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)

Statement by the President on the 70th Anniversary Commemorating the End of World War II in the Pacific

September 2, 2015

President Barack Obama

Today we commemorate the 70th anniversary of the formal end of World War II in the Pacific, a conflict that tragically claimed millions of lives across Asia and Oceania and stretched several months beyond the war’s conclusion in the European theater. We salute the American servicemen and women of the Greatest Generation who answered the call of duty in the Pacific, as well as the allied forces with whom they served. We remember those who endured unimaginable suffering as prisoners of war, and we honor the ultimate sacrifice of more than 100,000 U.S. service members who laid down their lives in the Pacific theater to defend our nation and advance the cause of freedom. To them, and to the 16 million Americans who served in the Second World War -- those who are no longer with us and our proud veterans today -- our debt of gratitude can never be repaid. We live in freedom because of their brave service.

The end of the war marked the beginning of a new era in America’s relationship with Japan. As Prime Minister Abe and I noted during his visit in April, the relationship between our two countries over the last 70 years stands as a model of the power of reconciliation: former adversaries who have become steadfast allies and who work together to advance common interests and universal values in Asia and globally. Seventy years ago this partnership was unimaginable. Today it is a fitting reflection of our shared interests, capabilities, and values, and I am confident that it will continue to deepen in the decades to come.


Statement by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on 70th anniversary of the end of the war, Friday, August 14, 2015

Excerpt

How much emotional struggle must have existed and what great efforts must have been necessary for the Chinese people who underwent all the sufferings of the war and for the former POWs who experienced unbearable sufferings caused by the Japanese military in order for them to be so tolerant nevertheless?

US Congressmen ask UNESCO to honor the American POWs

MICHAEL M. HONDA
17TH DISTRICT, CALIFORNIA
1713 LONGWORTH HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING
WASHINGTON, DC 20515

July 1, 2015

Frau
Staatsministerin
Prof. Dr. Maria Böhmer Auswartiges Amt
KurstraBe 36
11013 Berlin
Germany

Dear Frau Stastministerin:

We urge that UNESCO work with the Government of Japan to amend its application to nominate the “Sites of Japan’s Meij i Industrial Revolution: Kyushu-Yamaguchi and Related Areas” for the UNESCO World Heritage List.

We do not object to Japan highlighting its modern history, but we are very concerned that the nomination is missing the history of Allied prisoners of war (POW5) held captive by Imperial Japan during the Second World War. The story of these sites is incomplete without an official recognition of Imperial Japan’s use of POW slave labor. Japan’s nomination features eight industrial areas. Five of these areas housed a total of 26 POW camps, which provided slave labor to Japan’s industrial giants including Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Sumitomo, Aso Group, Ube Industries, Tokai Carbon, Nippon Coke & Engineering, Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation, Furukawa Company Group and Denka.

The Japanese application for World Heritage status focuses only on the history of these mining and steel industries, but completely omits the history of the POWs. Japan’s nomination does not mention the over 13,000 POW slave laborers who worked at or near the nominated sites. The POWs included 4,385 Dutch, 3,860 British, 3,023 Americans, 1,207 Australians, 358 Canadians, 133 Indians, 22 Chinese, nine Portuguese, five New Zealanders, four Jamaicans, six Norwegians, two Czechs, two South African, two Arabs and two Malays. POWs from India, Malaysia Jamaica, Finland, Poland, and Portugal all of which sit on the UNESCO World Heritage committee—were held captive on mainland Japan. Another committee member, South Korea, saw hundreds of thousands of its men and women conscripted to work in near-slavery conditions.

The lack of any reference to the Allied POWs’ role in the history of these sites would appear to contradict not only UNESCO’s mandate of ensuring that World Heritage sites have “Outstanding Universal Value” but also the UN’ s Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that “recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.”

We welcome the efforts of our Japanese friends to share their history with the world, but even a close alliance cannot negate historical facts. Imperial Japan’s use of Allied POW slave labor is an essential feature of the history of the nominated sites’ industrial heritage.

We therefore urge UNESCO to work with the Government of Japan to amend its application to tell the full history of Japan’s industrialization by including its history of POW slave labor. This would not only address the concerns of our constituents, but would also ensure that the nomination in question conveys the totality of the story, helping it transcend national boundaries, and highlighting its universal importance.

Thank you for your prompt attention to the concerns of our brave veterans and their elected representatives. We look forward to the World Heritage Centre’s response.

Mike Honda D-CA

Chris Gibson R-NY

Charles Rangel D-NY

Jim McGovern D-MA

Darrell Issa R-CA

Mark Takano D-CA

Exhibit “We Can Forgive But Never Forget” Opens at Andersonville National Historic Site

Press Release

Date: May 11, 2012
Contact: Bridget A. Beers, 229 924-0343

A new temporary exhibit We Can Forgive But Never Forget is on display at the Prisoner of War Museum at Andersonville National Historic Site. This exhibit coincides with the 70th Anniversary of the fall of the Philippines. The objects displayed are from prisoners held by the Japanese during World War II who fought on Bataan and Corregidor.

Seventy years ago the men on Bataan and Corregidor fought to preserve our way of life in World War II.These men, living on less than half rations, suffering from tropical diseases and low on ammunition, were surrendered to the Japanese on April 9, 1942 on Bataan. On May 6, 1942 Corregidor and the rest of the Philippines were surrendered. Their valiant fighting delayed the Japanese invasion of the Pacific for six months, long enough for Allied Troops to regroup, train, and prepare for the systematic retrieval of Pacific islands and countries lost to the Japanese after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Though hopeful that they would be treated as prisoners according to the Geneva Convention at surrender, the troops instead were considered captives. The Japanese did not abide by the Geneva Convention in regards to feeding, housing, and humane care. Men died by the thousands from starvation, dehydration, and illnesses like dysentery and malaria. Many men who survived a grueling march to Camp O'Donnell would only succumb to death due the lack of food, water, sanitary conditions, and shelter. Many did not survive this perilous march, known now as the Bataan Death March.Thousands died from the grueling march and at the hands of Japanese guards.

Thousands of American prisoners of war were eventually transported on "hell ships" to other locations including Japan where they were used as slave labor in mines, manufacturing plants, and shipyards. Americans and other prisoners of war were also used to construct the Thai-Burma Railway, made famous in the novel The Bridge On The River Kwai and the subsequent movie.The exhibit documents the life of American prisoners of war in the Philippines and Japan through photographs, diaries and items used in the daily struggle to survive.

Andersonville National Historic Site is located 10 miles south of Oglethorpe, GA and 10 miles northeast of Americus, GA on Georgia Highway 49. The site features the National Prisoner of War Museum, Andersonville National Cemetery and the site of the historic Civil War prison, Camp Sumter. ­Andersonville National Historic Site is a unit of the National Park System and serves as a memorial to all American prisoners of war. Park grounds are open from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. with the museum opening at 9:00 a.m. Admission is free. For more information on the park, call 229 924-0343, visit on the WEB or find us on Facebook.