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THE
INSCRIPTION
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MONOLITH
ONE (701 characters)
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The Hellships Memorial
This Memorial honors the thousands of World War II Allied prisoners of
war transported under horrific conditions by their Japanese captors on
"Hellships" and scattered all across Asia to work as slave laborers
in factories, shipyards, and mines to support the Japanese war effort.
Many thousands of men were carried on these ships and thousands of those
perished from murder, starvation, sickness, and neglect - or were killed
when friendly forces unknowingly attacked the unmarked ships.
These heroes came from different homelands, different backgrounds, and
different circumstances, but they shared a love of freedom and a dedication
to protecting their homelands.
Truly, the Hellships remain among the most senseless atrocities of World
War II, as so many lives were destroyed for no purpose or reason.
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MONOLITH
TWO (729 characters)
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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 POWs 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.
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MONOLITH
THREE (643 characters)
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In the final months of the war in the Pacific, with the Allies closing
in, the Japanese began to escalate the movement of POWs on Hellships.
While Japanese weapons transports bore Red Cross markings, ships carrying
prisoners of war went purposely unmarked and were unknowingly targeted
by Allied aircraft and submarines. Dozens of Hellships were attacked,
killing hundreds of Allied POWs.
More than half a century later, many of the men lie beneath no headstone
or other marker, their bodies impossible to recover from their watery
graves. This is the only Memorial they will ever have.
The Japanese committed many atrocities against POWs; but the decision
to transport them on unmarked prison ships, making them legitimate Allied
targets is beyond comprehension.
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MONOLITH FOUR (564 characters)
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This memorial will offer a place of quiet reflection to future generations
who must discover the extraordinary sacrifice of these heroes, not only
that they may draw inspiration from their example but also to reaffirm
the enduring hope of a world set free from war.
The Hellships Memorial will forever speak of this hope, serving as an
anchor holding fast against the slow currents of complacency and forgotten
loss.
This memorial was established and is supported by former prisoners of
war of the Japanese, family and friends of those who died, and those who
survived the endless nightmare of being a POW.
Dedicated on January 22, 2006
Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippines
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