Louis Zamperini on the Tonight Show

Sadly, NBC took down its links to Mr. Zamperini's appearance on the Tonight Show and blocked others from displaying the now-historic interview. [Update 7/13/14]

However, here see a better, longer piece by CBS Sunday Morning (produced by a high school classmate of mine) May 27, 2012.

 Louis Zamperini, the subject of the best-selling book Unbroken, was interviewed by Jay Leno on the Tonight Show Thursday, June 7, 2012. Zamperini talks about how he was tortured and experimented upon by the Japanese on a Pacific island after he was captured having survived 47 days on a life raft. He was eventually shipped to Japan for further torture and ended up as a slave laborer for Japanese corporations. He survived the infamous Ofuna Naval Interogation Center in Kamakura and was then shipped to two of Japan's most horrific prison camps near Tokyo: Omori where he slaved for Nippon Express and then Naoetsu where he labored for Shin-Etsu Chemical and Nippon Stainless (NSSC). These multi-national companies still exist with their same names.

Unbroken will be translated into 23 languages worldwide. Japanese is not one of the languages as no publisher in Japan has shown an interest in this bestseller.

Unbroken will be released as a movie sometime in 2013 by Universal and directed by Francis Lawrence.

Later: Here Mr. Zamperini is interviewed back stage at the Tonight Show and adds a bit more about his 1936 Olympics roommate, Jesse Owens.

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.

Commemoration April 24&25

70^th Anniversary of the Defense the Philippines, Bataan Death March and the Fall of Corregidor to be Held in Washington

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 9^th 2012, Washington, DC – Commemorative events will be held in Washington, DC April 24-25 to remember the heroic American defense of the Philippines against Imperial Japan in the early months of World War II. Survivors from the Bataan Death March and the battle of Corregidor will attend.

The 70th Anniversary of the infamous Bataan Death March is today, April 9^th, and the surrender of Corregidor marking the fall of the Philippines is May 6th.

The veterans from the Battle of the Philippines coming to Washington include past national commanders of the now-disbanded American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor (ADBC) who traveled to Japan in 2010 and 2011 to receive an official apology from the Government of Japan for their maltreatment and to visit their former POW camps. The death rate and incidence of post-traumatic stress for American POWs of Japan was the greatest of any American conflict.

Participating is Bataan Death March survivor Dr. Lester Tenney of California, the last national commander of the ADBC and instrumental in persuading the Government of Japan to offer American former POWs an apology and a program to visit Japan. He is the founder of Care Packages from Home for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Also participating is Death March survivor Mr. Ben Steele of Montana who has chronicled the horrors of the Death March and Japan’s POW camps through his award-winning paintings and drawings. Mr. Donald Versaw of California is the last of the “China Marines” (4th Marine Regiment who were stationed in Shanghai, China) who fought on Corregidor. Mr. Rolwand Towery of Texas, who fought in the battle for Corregidor, is a Pulitzer prize winner. Mr. Joe Alexander of Texas at 14 was the youngest member of the Army Air Corps on Bataan and became a POW of Japan at 15.

Veterans attending:

Dr. Lester Tenney, 92, San Diego, CA. Bataan Death March, Illinois National Guard, Company B, 192^nd Tank Battalion from Maywood Illinois

Mr. Joseph Alexander, 85, San Antonio, TX. Bombing of Clark Field, Army Air Corps 440th Ordnance Aviation Bombardment Squadron

Mr. Donald Versaw, 91, Lakewood, CA, Corregidor, 4^th Marines Band (China Marines), 2^nd Battalion E Company

Mr. Ben Steele, 94, Billings, MT, Bataan Death March, Army Air Corps, 7th Material Squadron, 19th Bomb Group

Mr. Roland Towery, 89, Austin, TX, Corregidor, Army, Battery C, 60^th Coast Artillery

Special Guest: Ms. Kinue Tokudome, Kagoshima, Japan. Founder of the US-Japan Dialogue on POWs, who accompanied the POWs on their return to their POW camps.

The schedule of events includes a wreath laying at the World War II Memorial, a roundtable discussion on the legacy of the Bataan Death March hosted by Congressman Brian Bilbray (R-CA) and Mike Honda (D-CA), a luncheon hosted by the Disabled American Veterans association and The Heritage Foundation with today’s Wounded Warriors, a dinner hosted by the VFW, and a reception hosted by U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). There will also be meetings with Japanese Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki and Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific Kurt Campbell.

According to Mindy Kotler of Asia Policy Point, a Washington research center, the Commemoration “will be unique and likely last opportunity to honor these heroes.” These men “made history during World War II by participating in the defense of the Philippines as well as recently by accepting one of the very few official, specific Japanese government apologies for its wartime atrocities.” These veterans now hope that the Japanese companies that used them as slave labor while they were POWs will follow the example of their government.

FOR MORE INFORMATION 

Unfinished business for Bataan survivors

Seventy years have passed since Gen. Edward King, commander of all U.S. armed forces on Bataan, announced to his men, “We have no further means of organized resistance, we are low on ammunition, have virtually no medical supplies, and our food is all but gone. With our front lines nearly destroyed and both flanks severely weakened, the situation is hopeless. If I do not surrender all forces to the Japanese today, Bataan will be known around the world as the greatest slaughter in history.”

April 9, 1942, became the date of the worst military defeat in our nation’s history. Some 12,000 Americans and 58,000 Filipino troops were captured that day – 20,000 were patients in field hospitals, and the remaining men had diseases. Only 1,700 who started the Bataan Death March came home. Many bodies were left along the road, and thousands more were killed when the “Hell Ships” they were on were bombed and torpedoed by American aircraft and submarines.

Gen. King’s decision to surrender was in contradiction to Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s order of “No Surrender.” MacArthur said, “If all else fails you will charge the enemy.” Knowing he could be court-martialed, King, believing this may be the only chance for his men to survive, ordered the surrender.

The Japanese military believed in the Samurai code of conduct, known as Bushido, which held that the true warrior was willing to die for the emperor, and would never surrender. And so we marched, constantly being told we were lower than dogs for surrendering. It was called a death march not because of how many died, but because of the way they died. If you stopped you were killed, if you had a malaria attack you were killed, and if you had dysentery and had to stop, you were killed. And how did they kill you ... by shooting or bayoneting you, or by decapitation. And in one instance, as others had to watch, they buried a soldier alive. If you survived the Bataan Death March and the first prison camp, you were then herded onto old unmarked Japanese freighters, known as “Hell Ships,” for the trip to Japan. Twenty-six hell ships were sunk by American air and sea forces, taking thousands of American lives.

If we survived the Bataan March, the POW camp in the Philippines and the hell ship to Japan, we were then placed into forced labor with some of Japan’s leading industrial giants, such as Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Nippon Sharyo and Kawasaki, working in their mines, on their docks or in their factories. Although we were their slaves, the companies failed to feed us adequately, failed to take care of our medical needs and failed to stop the physical abuse that was orchestrated and carried out by the civilian workers of those same Japanese companies. The everyday beatings with shovels, hammers and pickaxes caused many severe lifetime injuries to those of us who survived.

The reason you haven’t heard these details is because most former POWs were required to sign a military document stating we would not discuss events while a POW without obtaining approval from the War Department. Doing so could result in severe penalties, or court-martial. And so we kept quiet all these years, but now after 70 years we must speak out, as we have some unfinished business to take care of.

Our unfinished business is with those companies who used and abused American POWs during Word War II. We received an apology from the Japanese government. Now we need an apology from the companies that allowed their employees to beat us on a daily basis for simple infractions of not working hard or fast enough. We survivors want our honor returned, and one way to do that is through an apology from the companies that used POWs during World War II.

Time is a great healer; we have gotten on with our lives, but we still have some unfinished business we must attend to before we meet our maker. An apology from those Japanese companies is necessary in order to wipe away those injustices. Though we could never control when or where we might die, we always could control how we lived. We never lost faith in our God or our country. Dying was easy: It’s the living that’s hard.

By Lester Tenney, 92, a Bataan Death March survivor, is a Carlsbad, California resident and the last National Commander of the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

© Copyright 2012 The San Diego Union-Tribune, LLC. An MLIM LLC Company. All rights reserved.

National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

April 09, 2012

Presidential Proclamation National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day, 2012

NATIONAL FORMER PRISONER OF WAR RECOGNITION DAY, 2012
- - - - - - -
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
 

A PROCLAMATION

For more than 200 years, members of our Armed Forces have upheld an oath to protect and defend. In times of war, generations have answered our country's call with courage and valor, braving the peril of combat and pressing onward in the face of tremendous adversity. Their extraordinary service reflects our highest ideals, and their sacrifice will forever live on in our national memory. On National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day, we pay solemn tribute to those patriots who gave their freedom to preserve our own.

Thousands of America's sons and daughters have suffered unspeakably as captives in foreign lands. Many prisoners of war experienced physical torture and profound anguish, subjected to inhumane treatment and cut off from their comrades, their country, and their loved ones. Some would never return. Yet, in the direst circumstances, these service members demonstrated indomitable courage and unbreakable resolve. They stood fast for what they believed in, making immeasurable sacrifices for the millions they protected. At home, spouses, children, parents, and friends called upon that same spirit of perseverance to sustain them through long periods of prayer and uncertainty.

When he chronicled the experiences of our GIs during World War II, Ernie Pyle wrote that their world can never be known to the rest of us. Though the sacrifices they made and the burdens they bore may defy our full understanding, it is our moral obligation to keep faith with our men and women in uniform, our veterans, and their families -- to honor their service through the support of a grateful Nation. Today, we recognize heroes who endured one of war's most tragic costs. For them, and for all who have served, let us rededicate ourselves to fulfilling the sacred trust we share with all those who have worn the uniform of the United States of America.

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 April 9, 2012, as National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day. I call upon all Americans to observe this day of remembrance by honoring all American prisoners of war, our service members, and our veterans. I also call upon Federal, State, and local government officials and organizations to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

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

BARACK OBAMA

April 25 - Heroes of Bataan & Corregidor in Washington

Painting of the Bataan Death March by Ben Steele

COMMEMORATING THE HEROES 
OF BATAAN & CORREGIDOR

Including the American Defense Forces of the Philippine Archipelago, 

The Asiatic Fleet, Wake Island, China, Marianna Islands, 

Midway Island and the Dutch East Indies

Veterans of the Battle of Bataan, the Bataan Death March, and the capture of Corregidor will be in Washington, DC from April 24 to April 26 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Battle of the Philippines. All became POWs of Imperial Japan. The history of these survivors of jungle warfare, torture, abuse, starvation, and slave labor and of their success in reconciling with the Japanese is a timeless inspiration.

Congress did not commemorate the 70th anniversaries of Pearl Harbor, Wake Island, the USS Houston, or Texas’ Lost Battalion. These were all among the first battles of American involvement in World War II. To make up for this oversight, a series of commemorative events is being planned with the veterans of the Philippines defense to provide a venue to remember these early months of World War II and their unique contribution to American history.

The 70th Anniversary of the Bataan Death March is April 9th and the surrender of Corregidor is May 6th. The valor of the Filipino and American soldiers is celebrated annually on April 9th in the Philippines as Valor Day or Araw ng Kagitingan.

The veterans coming to Washington include past national commanders of the now-disbanded American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor (ADBC) who traveled to Japan in 2010 and 2011 to receive an official apology from the Government of Japan for their maltreatment and to visit their former POW camps. The death rate and incidence of post-traumatic stress for American POWs of Japan was the greatest of any American conflict. One invitee, Dr. Lester Tenney, the last national commander of the ADBC was instrumental in persuading the Government of Japan to offer American former POWs an apology and to begin a program for them to visit Japan. He also founded Care Packages from Home for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Another invitee, Mr. Ralph Levenberg who was on the Death March, was until recently an advocate for veterans benefits as a member of the Advisory Committee on Former Prisoners of War, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Mr. Ben Steele of Montana, another Death March survivor, has chronicled the Death March and Japan’s POW camps through his award-winning paintings and drawings. Mr. Ed Jackfert of West Virginia has championed and helped establish the ADBC Museum and Archive to preserve the memory of the American POWs of Japan and their lessons for war and peace.

Program

• Reception on Capitol Hill the evening of April 25 hosted by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and others
• Roundtable discussion hosted by members of the House of Representatives on the Bataan Death March and the success of the two POW visitation programs to Japan
• Wreath laying at the WWII memorial Bataan/Corregidor site
• Lunch program with contemporary veterans for all to share their experience with PTSD (not recognized until the mid-70s), other war-related disabilities, and reintegration into society
• Dinner with Commemoration donors and the American and Japanese officials who encouraged the Government of Japan to establish a program of reconciliation for American POWs

Veterans

The final list of veterans who will attend will be made closer to the event taking into consideration the health of each participant. Each veteran will be accompanied by a caregiver. The veterans have also requested that Ms. Kinue Tokudome, who has spent years working to help them communicate their story to Japan, be included.

• Dr. Lester Tenney, 92, San Diego, CA. Bataan Death March, Illinois National Guard, B Company, 192nd Tank Battalion from Maywood, Illinois
• Mr. Harold Bergbower, 92, Peoria, AZ. Bombing of Clark Air Field, Army Air Corps, , 28th Bombardment Squadron, 19th Bomb Group,V Bomber Command
• Mr. Edward Jackfert, 90, Wellsburg, WVA. Bombing of Clark Air Field, Army Air Corps 28th Bombardment Squadron, 19th Bomb Group, V Bomber Command
• Mr. Joseph Alexander, 85, San Antonio, TX. Bombing of Clark Field, Army Air Corps 440th Ordnance Aviation Bombardment Squadron
• Mr. Ralph Levenberg, 92, Reno, NV. Bataan Death March, Army Air Corps, 17th Pursuit Squadron
• Mr. Earl Szwabo, 91, Florissant, MO. Corregidor, US Army, Battery C, 59th Coast Artillery
• Mr. Ben Steele, 94, Billings, MT, Bataan Death March, Army Air Corps, 7th Material Squadron, 19th Bomb Group (his painting is above)
• Special Guest: Ms. Kinue Tokudome, Kagoshima, Japan. Founder of the US-Japan Dialogue on POWs, who accompanied the POWs on their return to their POW camps.

Funding

Funding is needed for all the expenses of this program. Your help is requested to make these veterans of our greatest generation comfortable in their trip to Washington and to cover the program costs.

Donations can be made to one of two nonprofit, 501(c) (3) organizations: 

Asia Policy Point, 1730 Rhode Island Avenue, NW, Suite 414, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 822-6040. APP is organizing this program in Washington.

Brooke County Public Library Foundation, 945 Mail Street, Wellsburg, West Virginia 26070, (304) 737-1551. The Library houses the ADBC museum and archive.

For more information contact APP. Donate by clicking the DONATE button on the left side bar.

Not So Shared Values

The Sri Lankan government welcomed the Japanese declaration on March 13th (see video above) that "no country has a perfect record on human rights." Although only an observer to the UN Human Rights Council, the Japanese government felt it important to speak out against the US-sponsored resolution "Promoting reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka" (A/HRC/19/L.2/Rev1).

The US introduced the resolution by saying that it "is not intended to condemn....[however] the government has not yet promulgated a credible action plan for implementation of those recommendations [toward peace]  nor has it taken the additional needed steps since the war to foster national reconciliation....[the objective of the resolution is] to ensure accountability for actions taken during the war."

The resolution, opposed by Russia and China*, presses the Sri Lankan government to investigate the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians in the final stages of the civil war with the Tamil Tigers. Passed March 22, it requires the United Nations high commissioner for human rights to report back next year on whether the government followed the council’s recommendation, which many see as crucial to healing the divide between Sri Lanka and its minority Tamils.

For those interested in resolving lingering wartime justice and peace issues with Japan, the Japanese UNHRC statement is a stunning slap at contemporary efforts toward post-conflict reconciliation. Japan essentially rejects today's norms of recognition of and accountability for war crimes. This is particularly troubling to the American POWs of Japan who are pressing on Japan and its companies to respect their human rights and to do more to show the sincerity of their apology.

In contrast, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton released a strong statement hours after the vote that the United States and the international community “had sent a strong signal that Sri Lanka will only achieve lasting peace through real reconciliation and accountability.” More interesting, Secretary Clinton noted that Sri Lanka's commitment to the reconciliation process cements the "shared values" between the two countries.

Today’s action by the UN Human Rights Council encourages the Government of Sri Lanka to continue on the path toward reconciliation following 27 years of civil war. The United States, together with the international community, sent a strong signal that Sri Lanka will only achieve lasting peace through real reconciliation and accountability, and the international community stands ready to help. The next steps are clear. We look to the Government of Sri Lanka to implement the constructive recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) and take the necessary measures to address accountability.

We are committed to working with the Sri Lankan Government to help realize this goal, and I look forward to discussing future actions with Foreign Minister Peiris soon. We will continue the productive working relationship we have with the Sri Lankan Government based on shared values, respect and constructive dialogue. Most important, we seek to strengthen our partnership with all the people of Sri Lanka.

The White House followed by saying: 

The United States Government applauds today's passage of the UN Human Rights Council's resolution on "Promoting reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka." The resolution, which received broad support from around the world, calls for a range of critical steps that would go a long away to advancing the rights and dignity of the Sri Lankan people. The United States urges the Sri Lankan government to develop a comprehensive action plan for implementing steps on reconciliation and accountability, as called for in today's resolution, and to work with UN experts and its partners in the international community to take meaningful action to achieve these important goals, which will be a critical part of Sri Lanka's efforts to provide a bright, peaceful, and stable future for all of its people. We stand ready to partner with Sri Lanka in this important effort.

For their part, Sri Lankan officials retorted that "We hope those human rights champions will take note of the Japanese sentiment as laid out by Minister Sakashita Osamu of the Japanese Permanent Mission in Geneva":

No country has a perfect record on human rights, and countries need to be given time, space, encouragement, advice, and where appropriate, concrete assistance in order to overcome existing challenges. The political, socio-economic and cultural contexts of each country duly need to be considered when addressing human rights issues.

Too often a false dichotomy is constructed between the universality of human rights per se and the particularity of specific human rights situations. Discussions, including those by this council, need to combine the two essential facets of human rights issues in a constructive manner.

Of the four Co-chairs to the failed Norway-led peace process for Sri Lanka, only Japan had objected to intervention. The other Co-chairs, the US, Norway and EU lambasted Sri Lanka, with UK's human rights minister, Jeremy Browne calling for UN intervention in Sri Lanka. With the exception of Japan, the allies believed it important to compel Sri Lanka to live up to its commitments to postwar reconciliation.

For those who say that the US-Japan Alliance is based on shared values, the Japanese objection to UN pressure on Sri Lanka to pursue meaningful postwar reconciliation is a contradiction, if not a set back. As with Sri Lanka, it is also important to the US that Japan develops a comprehensive action plan for implementing steps on postwar reconciliation and accountability. For the American POWs of Japan it is fundamental.

As Eileen Donahoe, the United States ambassador to the Human Rights Council, told the press after the vote:

Our view is that if there isn’t some form of truth and accounting of these kind of mass-scale atrocities and casualties, you can’t have lasting peace. You will sow the seeds of future violence. So we think it’s important that they take steps to show there will be some form of truth and accountability.

This is true for any conflict, any country, and even any time. Seventy years later, Japan still has a lot for which to account. It is unfortunate that there are still government officials in Japan that want to obstruct or undermine these responsibilities.

*Against (15): Bangladesh, China, Congo, Cuba, Ecuador, Indonesia, Kuwait, Maldives, Mauritania, Philippines, Qatar, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Uganda.

Later: India voted with the US to condemn Sri Lanka. For an analysis of this see: Indian foreign policy and the UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka in the East Asian Forum. As the author notes, the US expected India's support. It is a wonder why the US did not expect support from its most important ally in Asia, Japan.