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The POW's Of Bataan And Corregidor Should Not Be Forgotten

Pearl Harbor had just ended leaving behind mangled fleets and servicemen. The strength of the Japanese proved to be too fierce. The only hope seemed to be the Americans and the Filipinos staking claims on the sands of the Philippine Islands. The Japanese would soon seize command over the Battle of Bataan while laying down troops in Manila.

What was to be a sure victory soon crumbled beneath the boots of the officers in charge along with the troops in World War II. It's something veterans would rather forget "Over the years, I tried to forget and I've done a pretty good job of it," said Edward Vinson of Elk City, whose service to this country brought him a Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Prisoner of War medal, and a Humanitarian medal. Flashbacks of his experience used to occur when he was younger, but is getting better, he said.

Born in 1917 in Elk City, Edward Vinson, who is now 90 years of age, received his notice to be drafted into the service in 1939-40, but like many veterans, went ahead and volunteered his time. "I wanted to see the islands overseas," he said. The Army eventually took him to those "islands" in the Philippines where he would soon be caught up in the continuing grasp for territory by the Japanese after a surprise attack on the Philippines on December 8, 1942.

Edward Vinson was with the 59th Coast Artillery on Corregidor, were 15,000 American and Filipino troops battled the Japanese until General Jonathan "Skinny" Wainwright surrendered his troops on May 6,1942. "We marched down the hill and laid our rifles down, and that was it," said Vinson.

Vinson has a 1945 copy of a message to MacArthur from General Wainwright that was printed in the Los Angeles Examiner. The message reads:

...I feel it is my duty to the nation and my troops to end this useless slaughter. There is apparently no relief in site. American and Filipino troops have engaged and held the enemy for nearly five months.

...We have done our full duty for you and for our country. We are sad but unashamed. I have fought for you to the best of my ability from Lingayen Gulf to Bataan to Corregidor, always hoping relief was on the way.

....Goodbye, general, my regards to you and our comrades in Australia. May God strengthen your arm to insure ultimate success of the cause for which we have fought side by side.

Vinson believes that message "tells it all." Wainwright would surrender his troops the following day and be transported to a different location along with other officers. The 59th Coats Artillery Vinson was in would remain together after the surrender. Manilla would be the first stop for the troops that were taken captive and forced to march through the streets of Manilla. This march has been said to be a show of dominance over the Filipinos.

Thirteen days before the surrender of Corregidor on May 6, 1942, prisoners of war were still trickling into Camp O'Donnell till April 24, 1942 along the Bataan Death March. For almost a whole month, POWs were shuffled into Camp O'Donnell from April 12 to April 24 everyday.

Those that survived the long five to six day stretch from Bataan Peninsula to Camp O'Donnell were bruised and battered, malnourished, sick with malaria, and inflicted with wounds. Many saw horrors they would never forget. For Vinson, those atrocities were not as prevalent, but Vinson did not come away from that experience without suffering scares of some sort. Captive for three and a half years and 42 months to be exact, Vinson remembers bits and slices of his experience.

During this time, he was scrambled and rifled and forced from camp to camp; from Cabanatuan to Mukden to Manchuria, and all along the Russia and China border, and throughout the Philippines. He remembers he was forced to do many jobs. He remembers working in a textile mill using weaving machines. Many of these jobs were said to keep the troops uneasy and busy. In Manchuria, Vinson remembers distinctively about a small Chinese boy who would sneak rice between the bars or barbed wire to him and the other incarcerated troops in the camps.

Contrary to confusion between the two, the troops in Corregidor were in better shape than the troops that were along the Bataan Death March. But once the Japanese invaded and conquered Corregidor, rations became even more scarce for those troops. With little or no food, mainly rice, Vinson recalls drinking from cow tracks filled with contaminated water. Along the marches from camp to camp Vinson remembers seeing fellow comrades falling behind from weakness and malnutrition.

During World War II, all soldiers of the Philippine military were incorporated in the United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE), with MacArthur appointed as its commander. USAFFE made its last stand on Corregidor Island in the Philippines, after which Japanese forces were able to force all remaining Filipino and American troops to surrender. After Japan was defeated in World War II, the Philippines gained its independence (its second independence – the Philippines recognizes Aguinaldo's declaration of independence in 1898 as its original year of independence).

Soon, Philippine forces would join underground and guerrilla activity with estimated 260,000 or more organizations. Other guerilla units were attached to the United States Armed Forces.

Before long, after the war was over U.S. Reserves would soon drop food down to the remaining troops still in the camps. "Fruit Cocktail, the cans would bust open when they fell and we scurried and would scoop it up with our hands," Vinson said. The troops ate so much they became sick.

On his way home from the Philippines and headed to San Francisco, Vinson recalls yet another horrific incident. The ships they were on were called "Hell Ships" for obvious reasons. The particular ship Vinson was on would survive a large typhoon only to hit a floating mine that "blew a 40 by 40 hole in the ship," Vinson said. "They docked the ship somewhere and were able to place us on another ship." It would be a Liberty Ship Vinson would arrive on.

Vinson weighed just over 75 pounds when he arrived in San Antone, TX to be discharged and then back to Elk City on February 11, 1945. Some say it was the darkest days of WW II, everyone can agree that the battles and atrocities of Bataan and Corregidor should not be forgotten. Vinson raised two kids: Kay Beck and Terry Vinson. He has five grandchildren and eight grandchildren.

Matt Meason, Staff Writer. Local Man Recalls Dark Days Of Captivity by Japanese. The Elk City Daily News. Sunday, February 17, 2008.

The Bataan Death March

Although it was supposed to be a stronghold, Bataan had not been adequately supplied before the siege began. Most of its defenders had become sick with malaria and malnourished even before the surrender. Their rations were reduced by half in January, and to quarter rations in March (about 800 calories a day). Mosquito nets were not available and quinine, the main drug used to treat and prevent malaria, ran out.

Realizing the futility of continued resistance, (You men remember this. You did not surrender ... you had no alternative but to obey my order.) Maj. Gen. Edward King, commander of forces on Bataan after MacArthur was ordered to leave, surrendered to the Japanese on April 9, 1942 (the island of Corregidor held out until May 6). Although General King surrendered his force to save them from unnecessary suffering, the brutality of their Japanese captors killed thousands of the POWs in what became known as the Bataan Death March.

The Bataan Death March began on April 10, 1942, when the Japanese assembled about 78,000 prisoners (12,000 U.S. and 66,000 Filipino). They began marching up the east coast of Bataan. Although they didn't know it, their destination was Camp O'Donnell, north of the peninsula.

The men, already desperately weakened by hunger and disease, suffered unspeakably during the March. Regardless of their condition, POWs who could not continue or keep up with the pace were summarily executed. Even stopping to relieve oneself could bring death, so many chose to continue walking while relieving themselves.

Some of the guards made a sport of hurting or killing the POWs. The Marchers were beaten with rifle butts, shot or bayoneted without reason. Most of the POWs got rid of their helmets because some by Japanese soldiers on passing trucks hit them with rifle butts. Some enemy soldiers savagely toyed with POWs by dragging them behind trucks with a rope around the neck. Japanese guards also gave the POWs the "sun treatment" by making them sit in the sweltering heat of the direct sun for hours at a time without shade.

The Death Marchers received almost no water or food, further weakening their fragile bodies. Most POWs only received a total of a few cups of rice, and little or no water. Sympathetic Filipinos alongside the road tried to give POWs food and water, but if a guard saw it, the POW and the Filipino helper could be beaten or killed. Some POWs had the water in their canteens poured out onto the road or taken by the Japanese just to be cruel. Although thirst began to drive some of the men mad, if a POW broke ranks to drink stagnant, muddy water at the side of the road, he would be bayoneted or shot. Groups of POWs were often deliberately stopped in front of the many artesian wells. These wells poured out clean water, but the POWs were not allowed to drink it. Some were killed just because they asked for water. The POWs marched roughly 65 miles over the course of about six days until they reached San Fernando. There, groups as large as 115 men were forced into boxcars designed to hold only 30-40 men. Boxcars were so full that the POWs could not sit down. This caused more to die of heat exhaustion and suffocation in the cars on the ride from San Fernando to Capas. The POWs then walked seven more miles to Camp O'Donnell. At the entrance to the camp, the POWs were told to lay out the few possessions they still had; any POW found with any Japanese-made items or money was executed on the spot.

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