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Forgotten Heroes

 "We're as good as dead." ~ a Palawan POW survivor, p.164

The European battle theatre of World War II usually gathers the lion's share of historical coverage, as it is surely entitled to do. But often overlooked or forgotten are the stories of American combat veterans who fought in the Pacific theatre battles, which were exceedingly brutal and horrifying.

As Good As Dead by Stephen L. Moore is a riveting, meticulously researched account of the fate of World War II American POWs held on the Pacific island of Palawan. Having learned about the 1942 Bataan Death March in my youth, I prided myself that I was educated about the war. Until I read Moore's book, I didn't know that the death march was the very beginning of the American prisoners' agonies.

The surviving death march POWs of Palawan were put to forced labor building a landing field for Japanese war planes. It was backbreaking work. As Moore's recounting illustrates in grim detail, the prisoners were incessantly starved, beaten, tortured, and murdered by the guards and officers. 

As the war approached its end and the Americans began advancing towards Palawan, the POWs were forced to dig pits for their own mass graves. They were packed into the pits, drenched in fuel, and set afire. The few POWs who escaped by tumbling to the beach far below were hunted down and first tortured, then killed, when found. 

Eleven men survived Palawan's death camp. Even as they made their escapes, they sustained terrifying wounds while creeping through the jungle or swimming through the ocean to freedom. It is truly miraculous that any of these brave men lived to tell their harrowing story.

It took me many weeks to finish As Good As Dead. I had to keep pausing, because the events depicted were so upsetting. What these POWs suffered daily were horrific torments beyond my imagination. This Veterans Day, I'm remembering the Palawan POW victims and the few courageous survivors who forged on after the war to rebuild successful lives back home in the USA.

Thank you to all our US Veterans, especially the men of Palawan.

Happy Birthday, Marines

 "I ought to do my own share of the fighting."

~ John Adams, founder of the US Marines and 2nd US president

Founded before the birth of our nation, the United States Marine Corps, the troops of the Marines fight by land and by sea since America's Revolutionary War. Even as they earned the moniker "Devil Dogs" on the battlefields of France, Marines also fought by air in the first World War. In World War II, Marines fought at enormous cost so many key battles in the Pacific theatre--in such places as Guam, Okinawa, and Iwo Jima. The iconic photo of the American flag being raised on Iwo Jima captures the unyielding spirit, courage, and determination of these dedicated warriors.

Two and a half centuries is a long time to keep exceling in combat and achieving victories. Yet the US Marines continue bringing it home, year after year, decade after decade--century after century.

Thank you to the brave members of our US Marine Corps. As our second president noted, I ought to do my own share of the fighting, too. Every American should do so. Our country is certainly worth the battle.