USS Houston CA-30

In barely an hour of fierce nighttime fighting on February 28, 1942 against a massive Japanese invasion force, the heavy cruiser USS Houston CA-30 and most of its crew lay at the bottom of Bantam Bay in the Dutch East Indies. The ship’s captain was killed during this Battle of Sundra Strait and only 368 of the total complement of 1011 men of the USS Houston managed to reach shore. With the sinking of the Houston, the US Asiatic Fleet came to an end.

The Houston and the Australian cruiser HMAS Perth were the only vessels to survive the previous day’s Battle of the Java Sea where 12 Allied ships were lost. Both ships were sunk in the Battle of Sundra Strait. In all the Houston took four to six torpedoes, three entire salvos, eleven individual hits and additional hits that may have been shells or torpedoes. Every source mentions her flag was flying as she sank, perhaps quoting an account by a crewman: " . . .a sudden breeze picked up the Stars and Stripes still firmly two blocked on the mainmast, and waved them in one last defiant gesture."

The surviving crews of both ships dodged machine gun fire to make their way to shore. There they became prisoners of war of Japan. All ended up being sent to build the Thai-Burma Death Railway.

The building of the railway will forever be remembered through the movie Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), which opens with a bare-chested William Holden as former USS Houston sailor on burial detail at a Japanese POW camp in Burma. None of the starved and beaten sailors toiling on the railway ever looked as hale as Holden and none remember a single act of kindness from their Japanese captors. See the account by Otto Schwarz.

One of the best books on the USS Houston is Ship of Ghosts: The Story of the USS Houston CA-30, FDR's Legendary Lost Cruiser, and the Epic Saga of Her Survivors by James D. Hornfischer. A newer movie on being a POW on the Burma railway is To End All Wars (2001) stared Keifer Sutherland.

On Thursday, November 17, 2011 (11:00am) the USS Houston Survivors Association and Next Generation  will unveil  a new display case for a refurbished 14-foot model of the USS Houston CA-30 exhibited at The National Museum of the US Navy.  The public is invited. 

UPDATE: You can see for yourself what a "grand day" the unveiling of the USS Houston CA-30 was if you visit the Navy Historical Foundation's website. Over the past 17 months, the Curator of Ship Models with Navy Sea Systems Command, Dana Wegner and his staff, spent hundreds of hours refurbishing the 1929 vintage model of the Northampton-class cruiser USS Houston. Their hard word certainly paid off and was much appreciated. Three survivors participated, Raymond Kester, Howard Brooks, and David Flynn. You can find pictures on the site of the ship model, its new case, and the dedication's participants.


There are nine congresspeople from Houston, the namesake of the ship. In Sam Houston Park there is a memorial monument to the men of the USS Houston. It was dedicated on Veterans Day 1995. Only one, Al Green (D-TX-9) has become a co-sponsor of H.Res. 333 honoring these brave men. Write and tell these members of congress how disappointed you are.

USS Houston Memorial

Ted Poe, (R-TX-2)

John Culberson, (R-TX-7)

Kevin Brady, (R-TX-8)

*AL GREEN, (D-TX-9)

Mike McCaul, (R-TX-10)

Ron Paul, (R-TX-14)

Sheila Jackson-Lee, (D-TX-18)

Pete Olson, (R-TX-22)

Gene Green, (D-TX-29)

Corregidor

In June, five members of congress visited "The Rock" as Corregidor Island in the Philippines is known. The Congressmen were there as part of a recess study tour of the Philippines as well as of Turkey and Iraq. They agreed that they were surprised at how much they learned. The congressional delegation was composed of Russ Carnanhan (D-MO), Jim Costa (D-CA), Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Louie Gohmert (R-TX), and Judge Ted Poe (R-TX).

Watch this 1943 movie here

Thus far, only Congressman Russ Carnahan (D-MO) was inspired to become a co-sponsor of H. Res 333, which honors those veterans who fought on Corregior as well as throughout the Pacific. We hope readers will remind these members of congress of their trip to this historic landmark.

Their tour was led by Steve Kwiecinski, the son of one of Corregidor's defenders, Staff Sgt. Walter Kwiecinski, who manned the last 12 inch mortar firing on Battery Way (60th U.S. Coast Artillery).

The elder Kwiecinski, a Minnesota native, was a POW slave laborer with Lester Tenney mining coal for Mitusi at Omuta in Fukuoka. Mitusi has never responded to requests for a dialogue or an apology from the American POWs of Japan.

The Defense of Corregidor will be forever known as the last heoric stand of the battle for the Philippines in 1942, the worst military defeat experienced by the U.S. On December 25, 1941, General Douglas MacArthur, commander of U.S. Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE), was forced to move his headquarters from Manila to the island fortress of Corregidor in Manila Bay. A series of air raids by the Japanese destroyed all the exposed structures on the island and USAFFE headquarters was dug in to the Malinta Tunnel on the island.

Japanese bombing and shelling was relentless. The Americans and Filipinos--soldiers, sailors, Marines, and civilians--were running out of ammunition, food, medicine, and people. Early in the battle, on March 12th, was evacuated to Australia leaving Lt. General Jonanthan Wainwright in charge. Armed with World War I-era weapons that were barely useful against the massive Japanese assault, they held out.

In a radio message to President Franklin Roosevet, Wainwright wrote, "There is a limit of human endurance, and that point has long been passed." Gen. Jonathan Wainwright finally surrendered the Corregidor garrison at about 1:30 p.m. on May 6, 1942. See HERE for a comprehensive resource on the battles to defend and retake the Philippines.

Earl Szwabo, a constituent of Congressman Russ Carnahan (D-MO), manned a coastal defense artillery emplacement on Corregidor (59th U.S. Coast Artillery) when the Japanese assault began hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. He survived the battle only to be shipped to Japan on a Hell Ship. He became a slave laborer at a copper foundry owned by Ishihara Sangyo Kaisha in Nagoya, at a port city south of Tokyo. Much of the work involved melting down bells seized from churches. Other Allied POW slave laborers at this POW camp mined coal or manufactured sulfuric acid for the company.

Szwabo was one of the six POWs who participated in the first American POW trip to Japan in September 2010 to receive the Japanese government's apology for their abuse and starvation. The Yokkaichi facility where Mr. Szwabo slaved still exists and Ishihara Sangyo Kaisha (ISK) has prospered.

In September, he and his wife did visit the Yokkaichi facility and met with plant officials who expressed their regret for his mistreatment, but said they were not part of the same company. They, however, would not speak on the record, nor offer an apology. He also visited a memorial that company had built to the souls of all those who died laboring for the company at this site.

The company's American subsidiary, Ishihara Corporation (USA) is located in San Francisco and its President is Marvin Hosokawa.

Mr. Szwabo accepted and appreciated the understanding he received from ISK's Yokkaichi plant managers. The hope is that someday, ISK's Chairman will deliver an apology and support efforts to remember the POW experience in Japan. And the greater hope is that companies larger than ISK such as Mitsui, Mitsubishi, and Sumitomo will also move forward with meetings and apologies.

Accepting an apology, however, doesn't mean that the horrors should be forgotten, as Mr. Szwabo told the St. Louis Beacon:

A POW will never forget. I dream still of different things, and think about it," he said. "I lost my outfit on Palawan when they burned 150 alive there. I was lucky that I got shipped out. I guess God was on my side. And I know why I was picked; I was in better shape than the older guys, and the Japanese took the ones who looked the best physically, so they could work us to death. The bad part is you can't forget it.

Congressional Hearings on American POWs of Japan

It was not until 2000, that the U.S. Congress held hearings on how the 1951 San Francisco Peace treaty with Japan abrogated the right of American former POWs of Japan to sue Japanese companies for compensation for their forced labor or on how the POWs were treated in Japan in violation of the Geneva Convention.

There had also never been congressional discussion on how the POWs were treated upon return. Many were forced to sign military gag orders not to discuss any details of their imprisonment. Researchers have found that American POWs of Japan died at four times the rate of other veterans of WWII after their first year back. Further, POWs of Japan suffered the highest rate of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD, which was not given an official name until 1980) of any WWII veteran. (Soldier from the War Returning: The Greatest Generation's Troubled Homecoming from World War II by Thomas Childers, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009)

In 2000, the full Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on if and how the U.S. can assist POWs to obtain compensation for forced labor and inhumane imprisonment. In 2002, the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims of the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the Justice for POWs Act, H.R. 1198 [107].

This legislation was popular in the 107th House of Representatives. Introduced by Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), there were 230 co-sponsors. Despite this strong support, much of it promoted by then-Majority Whip Tom "The Hammer" Delay, the bill never made it out of the three committees it was referred to, thus never getting to the floor of the House for a vote. There was also no companion legislation in the Senate (necessary for bill to become a law).

For a full analysis of all the legislation concerning the American POWs of Japan see "Critical Documents" on this blog: Legislative History. Below are the tables of contents of both hearings and the links to these documents. They are excellent compendiums of the issues involved with reconciliation and Japanese war crimes.

HEARING

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY

UNITED STATES SENATE

ONE HUNDRED SIXTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

ON

DETERMINING WHETHER THOSE WHO PROFITED FROM THE
FORCED LABOR OF AMERICAN WORLD WAR II PRISONERS OF
WAR ONCE HELD AND FORCED INTO LABOR FOR PRIVATE
JAPANESE COMPANIES HAVE AN OBLIGATION TO REMEDY THEIR
WRONGS AND WHETHER THE UNITED STATES CAN HELP
FACILITATE AN APPROPRIATE RESOLUTION

JUNE 28, 2000

STATEMENTS OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Hatch, Hon. Orrin G., U.S. Senator from the State of Utah ................................ 1

Feinstein, Hon. Dianne, U.S. Senator from the State of California ...................... 5

Grassley, Hon. Charles E., U.S. Senator from the State of Iowa ....................... 22

Leahy, Hon. Patrick J., U.S. Senator from the State of Vermont ...................... 23

CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF WITNESSES

Statement of Hon. Jeff Bingaman, U.S. Senator from the State of New Mexico.... 3

Panel consisting of David W. Ogden, Acting Assistant Attorney General,

Civil Division, U.S. Department of Justice; and Ronald J. Bettauer, 

Deputy Legal Adviser, Department of State, Washington, DC............................. 6

Panel consisting of Harold W. Poole, former World War II prisoner of war

in Japan, Salt Lake City, UT; Frank Bigelow, former World War II prisoner

of war in Japan, Brooksville, FL; Maurice Mazer, former World War II

prisoner of war in Japan, Boca Raton, FL; Lester I. Tenney, former World

War II prisoner of war in Japan, LaJolla, CA; Edward Jackfert, former

World War II prisoner of war in Japan, and commander, American Defenders

of Bataan and Corregidor, Inc., Wellsburg, WV; and Harold G. Maier,

professor of law, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN .................................. 28

ALPHABETICAL LIST AND MATERIALS SUBMITTED

Bettauer, Ronald J.: Testimony.......................................................10

Prepared statement ....................................................................... 14

Bigelow, Frank: Testimony ............................................................ 31

Bingaman, Hon. Jeff: Testimony .......................................................3

Jackfert, Edward: Testimony .......................................................... 35

Maier, Harold G.: Testimony.......................................................... 38

Prepared statement ....................................................................... 39

Mazer, Maurice: Testimony ........................................................... 32

Ogden, David W.: Testimony .......................................................... 6

Prepared statement ......................................................................... 8

Poole, Harold W.: Testimony ......................................................... 28

Prepared statement ........................................................................ 29

Tenney, Lester I.: Testimony ........................................................... 33

APPENDIX

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Responses to questions of Senator Hatch from:

The Department of Justice ............................................................................ 47

Ronald J. Bettauer ......................................................................................... 53

ADDITIONAL SUBMISSIONS FOR THE RECORD

Text of e-mail message to Senator Hatch from Rabbi Abraham Cooper of

the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Berlin, Germany, dated June 26, 2000 ............ 55

Prepared statements of:

Bruce R. Harder, director, National Security and Foreign Affairs, Veterans

of Foreign Wars of the United States .......................................................... 55

Linda G. Holmes ............................................................................................. 56

Chalmers Johnson .......................................................................................... 59

Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, dated Aug. 15, 1995....................... 61

Michael D. Ramsey ......................................................................................... 61

Paul W. Reuter ............................................................................................... 65

John M. Rogers ............................................................................................. 67

Joseph A. Violante ......................................................................................... 72

Letters to:

Senator Hatch from Edward Jackfert, past national commander, American

Defenders of Bataan & Corregidor, Inc., dated June 20, 2000 .............. 73

Stuart Eizenstat, Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, from Michael

Engelberg, M.D., the American Center for Civil Justice, 

dated June 10, 2000 ..................................................................................... 74

Hiroaki Yano, president, Mitsubishi International Corp., from Michael

Engelberg, M.D., the American Center for Civil Justice, 

dated June 13, 2000 ..................................................................................... 74

Hiroshi Noda, Kawasaki Heavy Industries U.S.A.), Inc., from Michael

Engelberg, M.D., the American Center for Civil Justice, 

dated June 13, 2000 ...................................................................................... 75

Senator Hatch from Michael M. Honda, California State Legislature,

dated June 30, 2000 ..................................................................................... 75

Senator Hatch from Gilbert M. Hair, executive director, the Center for

Internee Rights, Inc., dated June 22, 2000 ............................................... 76

Chart: Information on U.S. POW’s held in World War II ........................ 78

Senator Hatch from John E. Julian, first selectman, Office of Selectman,

State of Connecticut ...................................................................................... 79

Senator Hatch from John F. Sommers, Jr., executive director, the American

Legion, dated June 27, 2000 ....................................................................... 79

Senator Hatch from Charles L. Taylor, AMVETS national commander,

dated June 26, 2000 .................................................................................... 80

Senator Hatch from Bob Weygand, Member of Congress, House of
Representatives, dated June 23, 2000 ...................................................... 80

      Senator Hatch from Frank G. Wickersham, III, national legislative director,

Military Order of the Purple Heart, dated June 23, 2000 ...................... 81

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