January 22, 2006 . . . . .
Dedication Ceremony
by Randy Anderson, Project Leader
By 1941, the Rising Sun had become symbolic of the Japanese resolve that would stop at nothing to expand the empire. Whoever stood in the path of the Imperial Japanese Army had only three choices: subjugation, death, or imprisonment. Throughout Asia, men from America, Australia, Great Britain, and a dozen other nations moved along their own path – a path that would soon cross with Japan’s and end in one of the major and largely unknown tragedies of World War II – the Hellships.
As early as the spring of 1942, only a few months after the fall of Allied territories in the Far East, the Japanese began moving prisoners of war (POW) by sea out of the conquered areas and sending them to Thailand, Taiwan, Burma, China, Korea, and Japan itself, to be used as slave labor.
A thousand or more men were crammed into a cargo hold, often with only enough room to stand for a journey that could last weeks. The heat was stifling, the stench unbearable. Even the most basic sanitary and medical provisions were refused. Hundreds of men, already weak and suffering from disease after years in POW camps, succumbed. Hundreds more went out of their minds.
Added to these inhumane conditions was the extreme brutality of the Japanese guards. Those who survived the unimaginable nightmare of the Hellships describe their time aboard as the most horrific chapter of their wartime captivity.
There are many stories of the war to be told, but very few are as tragic as the story of the Hellships. According to Japanese figures, of the 50,000 POWs they shipped, 10,800 died at sea. Going by Allied figures, more Americans died in the sinking of one of the Hellships, the Arisan Maru, than died in the weeks of the death march out of Bataan, or in the months at Camp O'Donnell, which were the two worst sustained atrocities committed by the Japanese against POWs. More Dutchmen died in the sinking of the Junyo Maru than in a year on the Burma-Siam railroad. Of all POWs who died in the Pacific war, one in every three was killed on the water by friendly fire.
Duane Heisinger, author of Father Found, a book detailing the ordeal his father suffered as a POW says, “the story of these ships is an incredible tale of a descent into Hell that left a trail of dead and dying men from the all over Asia to Japan,” he said.
One of the most notorious Hellships of them all, the Oryoku Maru, was sunk in Subic Bay in December 1944 . Transporting Japanese soldiers, civilians, and 1,619 prisoners of war out of Manila, the unmarked ship suffered repeated attacks from American fighters who had no idea she was carrying POWs. The ship, heavily damaged and burning, limped into Subic Bay where the POWs were forced to swim ashore and held on an open tennis court for five days with almost no food or water. The survivors were then loaded on trucks and taken to San Fernando to continue their journey on the Enoura Maru and the Brazil Maru. The Enoura Maru was sunk but the Brazil Maru made port in Moji, Japan on January 29, 1945 with only 500 of the original 1,619 POWs who began the ordeal a month and a half earlier. Less than 300 of these men survived until the end of the war.
My own involvement with the Hellships story began while I was stationed at the U.S. Navy base at Subic Bay in the 1980’s. I met a lady who was in Subic Bay to visit the site where she had lost her father in World War Two. Her father had been one the POWs transported on the Oryoku Maru and died while being held at Subic Bay .
I arranged for a boat to take her out over the site of the Oryoku Maru to lay a wreath on the water, retraced the steps of the surviving POWs, and pointed out the area where her father had died and the survivors confined for several days before starting anew on their terrible journey.
Although I cannot remember the lady’s name, I have never forgotten her anguish over the fact that there was no marker or any indication at all of the tremendous suffering her father and the other POWs endured.
After retirement from the U.S. Navy in 1994 and working in the U.S. for a number of years, I returned to the Philippines for a visit. It had been ten years since I had left Subic Bay. Although much had changed since the Navy days - the Americans were gone and the base was now a bustling tourism and industrial center - there was still no marker commemorating the POWs.
In August of 2003, the idea was conceived of a Memorial dedicated to the Hellships POWs and t he Hellships Memorial Project was created to formulate plans. I met with Leslie Ann Murray of the Filipine-American Memorial Endowment (FAME), a subcommittee of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines , and formed a relationship with them. FAME is best known for placing and maintaining the kilometer markers along the Bataan Death March, and their good work on Corregidor and other good sites.
A Groundbreaking ceremony was held in January 2004. Then SBMA Chairman Felicito Payumo was an early-on supporter of the Memorial and the Chairman, along with Hell Ships survivors John Olson and Carlos Montoya, shared the ritual honor of turning shovels of earth to mark the symbolic beginning of the Project.
At that Groundbreaking, I had the good fortune to meet Duane Heisinger. Duane had recently published a book, Father Found, detailing the ordeal his father suffered as a POW. Duane readily agreed to become associated with the Project and spearheaded the fund-raising effort in the U.S.
Early in 2005, Bob Chester joined the Project. His most visible contribution was the striking design of the Memorial. He has also assisted immeasurably in the logistics and hundreds of small details that arise when undertaking a project like this.
The Hellships Memorial is dedicated to all the POWs on all the Hellships. As the inscription on the Memorial says, these heroes came from different homelands, different backgrounds, and different circumstances – but all were courageous and patriotic men whose lives were drastically altered and, in many cases, ended during their terrible journeys on the Hellships. More than half a century later, many of these men lie beneath no headstone or other marker, their bodies impossible to recover from their watery graves. This is the only Memorial many of these men will ever have.
On January 22, 2006, after two years of hard work, the big moment finally arrived– the Dedication of the Memorial! We were fortunate to have Father James Reuter deliver the invocation. Father Reuter arrived the Philippines as a young Jesuit missionary in the 1930’s, and was interned at the Los Baños POW camp until Filipino guerrillas and American soldiers rescued him and the other internees during a dawn raid on Feb. 23, 1945 . After the war, he returned to the United States to be ordained a priest. When he came back to the Philippines he taught at the Ateneo de Manila University and over the past 5 decades has become an institution in the Philippines .
SBMA Chairman Feliciano Salonga gave the opening remarks, described his own feeling toward the tragedy of the Hellships POWs, and pledged his on-going support of the Project. Duane Heisinger delivered a very stirring keynote speech and gave details of the loss of several of the Hellships. Deputy Administrator Bonggoy Atenieza delivered the closing remarks.
With the dedication of this Memorial, we have completed Phase 1 of the Project. Much work still lies ahead. During Phase 2, we will construct the POW Tribute - a statue incorporated into the Memorial evoking the emotions surrounding this tragedy and make other upgrades.
The Memorial Project is conceived as multi-phased for one compelling reason - with each passing day, our links with the greatest conflict the world has ever known quietly fall away. As the drumbeat slows for the World War II generation, it is vitally important that we honor them and thank them personally for their sacrifices while we still can. Four of these men attended the Dedication - men who had survived the horrors of the Bataan Death March, the Fall of Corregidor, the prison camps, and the terrible journey on the Hellships – and then returned to their homeland to try to put their lives back together.
Equally important is that the young generations learn about the momentous events in human history that touched the lives of so many people. They must discover the extraordinary sacrifice of the heroes that this Memorial honors, not only that they may draw inspiration from their example but also to reaffirm the enduring hope of a world set free from hate. The Hellships Memorial will forever speak of this hope, serving for generations to come as an anchor holding fast against the slow currents of complacency and forgotten loss.
Future generations will pause at this sacred place, to reflect on a great tragedy that transcends all words and on the grief of the families and loved ones left behind – wives who lost the companionship and unfulfilled dreams of their husbands, children who were robbed of their father’s kindness, their voice, and their smile. But they must not be filled with bitterness. Duane Heisinger, who lost his father on the Hellships says, that when asked, “Aren’t you angry? My answer is always the same, No, I am not angry. I am greatly saddened by the loss of these men—and my father—but I cannot harbor anger or hate; I cannot live my life in anger or hate. My Mother did not, nor can I.”
I hope that somehow, someday the lady I met nearly 20 years ago learns of this Memorial and know that it will stand forever to show that we care about her father and the other POWs - and will always care.
- Click here for the Inscription
- Click here for the Program
- Click here for Father James Reuters Invocation Prayer
The following are pictures of the Philippine Tour 2006 which included the Dedication Ceremony: Click here to view John Shively's pictures (96 pictures) Click here to view John Neiger's pictures (352 pictures) Click here to view Casey Kenaston's pictures (282 pictures) Click here to view George Steinrock's pictures (68 pictures) Many thanks to all the photographers that contributed to this effort. If anyone has additional pictures to share - please contact John Neiger. Prints can be made by right mouse clicking and use the "cut and paste" trick - move to do spot to do your job. If you desire to make prints above 4x6 you will need to obtain more resolution. You can contact each person individually and they will email you the higher resolution picture. |
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