 11:00am-Noon (CDT), LIVESTREAM. The National WW II Museum, New Orleans.
• COMMEMORATING THE END OF WWII. 9/2, 11:00-11:30am (MDT), Pacific War Museum, Texas.
• The National Press Club & American Legion Post 20 Commemorate the 75th Anniversary of Japan’s official surrender in WWII. 9/2, 7:00pm (EDT), LIVESTREAM. Sponsor: National Press Club. Speakers: National Press Club President Mike Freedman interviews Clifton Truman Daniel, author and grandson of Harry Truman. 

THE MIRACULOUS DELIVERANCE FROM AN EPIC TRAGEDY: THE END OF THE ASIA PACIFIC WAR WITH RICHARD B. FRANK. 8/31, 2:00pm (EDT), ZOOM EVENT. Sponsors: Friends of the National World War II Memorial. Speaker: Richard B. Frank, internationally recognized leading authority on the Asia-Pacific War, author.  PURCHASE BOOKS: https://amzn.to/2YaujsB; https://amzn.to/31WBo18 https://amzn.to/3j2KmB5

'UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER' THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF V-J DAY WITH RICHARD B. FRANK, author of Tower of Skulls and Downfall. 9/1, 6:00pm (CDT), ZOOM EVENT. Sponsor: The Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum.

THE ALLIED FORCES IN WORLD WAR II: HISTORY, CONSEQUENCES AND THE 21ST CENTURY WORLD ORDER. 9/2, 5:30-7:00pm (IST), WEBINAR. Sponsor: Observer Research Foundation (ORF), India. Speakers: Ajay Kumar Patnaik, Professor, Centre for Russian & Central Asian Studies, JNU; Sanjay Deshpande, Professor, Centre for Eurasian Studies, University of Mumbai; Sergei Fandeev, Director, Russian Centre for Science and Culture, Mumbai; Sriparna Pathak, Assistant Professor & Assistant Dean, School of International Affairs, OP Jindal Global University; Suresh Babu, former Ambassador of India to Armenia, Georgia & Mongolia.

TWILIGHT OF THE GODS: WAR IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC, 1944-1945. 9/2, 7:00pm (EDT), ZOOM EVENT. Sponsors: MacArthur Memorial and the Hampton Roads Naval Museum. Speaker: Ian Toll, author and historian. PURCHASE BOOK: https://amzn.to/3hywON4 (W. W. Norton & Company; Illustrated Edition (September 1, 2020), 944 pages)

PRISONERS OF THE EMPIRE: INSIDE JAPANESE POW CAMPS. 9/3, 8:00-9:00am (CDT). Radio Interview. Sponsor: The Morning Show KENOSHA-WGTD (91.1 FM). Speaker: author, Dr. Sarah Kovner, Columbia University. PURCHASE BOOK: https://amzn.to/34KQM3A (Harvard University Press (September 15, 2020), 336 pages)

2020 POW/MIA Recognition Day Poster Unveiled

National POW/MIA Recognition Day will be September 18, 2020

You can get this poster free HERE

April 9 1942 - Never Forget

Today, is the 78th Anniversary of the fall of the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines. Within hours of Japan's December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, Japan's planes descended upon the Philippines knocking out the critical airfields and naval facilities. By mid-December, American soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and whoever signed up, retreated to the Bataan Peninsula or to the fortress island of Corregidor in Manila Bay.

While Singapore, Hong Kong, and Batavia were occupied, the Asiatic Fleet was destroyed, and the Far East Air Force was annihilated, the Am-Fil forces on the Philippines fought on against the Japanese invaders. In February 1942, Japanese subs and aircraft bombed Darwin, Australia and Santa Barbara, California. By March, Am-Fil forces found their supplies and ammunition nearly gone. But they fought on.

After 99 days in battle, with no hope of reinforcement, out of food, medicine, and ammo, Major General Edward P. King Jr. surrendered his troops on Bataan—against General Douglas MacArthur’s orders and on the anniversary of the Gen Robert E Lee's surrender at Appomattox (1865). Thus, approximately 78,000 troops (66,000 Filipinos and 12,000 Americans), the largest contingent of U.S. soldiers ever to surrender, are taken captive by the Japanese.

The men and women on Corregidor and the other fortress island in Manila Bay fought on for another month. Those soldiers and sailors in the outlying provinces hung on a bit longer. By mid-May, all of the Philippines had been surrendered. Although, none of these men in arms were on the Death March, they suffered and died the same in the POW camps on the Philippines and in the hellships to Japan.

The prisoners surrendered on Bataan on April 9th were at once led 65 miles from Mariveles, on the southern end of the Bataan peninsula, up to San Fernando and then another 20 by miles by packed standing in steaming train cars and by foot to Camp O'Donnell on what became known as the “Bataan Death March.” Estimates vary, with 300-600 Americans and 2,000-5,000 Filipinos dying on the infamous March because of the extreme brutality of their captors, who starved, beat, and kicked them along the way; those who became too weak to walk were bayoneted, beheaded, or shot. 

At Camp O'Donnell, the survivors had little water, food or medicine. There the death rate far exceeded the toll from the March. By June, nearly a third of the POWs had died.

After the war, the International Military Tribunal, established by MacArthur, tried Lieutenant General Homma Masaharu, commander of the Japanese invasion forces in the Philippines. He was held responsible for the death march, a war crime, and was executed by firing squad on April 3, 1946.

Efforts were made after the war, to retrieve as many bodies as possible left along this infamous trail. The ghosts of many remain.

NEVER FORGET

Soto Dam Memorial

Stars and Stripes. SASEBO, Japan (May 23, 2019) - For more than 70 years Soto Dam has provided water to the citizens of Sasebo, but the construction of this vital water supply cost more than money and material. Members of Commander, Fleet Activities Sasebo, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and Sasebo community came together to honor the 67 men who died in its construction during the annual Soto Dam memorial ceremony May 23, 2019.

Soto Dam was an Imperial Japanese Navy construction project that began in 1941 to alleviate water shortages in Sasebo. To complete the task 265 American civilian prisoners of war were used and the dam was completed April 1944. A total of 53 American POWs and 14 Japanese laborers died during the construction.

In 1956 Sasebo City erected a memorial tower beside the dam to honor all those who died during its construction.

“Their ability to look at the unpleasant events of the past and remember what occurred here permits us to come here together today and stand side by side to remember our fallen countrymen,” said Capt. Brad Stallings, CFAS commanding officer.

Remarks by Sasebo Mayor Norio Tomonaga, who was unable to attend the ceremony, were read by Sasebo City Base Affairs Administration Bureau Chief Director Ryuichiro Higashi.

The speeches were followed by the reading of the names of the fallen by members of the U.S. Navy and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force as wreaths were laid by Stallings and Higashi on behalf of CFAS and Sasebo, community leaders and the Navy League.

“We would like to remember in our hearts again that Soto Dam was built upon many sacrifices during the unfortunate history of war,” said Higashi during the ceremony. “I wish our friendship that has been built between U.S. and Japan will continue forever.”

The prisoners of war had been construction workers contracted to build the airfield and submarine facilities at Wake Island. When Wake was captured by Japan on Dec. 23, 1941 it had 1,100 civilian contractors on island, 265 of which were sent to work on Soto Dam in late 1942.

According to Phil Eakins, a local historian involved with the memorial, the POWs lived and worked in harsh conditions and received no medical treatment. Among the survivors it became known as the “Death Camp.” [The prisoner of war camp, Fukuoka #18-B, was primary labor source for construction of the dam.]

The dead were originally buried by fellow POWs on a nearby hillside but were repatriated to the U.S. around 1949.

2017 MIA/POW Recognition Day

Order Poster

Nearly every member of congress has a POW/MIA Flag 

at door of their Washington Office. 

Nearly none bothered to acknowledge today. We will remember.

Lessons of our 75th Anniversary

American Defenders of Bataan & Corregidor Memorial Society, President’s Message, Ms. Jan Thompson, delivered to annual convention on May 20, 2017 in Kansas City, Missouri

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the fall of Bataan, the Bataan Death March and the surrender of Corregidor. It is also the 75th anniversaries of the sinkings of the USS Houston, USS Pope, USS Langley, and USS Perch as well as the capture of a Texas National Guard unit on Java that came to be known as the “Lost Battalion.”

As the years have passed, it can be argued that there is a fear that the sacrifice and the history of the POW experience under Imperial Japan will be forgotten both in the United States and in Japan.

But, the ADBC-MS has undertaken a number of activities and initiatives to prevent this from happening and to try to ensure that the history of our men and women is preserved and honored.

We have worked to provide visual, scholarly and political remembrance of the struggles, sacrifice, and stories of the POWs of Japan.

Maybe no better reflection of the success of our efforts was at last weekend’s Liberty University’s commencement. President Trump took six minutes out of his 30-minute speech to celebrate the life and “grit” of former POW of Japan George Rogers, a founding financial director of the University.

Trump, said to the graduates what we here already know, but we welcome it repeated by a contemporary American president:

If anyone ever had reason to quit, to give in to the bitterness and anger that we all face at some point, to lose hope in god's vision for his life, it was indeed George Rogers. But that's not what he did. He stood up for his country; he stood up for his community. He stood up for his family and he defended civilization against a tide of barbarity, the kind of barbarity we're seeing today and we've been witnessing over the last number of years

Presidential pronouncements aside, the ADBC-MS has worked hard to created and place memorials in Japan at locations of former prison camps. And we are pressing Japan to recognize POW slave labor at their newly established UNESCO World Industrial Heritage sites.

We have contributed funds and prose for the building of these. Our friends in Japan--the POW Research Network—have worked tirelessly and selflessly with us in coordinating the placement and maintenance of these memorials.

Two years ago, we received our first, and so far only public corporate apology to POWs for there slave labor. But it was an important one. It came from Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, which is part of the larger, Mitsubishi Group, Japan’s largest and most important multi-national. Mitsubishi Materials still owns the land where Mitsubishi had four mines that are now closed.

This historic apology was the result of a lot of hard work and political savvy of our longtime friend and advocate, Ms. Kinue Tokudome in Japan.

Words are one thing. Seeing a permanent marker of contrition is another. Thus, this past November, Mitsubishi Materials allowed and paid for the installation of visual reminders of their dark history. Plaques, in English and Japan, were placed at the entrances of their four former mines. These memorials say:

Working conditions for the POWs were exceedingly harsh and left deep mental and physical wounds that the lapse of time would not heal. Reflecting on these tragic past events with the deepest sense of remorse, Mitsubishi Materials offers its heartfelt apologies to all former POWs who were forced to work under appalling conditions in the mines of the former Mitsubishi Mining Company, and reaffirms its unswerving resolve to contribute to the creation of a world in which fundamental human rights and justice are fully guaranteed.

[APPLAUSE]

Feeding into this success, are our eight years of organizing and managing the POW trips to Japan.

How many of you have participated in the Japan POW friendship trips? [Hands raised.]

For those who have gone to Japan you have found that these are not vacations—but days filled with meeting Japanese officials and citizens; American diplomats and students, and continuing to tell the POW story. These trips are also an important part of the US-Japan Alliance---where once we were fierce enemies, we have come to respect each other.

The Japan/POW Friendship trips were the brain child of Lester Tenney, who could not understand why such trips were offered to our allies, but not to Americans. He had made it his mission to correct this wrong. And he succeeded. As many of you know, Lester passed away only this past February.

The Friendship trips have been successful in helping people in Japan to understand the bitter experience of the POW—and for many of the participants it has helped them to realize that Japan has been transformed into a democracy and an ally, a very different country from the militaristic Imperial Japan that abused them.

These trips are an important legacy that Lester created.

The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has told us that there will be another trip this year. And officials have noted that their continuation is a sign that the government sees a great value in them.

There are also other initiatives in the United States to remember the POW history.

Those of you who went to White Sands this year in New Mexico saw that it has grown over the past 27 years [since 1990] to more than 7,000 participants who now annually march, run, walk to remember the Bataan Death March.

There are other Bataan Memorial marches around the country, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and South Dakota to remember the sacrifice the POWs of Imperial Japan made for our freedom.

And last year, California approved an initiative to include the history of the POWs of Japan in their State high school curriculum. The ADBC-MS will be working with California educators to ensure that that is curriculum is substantive, truthful, and meaningful.

[APPLAUSE]

Much has been accomplished, yet there is much to do.

The stories of the POW experience continue to inspire; they speak to the American spirit of resilience, persistence, and allegiance. We do not give up without a fight.

Most important, these "stories" are not just history. Americans still fight tyranny and we never give in; we do not yield to force, to injustice, to oppression, or to an enemy. This history ties us to our future.

But we all need to do things to continue to tell the POW story—we need to preserve and protect this history. We cannot be passive. We as descendants and historians cannot leave it to others.

We cannot stop telling our story and we must continue to look for and create opportunities for us to tell our history. We must use that same determination and perseverance that kept our men alive through their darkest hours to keep the memory and lessons of their history alive.

Thank you

Appeal to Congress by American POWs of Japan

click to order commemorative mug

The American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor Memorial Society (ADBC-MS), the leading American veterans’ organization for former prisoners of war of Imperial Japan, their families, and historians, submitted testimony for the record on March 22, 2017 to the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee and House Veterans' Affairs Committee Joint Hearing To Receive Legislative Presentations of Veterans Service Organizations. [click to see full testimony]

The ADBC-MS asked Congress to:

• Adopt a resolution commemorating this year’s annual National Prisoner of War Remembrance Day, April 9th, which is also the 75th anniversary of the Bataan Death March on the Philippines.
• Award a Congressional gold medal to the American POWs of Japan, who endured the longest and harshest imprisonment of any WWII POWs.
• Insist that the Japanese corporations that used POW slave labor during WWII make amends for their war crimes before they are allowed to bid on U.S. high speed rail contracts.
• Encourage the Government of Japan to turn its POW visitation program into a permanent Future Fund for research, documentation, reconciliation, and people-to-people exchanges.
• Demand that the Government of Japan refute misrepresentations of POW history in Japan and include the history in its UNESCO Industrial Heritage sites.
• Ask the Japanese government to create a memorial at the Port of Moji, where most of the “hell ships” delivered their sick, dying, and dead human cargo to Japan.

This year is the 75th anniversary of the Bataan Death March, the fall of the Philippines, the end of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet, and the destruction of the U.S. Far East Air Force. It is estimated that over 300,000 American and Allied POWs and civilian internees were POWs of Imperial Japan. Nearly half died in squalid POW camps, aboard fetid “hell ships,” or as slave laborers for Japanese corporations.

Never again, means never forget.

BATAAN DEATH MARCH 75TH ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATIONS

Over the next few days, numerous ceremonies will be held to honor the fallen and survivors of the Bataan Death March on its 75th anniversary and National Former POW Recognition Day, April 9th. 

WASHINGTON, DC

75TH COMMEMORATION OF ARAW NG KAGITINGAN [BATAAN AND CORREGIDOR DAY]. 4/7, 3:15-4:30 PM, Washington, DC. Sponsor: Embassy of the Philippines. A wreath laying ceremony at the WWII Memorial at the National Mall. 5:30-7:30pm Commemoration Program at the Romulo Hall of the Embassy of the Philippines. Location: Embassy of the Philippines, 1600 Massachusetts Avenue, NW. Contact: http://www.philippineembassy-usa.org/news/5507/589/75th-Commemoration-of-Araw-ng-Kagitingan-on-07-April-2017/d,phildet/  Information: veterans@philippinesveteransaffairs.org  

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

75^TH COMMEMORATION OF ARAW NG KAGITINGAN (DAY OF VALOR). 4/8, 9:00 AM, Chicago, Illinois. Wreath laying ceremony (weather permitting) at the Bataan-Corregidor Memorial Bridge at the corner of State Street and Wacker Drive, Chicago to pay tribute to thousands of Filipino and American soldiers who displayed extraordinary gallantry and courage beyond the call of duty in defending Bataan and Corregidor in 1941-1942. After the wreath laying ceremony, a short program will be held around 10:00-11:30 AM at the Kalayaan Hall of the Consulate General of the Philippines, 122 S. Michigan Avenue, Suite 1600, Chicago, Illinois 60603. Contact: http://www.chicagopcg.com/; chicagopcg@att.net and http://www.chicagopcg.com/pr16-17.pdf

CALIFORNIA

BATAAN DEATH MARCH 75TH ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATION. 4/8, 9:00am-Noon, The Presidio, San Francisco, California. 9:00AM Laying of Wreaths at the ABMC WWII West Coast Memorial at Kobbe & Washington Aves. 10:00AM Commemorative Program At Pershing Square/ Presidio Officers Club. Contact: www.bataanlegacy.org; Program http://zif7.r.ah.d.sendibm4.com/zmo9s9vonf.htmland http://usa.inquirer.net/1829/bataan-death-march-75th-year-rites-set-sf-presidio-april-8     

NEW YORK

75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATAAN DEATH MARCH COMMEMORATION. 4/8, 1:00-4:00 PM. Bataan Road, Orangeburg, New York. Ceremony, concert, presentations. Contact: Jerome Kleiman, https://www.facebook.com/events/1168848923170955/

VIRGINIA

75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATAAN DEATH MARCH AND UNVEILING THE BEN STEELE COLLECTION. 4/9, 2:00-4:00 PM, Norfolk, VA. Sponsor: MacArthur Memorial. As part of the unveiling, the Memorial will screen the documentary film Survival Through Art. Produced by American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor Memorial Society President and professional filmmaker Jan Thompson and narrated by Alec Baldwin,Survival Through Art tells the story of Ben Steele's remarkable life. Location: MacArthur Memorial Visitors Center, 198 Bank Street, Norfolk, VA 23510. Contact: http://www.macarthurmemorial.org/Calendar.aspx?EID=62&month=1&year=2017&day=12&calType=0 or

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ben-steele-collection-unveiling-tickets-31132965538

6^TH ANNUAL BATAAN DEATH MARCH MEMORIAL WALK/RUN.  4/22, 6:00AM-2:00PM, Chesapeake, VA. Sponsored by the SSG Jonathan Killian Dozier Memorial VFW Post 2894 and FilVetRep. Location: Dismal Swamp Canal Trail North Parking Lot, 1113 George Washington Highway South, Chesapeake, VA 23323 Contact: https://www.virginia.org/listings/Events/BataanDeathMarchMemorialWalk/

https://www.facebook.com/Chesapeake-Bataan-Death-March-464188050284397/

MINNESOTA

BATAAN MEMORIAL WREATH LAYING CEREMONY. 4/9 10:00 AM, Brained National Guard Training and Community Center, 1115 Wright Street, Brainerd, MN  56401. Mr. Walter Straka, the last surviving member of the Brainerd 34th Tank Company as it began, and A Company 194th Tank Battalion after federalization, will lay the wreath while Taps is played. The names of those who were killed in combat or captivity will be read as their dog tags are hung on the barrel of the M3 Stuart tank. Contact: Captain Chris Bingham (651) 268-8117,http://www.brainerdbataan.com/wreath-laying-ceremony.html ;

20TH ANNUAL BATAAN MEMORIAL MARCH, 9/9, Brainerd, Minnesota.  http://www.brainerdbataan.com/

NEW MEXICO

COMMEMORATIVE CEREMONY HONORING 75TH ANNIVERSARY. 4/9, 4:00-6:00 PM, Las Cruces, NM. Sponsor: The Remember Bataan Foundation of Las Cruces. Location: Veteran’s Memorial Park, 2651 Roadrunner Parkway, Las Cruces.

http://www.bataanmuseum.com/event/commemorative-ceremony-honoring-75th-anniversary/

BATAAN MEMORIAL CEREMONY. 4/8, 1:00 PM, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Sponsor: Bataan-Corregidor Memorial Foundation of New Mexico. Location: Bataan Memorial Park, 748 Tulane Drive, NE, Albuquerque. Contact: MAJ Richard A. Luena, USAF-R (Ret.), https://www.facebook.com/events/1763311350552957/

BATAAN MEMORIAL CEREMONY. 4/9, 10:00 AM-2:00 PM, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Sponsor: New Mexico National Guard. Location: 200th CAC marker on the southeast side of the Bataan Memorial Building, 407 Galisteo Street, Santa Fe. http://www.bataanmuseum.com/event/nmng-honors-world-war-ii-bataan-veterans-on-75th-anniversary/

Senator John Cornyn's tribute to the Lost Battalion

REMEMBERING THE SOLDIERS OF 2ND BATTALION 

131ST FIELD ARTILLERY REGIMENT

U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX)

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, this week, we remember the brave men of Texas who gave so much to preserve freedom in the Pacific and survived the greatest horrors of World War II. Soldiers of 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery Regiment from Camp Bowie, TX, a Texas National Guard unit, were fighting alongside Australian forces on Java, an island in Indonesia, against invading Japanese forces. On March 8, 1942 the Americans and their Australian allies were captured by the Japanese. A report was never filed by the Japanese to identify the captured unit. As a result, the Texas soldiers had disappeared and were dubbed ``the Lost Battalion.''

They were combined with survivors of the USS Houston, CA-30, which had been sunk in the Battle of Sunda Strait on March 1, 1942, and dispersed to POW labor camps located in Burma, Thailand, and Japan to work as slave laborers. They worked on the Burma-Siam Death Railway, building a railroad through the jungle and into the coal mines, docks, and shipyards in Japan and other Southeast Asian countries. For 42 months, the men of 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery and the USS Houston suffered together through humiliation, degradation, physical and mental torture, starvation, and horrible tropical diseases, with no medication.

Five hundred and thirty-two soldiers of the battalion, along with 371 survivors of the USS Houston were taken prisoner. As many as 163 soldiers died in captivity, and of those, 133 are estimated to have died working on the railroad.

In August of 1945, after 42 months of captivity and forced labor, the survivors of 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery Regiment and the survivors of the USS Houston were returned to the United States. March 8, 2017, marks the 75th year since their capture on the island of Java, and these soldiers deserve to be remembered for their heroic service and sacrifices in the Pacific theater of battle.

From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office
March 8, 2017
115th Congress, 1st Session
Issue: Vol. 163, No. 40 — Daily Edition
[Page S1686]

Buy the 75th Anniversary mug commenorating the Defense of the Philippines

Please support our research and remembrance of the American POW experience with Imperial Japan by purchasing our commemorate mug of this year's 75th Anniversary of Defense of the Philippines.

For tax-deductible donations of $35 or more we will send you this statement mug. CLICK HERE TO ORDER. Please remember to include your address.Thank you

73rd annual Maywood Bataan Day Memorial Events

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Held the second Sunday in September, as it has every year since 1942, the Maywood Bataan Day Memorial, is one of the longest continuous war memorials in Chicagoland. The service will be at Veterans Memorial Park, Maywood, Illinois. Of the 89 men of Company “B” who left the US in 1941, from a Maywood National Guard unit, only 43 would return from the war.

A concert of military music will begin at 2:30pm, courtesy of the Navy Ceremonial Band, Great Lakes. The service begins promptly at 3pm. Keynote speaker this year is Stephen Gibson, MBDO Director, whose father Emmett Gibson, was the first Battle of Bataan survivor to return to Maywood, and who later became a Maywood Police officer before passing away at the age of 41 in 1958

Additional speakers include Wayne Wagner, Past Department Commander, American Legion of Illinois, as well as Alena Grace S. Borra, Consul, Philippine Consul General in Chicago, and The Honorable Maywood Mayor Edwenna Perkins.

Exhibition & Conference: WWII in the Phiippines

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National POW/MIA Recognition Day - 2014

Presidential Proclamation --- National POW/MIA Recognition Day, 2014

NATIONAL POW/MIA RECOGNITION DAY, 2014

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BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

America's history shines with patriots who have answered the call to serve.  From Minutemen who gathered on a green in Lexington to a great generation that faced down Communism and all those in our military today, their sacrifices have strengthened our Nation and helped secure more than two centuries of freedom.  As our Armed Forces defend our homeland from new threats in a changing world, we remain committed to a profound obligation that dates back to the earliest days of our founding -- the United States does not ever leave our men and women in uniform behind.  On National POW/MIA Recognition Day, we express the solemn promise of a country and its people to our service members who have not returned home and their families:  you are not forgotten.

My Administration remains dedicated to accounting as fully as possible for our Nation's missing heroes, lost on battlefields where the sounds of war ceased decades ago and in countries where our troops are deployed today.  Whether they are gone for a day or for decades, their absence is felt.  They are missed during holidays and around dinner tables, and their loved ones bear this burden without closure.  Americans who gave their last full measure of devotion deserve to be buried with honor and dignity, and those who are still unaccounted for must be returned to their families.  We will never give up our search for them, and we will continue our work to secure the release of our citizens who are unjustly detained abroad.  Today, we acknowledge that we owe a profound debt of gratitude to all those who have given of themselves to protect our Union and our way of life, and we honor them by working to uphold this sacred trust.

On September 19, 2014, the stark black and white banner symbolizing America's Missing in Action and Prisoners of War will be flown over the White House; the United States Capitol; the Departments of State, Defense, and Veterans Affairs; the

Selective Service System Headquarters; the World War II Memorial; the Korean War Veterans Memorial; the Vietnam Veterans Memorial; United States post offices; national cemeteries; and other locations across our country.  We raise this flag as a solemn reminder of our obligation to always remember the sacrifices made to defend our Nation.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 19, 2014, as National POW/MIA Recognition Day.  I urge all Americans to observe this day of honor and remembrance with appropriate ceremonies and activities. 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this  eighteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand fourteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-ninth.

BARACK OBAMA

Maywood Bataan Day, September 14

Float from first Maywood Day 1942

Maywood Bataan Day Organization

72nd Annual Maywood Bataan Day

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Veterans Memorial Park

 Maywood, Illinois

Musical program starts at 2:30pm 

Memorial Service begins at 3:00pm

with the massing of the Color Guard

US Navy Ceremonial Band Great Lakes

FLYER TO DOWNLOAD

The 15th Anniversary of the dedication of Veterans Memorial Park in Maywood and the 55th Anniversary of the dedication of the 192nd Tank Battalion Plaque at the old National Guard Armory originally located across the street from Proviso East High School on Madison Ave and now relocated to Veterans Memorial Park.

Singing of the American and Philippine National Anthems, as well as the always emotionally moving Monument Ceremony presented by the VietNow Color Guard DuPage Chapter. Our Keynote Speaker is Command Sergeant Major Mark W. Bowman, who is the Land Component CSM for the Illinois National Guard as well as a tanker himself. Guest speakers, including the Philippine Consul General in Chicago, Generoso D. G. Caonge, and Barry C. Cicero, Past Cmdr, First Division, American Legion Dept. of Illinois.

Rifle salute will be presented by the Howard H. Rohde American Legion Post #888from Northlake, Commander Al Pizzaro. And memorial wreaths will be presented by representatives of all branches of the US Military, as well as distinguished Filipino and other community guests.

And to mark the anniversaries of the dedication of Veterans Park, and the original 192nd Tank Battalion plaque, there will be dedicating a new plaque to replace the existing plaque.

Thank you to Home Depot Foundation in providing landscaping to Veterans Memorial Park and the labor ofHome Depot Store #1901 in Broadview, Illinois, for their efforts to install the new landscaping materials.

Half track tank on Bataan 1941

REMEMBERING

The members of the 33rd Tank Company, 33rd Infantry Division of the Illinois National Guard based at the Armory in Maywood, Illinois. In September 1940, the Draft Act had been passed and selected National Guard Units were called into active duty to prepare for the possibility of entering the war in Europe. The 33rd Tank Company was organized May 3, 1929 at Maywood, Illinois and was inducted into active Federal service as Company “B” of the 192nd Tank Battalion on November 25, 1940.

One 122 of these men left the Armory at Madison Street and Greenwood Avenue in Maywood to board a Northwestern Railroad train which took them to Fort Knox, Kentucky, where Company B joined Company A from Janesville, Wisconsin. Company C from Port Clinton, Ohio, and Company D from Harrodsburg, Kentucky, to form the 192nd Tank Battalion.

Bataan Death March April 1942

After further training and participating in Louisiana maneuvers, the 192nd Tankers were at Camp Polk, Louisiana, to be fully equipped for overseas shipping. In October of 1941, 89 men of the original Company “B” left the United States for the Philippine Islands. They arrived in Manila, Luzon, Philippine Islands on November 20, 1941 — Thanksgiving Day. From the port area, they went to Clark Field on Luzon, 60 miles to the north of Manila. On December 8, 1941, their battle began as they defended The Philippines from invading Imperial Army forces.

On April 9, they were surrendered and began nearly four years of indescribable hell: The infamous Bataan Death March, hellships, slave labor, torture, starvation, murder, and humiliation. Less than half the men would return home.

ORIGINS

Today’s Maywood Bataan Day Organization (MBDO) traces its roots back to the American Bataan Clan (ABC). This small group arose out of the anguish of mothers over the welfare of their sons who were lost when Bataan fell. After suffering through just over four months of promises of military and supply relief that was to be sent to the men fighting to slow or push back the invasion of Imperial Japan, these family members decided to take matters into their own hands.

Viola Heilig, mother of Sgt. Roger Heilig of Co. B of the 192nd Tank Battalion, was one of the founding mothers and also the first president. In the summer of 1942, the ABC registered itself as a charitable foundation and set about collecting the items that prisoners of war would need. They had food drives, collected clothing, and worked with the Red Cross to determine where to send the items. During the summer, little information came out about the fate of the captured troops, but some heavily censored letters from the prisoners confirmed that at least some of the men of the 192nd were still alive.

On the second weekend of September, 1942, the ABC helped sponsor an incredible weekend of celebrations of the American spirit just as America fully turned its efforts to the war effort. Recent victories in the Pacific theater of the war led some to believe that the tide was turning. A parade through the streets of Maywood that weekend featured hundreds of marching bands, floats, soldiers, and celebrities. Even Chicago Mayor Kelley was there. READ MORE

Contact the Maywood Bataan Day Organization for more information and to see their blog