Every few years, as barely a word is ever spoken about VJ Day, I feel compelled to try to call attention to it. My father survived the Bataan Death March and then 3.5 years in the Philippines and Japan as a prisoner of war. By the summer of 1945 he had already gone through starvation, abuse, watching friends be executed, torture and life as a slave laborer. He weighed about 90lbs. A camp guard casually told the American prisoners that they believed that the US would soon be invading Japan and if that happened, they would need to immediately kill all prisoners and join the fight against the invaders. The American prisoners knew that this is exactly what would happen and almost didn’t care. Early in August of 1945, the guards received the order to execute the prisoners on Aug. 23. After “the bombs” were dropped on Japan; Aug. 6 and 9 and Japan officially surrendered on Aug. 15 (VJ Day), the prisoners came out of their barracks to see that all the Japanese guards had fled. Soon after that, there were parachute drops of food, medicine and radios. While gorging on the food, he stopped and thought it was great that he would be free on his next birthday, Aug. 23.
Before he died just a few years ago, he often expressed sadness and concern that what really happened would soon be forgotten.
For the rest of the story, see www.troness.com/art_troness.html.
David Troness
Gilbert
Arizona Willie posted at 9:15 am on Mon, Aug 20, 2012.
Unfortunately, the link does not work.
dtroness posted at 11:42 am on Mon, Aug 20, 2012.
sorry, for some reason, the A and T in his name needs to be capitalized.
www.troness.com/Art_Troness.html
Let me know if that doesn't work
Arizona Willie posted at 2:55 pm on Mon, Aug 20, 2012.
Thanks. Very interesting. My dad never talked about the war. But he wasn't a prisoner.
onerebel posted at 6:47 pm on Mon, Aug 20, 2012.
Very Well said David. I agree that too many people have forgotten the sacrifices that have been made for our freedom. Thank God there is still men with courage like your father had . God Bless all our service men and women !!!!
chatmandu002 posted at 10:31 pm on Mon, Aug 20, 2012.
There can't be enough praise or remembrance for our greatest generation.
Dale Whiting posted at 11:59 am on Tue, Aug 21, 2012.
You say "After “the bombs” were dropped on Japan; Aug. 6 and 9," Hhow could we forget? Only one nation has used nuclear weapons on the citizens of another. And at the time we used it, we knew nothing about possible treatment of our prisioners. Now we know that Japan was talking to the Russians about surrendering to them, expecting that after Pearl Harbor and Batan the US would not show them mercy.
It's high time we remember VJ day, VE day and all other such days for the faulies that they commemorate and stop making and pursuing war, which has been defined as diplomacy by other means.
mrconservative posted at 1:30 pm on Tue, Aug 21, 2012.
Uh, Willie? Are you not aware of the German raids against Great Britain? What was it - 45, 50 nights in a row? And let's not forget the Pearl Harbor attacks. Both happened during the WWII era. And let's not forget 9/11. Perhaps some peope don't count airplanes as nuclear weapons, but I do. No matter how you look at it, it was an attack.
On the Friday (or maybe Saturday?) before the Olympics ended, I saw a documentary about Great Britain's efforts to get the US involved in WWII. At first, we resisted. Then the attacks came from Japan. An unprovoked attack, I might add. It was a great documentary, and they talked a great deal about Winston Churchill, easily one of the greatest Prime Minister's Great Britain has ever had.
VofReason posted at 1:14 pm on Wed, Aug 22, 2012.
Classy Dale. Let's make sure to take a shot at the USA after a letter like this. Did you miss the part that the guards would have killed everyone of the prisoners if we would have attacked Japan in traditional means. And now know that bombing them prevented that and brought Japan to surrender. Guess some people just don't think before they speak.
Leon Ceniceros posted at 5:41 pm on Wed, Aug 22, 2012.
Mr. Troness,
Your Father's suffering at the hand of the Imperial Japanese Army will never be forgotten by true Americans. These commenters that besmearch and belittle what our World War II P.O.W's went through in Japanese Prisoner of War Camps and the Bataan Death march bring only shame unto themselves.
PBS, KAET, Channel 8 (supported by American Tax-Payers), just aired Ken Burns "The War". Sadly, most of it's commentary was "politically correct" regarding the Internment of Japanese-Americans. My Father assisted dozens and dozens of his Japanese-American friends who were fruit and vegetable grows. He took over there orchards, vineyards and farms for the duration of their internment. Not one was lost to taxes or squatting (Teamster thugs took care of the squatters.....lol). He said that the mood on the West Coast after Pearl Harbor was "explosive". Many Japanese-Americans were being beaten up and their businesses ransacked, damaged or burnt to the ground. Because of agreements between the Press and Washington DC, most of these incidents were not publicized to quell the Anti-Japanese hysteria that was build up. My Father said that the Internment may have broken many of the Internees financially but at least they and their families were not injured or worse. He remembered when when the story of the Bataan Death March came out that it was 'front page news" for the War Effort. The huge number of the Death March P.O.W.s that died. The horrific manner in which they were treated by both Officers, NCO's and Enlisted men of the Japanese Army. The beheadings, the sodomizing, the beatings with the butts of rifles and most sadly, the bayonneting (usually in the stomach to prolong the agony and the screams and cries of the victims). President Roosevelt knew that there was no way that Japanese-Americans could live freely in Society after these stories and the tens and tens of thousands of Dead and Wounded Casualty Reports that came out every week in the newspapers (which every single household in America read at the time = no TV).
As for the nuclear bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Emperor and the Japanese Military had been advised explicity what was about to happen unless unconditional surrender was forth coming. President Truman knew that the American Public could not accept more that 100,000 - 300,000 US Military Casualties that would come about if an Invasion of Mainland Japan took place. People forget that President Truman went on National Radio to tell the American People what had taken place after the Hiroshima bomb attack and called upon the Emperor to surrender. When days went by and the Emperor, who by then had been fully briefed on the casualties and destructiveness of the Bomb, still refused to surrender then President Truman ordered the Nagasaki Bombing.
Thank God, that some of the P.O.W.'s that were still alive in Mainland Japanese Prisoner of War Camps were able to see the American Bombers fly over. A Grateful Nation salutes these World War II American Heroes.
LEST WE FORGET
Engaged Voter posted at 9:38 am on Tue, Aug 28, 2012.
"My Father said that the Internment may have broken many of the Internees financially but at least they and their families were not injured or worse."
Your father lied.
http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/educators/lesson_plans/japanese_internment/
Many internees lost irreplaceable personal property due to the restrictions on what could be taken into the camps. These losses were compounded by theft and destruction of items placed in governmental storage. A number of persons died or suffered for lack of medical care, and several were killed by sentries; James Wakasa, for instance, was killed at Topaz War Relocation Center, near the perimeter wire. Nikkei were prohibited from leaving the Military Zones during the last few weeks before internment, and only able to leave the camps by permission of the camp administrators.
Psychological injury was observed by Dillon S. Myer, director of the WRA camps. In June 1945, Myer described how the Japanese Americans had grown increasingly depressed, and overcome with feelings of helplessness and personal insecurity.[88] Author Betty Furuta insists that the Japanese used gaman, loosely meaning "perseverance", to overcome hardships which was mistaken by non-Japanese as being introverted and lacking initiative
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_American_internment