The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“U.S. POW DELEGATION TO JAPAN, OCTOBER 12-21, 2012” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1628-E1630 on Sept. 21, 2012.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
U.S. POW DELEGATION TO JAPAN, OCTOBER 12-21, 2012
______
HON. MICHAEL M. HONDA
of california
in the house of representatives
Friday, September 21, 2012
Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today on National POW/MIA Recognition Day to honor prisoners of war from America's greatest generation and thank the Government of Japan for recognizing the sacrifices these men have made for peace. On October 12, seven former members of the U.S. Army, Army Air Corps, Air Force, Marines, and Navy who fought in the Pacific Theater of World War II will travel to Tokyo as guests of the Japanese government. This will be the third U.S. POW delegation to Japan.
These brave veterans all suffered as prisoners of war of Imperial Japan. The conditions in which they were held are unimaginable. For most, their first trip to Japan was on aging freighters called
``Hellships,'' where the men were loaded into suffocating holds with little space, water, food, or sanitation. At the POW camps in the Philippines, Japan and China, they suffered unmerciful abuse aggravated by the lack of food, medicine, clothing, and shelter. Each POW also became a slave laborer at the mines, factories, and docks of some of Japan's largest companies, including Mitsubishi, Nippon Express, Ube Industries, Rinko Corporation, and Fushiki Kairiku Unso.
In September 2010, the Japanese government delivered to the first American POW delegation an official apology for the damage and suffering these men endured. Although the Japanese government had hosted POWs from U.S. wartime Allies, the 2010 trip was the first to Japan for American POWs. It was also the first official apology to any prisoners of war held by Japan.
This historic apology and continued support for the trips by the Japanese government has improved our relations with Japan and, more importantly, had a positive effect on the former POWs. Japan's Foreign Minister, Koichiro Genba, said the trip promotes ``reconciliation of minds'' of U.S. POWs. Even more, James Colier, a delegate on the second trip to Japan in 2011, said, ``After meeting the kind people at JMC
[Japan Metals & Chemicals' Takaoka Works] and after observing the beautiful surroundings of the city, I realized that I had been robbed of the opportunity of truly knowing this place for the past 66 years. Takaoka had always remained as a dark and depressing place in my mind. Yet this visit has finally afforded me the opportunity to appreciate its beauty.''
I know that the American POWs fought hard for this recognition. I appreciate the courage of the Japanese government for their historic and meaningful apology. I thank the POWs for their persistent pursuit of justice, and commend the U.S. State Department for helping them.
Still missing, however, from this significant act of atonement are the apologies from the myriad Japanese companies that used and abused POWs for slave labor to maintain war production. It is time now for these companies to break their silence and to follow the successful example of their government by offering an apology and supporting programs for lasting remembrance and reconciliation. Furthermore, I invite my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in making a small, but significant, gesture to show these men that Congress has not forgotten their experience and sacrifice by cosponsoring House Resolution 333.
Significantly, this year marks the 70th Anniversary of the Defense of the Philippines, Bataan Death March and the Fall of Corregidor, and the third U.S. POW delegation to Japan includes three survivors of the infamous Bataan Death March, two who were captured at the surrender of Corregidor, one on Guam, and one shot down over Tokyo. One of the veterans believes that he was subject to medical experimentation. Their traveling companions include four wives, one daughter, one son, and one close friend. I wish these men and their companions a fulfilling trip to Japan, and I know that their journey will contribute to the historic peace and friendship between the peoples of the United States and our important ally Japan.
It gives me great gratitude to tell the vivid stories of the third U.S. POW Delegation to Japan.
Randall S. Edwards, 95, lives in Lakeland, Florida. Born in Wyoming, he grew up in Nebraska and enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1935 after high school to see the world. He was sent to the Philippines in 1940 and assigned as a Radioman 1st Class to the submarine tender, the USS Canopus, which had been ordered to stay in Manila Bay after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941. By 1942 Edwards was a POW at Cabanatuan 3 and shipped to Mukden, China (today's Shenyang) in October 1942 in Mitsubishi's Hellship Tottori Maru via Formosa and Korea to Manchukuo (Manchuria). Edwards was a slave laborer at MKK (Manshu Kosaku Kikai, which some researchers believe was owned by Mitsubishi and known as Manchuria Mitsubishi Machine Tool Company, Ltd.). He worked on multiple machines from grinders to lathes, carefully sabotaging each task. He believes that the multiple shots and blood tests that he received while at Mukden were part of human medical experiments conducted by the Imperial Army's 731st Biological Warfare Unit. After the war, Edwards remained in the Navy where he received over 40 medals during his service and retired in 1955 as a Warrant Officer. After the Navy, he received his BS degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Florida, Gainesville. Edwards went on to become a National Service officer for American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor and American Ex-Prisoners of War to help his fellow veterans with their Veterans Affairs claims. POW# 104
Robert W. Ehrhart, 89, lives in Carmichael, California. He grew up in Oakland, California and enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve during high school. His unit was activated November 6, 1940 and sent to the Philippines in April 1941. On January 1, 1942 they were assigned to the Third Battalion, Fourth Marines and joined the Battle of Corregidor until the surrender on May 6, 1942. Ehrhart was sent to the Cabanatuan POW Camp where he was on a burial detail, burying as many as forty men a day. He remembers that ``bodies were like skeletons and when you lifted them onto the window shutters, which were used for litters, their skin would peel back and stick to your hands.'' To bolster his morale and that of his fellow POWs, he started to draw cartoons, risking severe punishment if discovered. In September 1943, Ehrhart was transferred to Japan aboard the Hellship Taga Maru (aka Coral Maru). He was sent to Osaka 4-D Sakurajima where he was a slave laborer at Hitachi Zosen's Sakurajima Shipyard (today's Universal Shipping Corporation). He worked as a riveter helping build military ships and oil tankers. After the camp was bombed in May 1945, he was sent to Osaka 6-B, Akenobe, POW Camp where he was a slave laborer working at a copper mine for Mitsubishi Mining (today's Mitsubishi Materials Corporation). After the war, Ehrhant recuperated in military hospitals from vitamin deficiency, malnutrition, and various tropic diseases. He was discharged April 29 1946. He then studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. POW# 221
David G. Farquhar, Jr., 90, lives in Redlands, California where he has lived all his life. He joined the U.S. Army Air Force in 1942. He trained in Nebraska and was assigned as a Technical Sergeant to General Curtis LeMay's 20th Air Force, 24th Squadron, 313th Bomb Wing, 6th bomb group, Crew #2404. He was sent with the 6th Bomb Group to Tinian in the Northern Marianas in January 1945. On May 23, 1945, he was a turret gunner when his B-29 was shot down over Tokyo by flak and fighter planes. They were taken to the infamous horse stalls outside of the Kempeitai (military police of the Imperial Army) Headquarters in Tokyo near the Emperor's palace. They were not considered POWs but ``special prisoners'' who were war criminals. They were beaten, starved, tortured, and denied clothes, basic hygiene, and medical treatment. On August 15th, the day Japan surrendered, he was transferred to a cell at Tokyo Base Camp #1 Omori where he was liberated August 28, 1945. Omori was the first POW camp liberated. After a series of hospital stays, he was discharged in 1946 and returned to San Diego State College (today's San Diego State University) to earn a BA degree in Engineering. He then obtained an MA degree in Education from the University of Redlands. POW# Not Known to ``Special Prisoners''
Douglas Northam, 93, lives in Reno, Nevada. Born in Morris County, Texas, he grew up in nearby Naples, Texas. After graduating from high school in 1937, he enlisted in the Civilian Conservation Corps and in 1940 in the U.S. Navy. He was transferred to China in February of 1941 and assigned to the USS Oahu (PR-6), a Yangtze River Patrol boat ported in Shanghai. Afterwards, Northam was assigned to an artillery group on Corregidor, which was forced to surrender on May 7th when Corregidor fell. As a POW of Japan, he was sent to Bilibid POW Camp in Manila and then moved to Cabanatuan 1 and 2. In November 1942, he was sent to Japan aboard Mitsubishi's Hellship the Nagata Maru. He worked for Nippon Express as a slave stevedore in the freight yards in and around the city of Osaka at Umeda Bunsho Camp (Osaka 2-D UMEDA). In March 1945, after his POW camp was firebombed, he was transferred to Osaka POW Camp 5-B TSURUGA where he was a slave stevedore again for Nippon Express and Tsuruga Transportation Company. After the war, Northam utilized the GI Bill to study geology at the University of California, Berkeley. POW# 117
John Leroy Mims, 90, lives in Aberdeen, North Carolina. Born in Ashburn, Georgia, he grew up in Florida and enlisted in the Army at age 16 in 1938, but was discharged a year later after it was discovered that he was underage. Still hungry and jobless, he re-enlisted February 15, 1941 and was assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion of the famous 31st Infantry Regiment. In April 1941, he was sent to the Philippines aboard the USAT Republic and stationed at Cuartel de Espana in Manila. He fought in the Battle for Bataan and as a POW forced on the Bataan Death March. During the war, his Filipino fiancee Juanita worked as a secretary for a Japanese general and bravely aided the resistance by sending shortwave radio messages to Allied forces in the Pacific. As a POW, the Japanese repeatedly beat and tortured Mims. Although they were able to break his body, they could never come close to breaking his spirit. During his captivity, the Japanese broke his back, neck and both of his legs and shattered many of the bones in his face. The beatings briefly left him a paraplegic on two separate occasions and he still retains a limp. Of the 1,600 soldiers in the 31st Infantry Regiment who surrendered, less than half survived Japanese captivity. In September 1944, he was sent to Japan on board Mitsubishi's Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) Hellship Sekiho Maru. Mims became a slave laborer mining coal for Ube Kosan's Sanyo Muen Kogyo Sho (Ube Industries' Sanyo Smokeless Coal Work, which is still known today as Ube Industries Ltd.) at Hiroshima #6B--Omine (Sanyo) POW Camp in Omine-machi, Yamaguchi Prefecture. After the war, Mims remained in the Army for the next 27 years, attaining the rank of Sergeant First Class and retiring in 1963. POW# 429
John Real, 90, lives in Ventura, California. A California native, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps after graduating from high school in 1940. He was sent to the Philippines in April 1941 and assigned to aerial reconnaissance at Clark Field with the 2nd Observation Squadron, 27th Bombardment Group, V Bomber Command, 20th Air Force. Real and his unit manned an observation tower on top of Mt. Mariveles, Bataan during Japan's invasion of the Philippines where he tracked Japanese ship movement around the Olongapo Navy Yard. He walked down the mountain to surrender on April 9, 1942 and was stripped of all his belongings before being forced on the Bataan Death March. At the start of the march, he and others were used as human shields by being forced to walk in front of seized American 155mm caliber field guns (Long Toms) that the Japanese were firing at Corregidor. He was a POW at both Camp O'Donnell and Cabanatuan 1. He avoided a certain death at O'Donnell by volunteering for a work detail on Bataan. In September 1943, he was sent to Moji, Japan aboard the Hellship Taga Maru (aka Coral Maru) via Formosa. At Tokyo 5-B POW Camp in Niigata, he was a slave laborer unloading coal ships for Niigata Kairiku Unso, now part of the Rinko Corporation. After the war, Real received a BA degree in Business Administration from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a MA degree from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona. POW# 514
George R. Summers, 90, lives in Riverside, California. Born in the Philippines, he grew up in California where he joined the Marine Corps Reserve in February 1941. Activated in June 1941, his unit was sent to Guam in September 1941. Japan invaded the island on December 8, 1941, and he was taken prisoner by the 10th of December. Summers was on the first transport of Allied POWs to Japan, the Argentina Maru with 420 American POWs from Guam to Tadotsu on the north coast of Shikoku. After arriving in Japan on January 16, 1942, the POWs were transported to Zentsuji (Hiroshima Branch #1), a POW camp about eight kilometers from Tadotsu. He spent six months there clearing a mountainside to plant apple trees. He was then transferred to Tanagawa Osaka Area POW Command
#4B Camp, where he helped to manually tear down a mountainside to build a breakwater for a primitive dry-dock and submarine base. This camp was noted for its severe malnutrition and extremely high death rate of POWs. Six months later, he was sent to Umeda Bunsho Camp in Osaka
(Osaka 2-D UMEDA), Japan, where he worked for Nippon Express as a slave stevedore. He was transferred to a total of six POW camps due to American bombings. His last camp was the Nagoya 10-B Fushiki Camp, where he worked as a stevedore slave unloading soybeans from Korea for Fushiki Kairiku Unso until Japan's surrender. After his release, he was hospitalized for six months at the Long Beach Naval Hospital. In retirement, he has focused on real estate investment and his hobbies of collecting Koi fish and exotic birds. POW# 347
____________________
