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Harold Joseph Hart
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Harold
Joseph Hart Corporal,
U. S. Army Air Corps 91st
Bomb Squadron (L) Birthdate: July 18, 1922 Date
of Death: February 13, 2004 Hometown:
Hagerstown, MD United
States of America “Following graduation from Hagerstown High School on
Friday, June 13, 1941, I left for recruit training in the United States Army
Air Corps. I had enlisted to
become an aircraft mechanic. While
in high school I ran the 100-yard dash in 10.1 seconds and held the broad jump
record of 22’9”. This
conditioning probably helped me in surviving the next four years and being
able to tell my story.
I was sent to Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, DC attached to the
13th Air Base Squadron. Following
six weeks of extensive training, I was transferred (along with most of my
buddies) to Savannah Army Air Base. There
I was assigned to the 89th Squadron where I stayed a short time.
I was then sent to the 91st Bomb Squadron (L).
I was again with most of those friends with whom I had attended recruit
training. This was in August
1941. In September or October
1941, rumors surfaced that we were being shipped out---San Francisco Plum.
This meant Foreign Service to most of us.
We left for San Francisco in the fall of 1941 and were sent to Angel
Island on arrival. Following a
complete processing, we left on November 1, 1941 for an unknown
destination.” This was the beginning
of my Dad’s story entitled “Twice Expendable”.
He couldn’t wait to enlist in the U.S. Army Air Corps with his
buddies. What followed was not
what they expected after arriving in the Philippine Islands. “…On
approximately April 6, all hell broke loose.
Shelling, rifle fire, grenades, yelling and it sounded like all the
Japs in the world were out in front of us.
With practically no ammunition we tried to hold but the order came to
fall back. My experience recalls
it as a “rout”. We just could
not hold and finally turned and retreated on “our own”.
I recall marching to the rear and having other Americans asking me why
we were falling back. They did
not know the front line had broken and everyone was retreating.
Several days found me in an old rest camp, hungry, exhausted, and
humiliated. I just sat and waited
for the Japs to come. News came
of the surrender of General King to the Jap Commander...” …”As we waited
for the end a complete lifetime seemed to run through my mind.
I thought of my younger school days, all my family at home and of the
boyfriends who I knew was somewhere in the service and war.
All of my shortcomings flashed before me…” “…On April 9th,
Jap tanks appeared on the road north of our camp. We had been ordered to throw our rifles on a pile with all
the grenades and ammunition….”
“…Promptly we were ordered into groups of 100, 4 abreast
with 25 rows. This
would be our marching order for the next 7 or 8 days.
Jap soldiers were to march along with us as guards. Thus began the infamous “Death March” out of Bataan into death
for many of us and prison camps for the rest…”
“…On July 17,
1944, I was put aboard the Japanese freighter in Manila Bay.
The Nissyo Maru was a
6,527-ton passenger-cargo auxiliary, built in 1939 and owned by Nanyo Kaiun
Company. It was 420 feet in
length, and its oil-fueled, steam turbines gave it a cruising speed of
fifteen-knots. The ship was “a
rusty, decrepit freighter that looked as if it had been retrieved from a
maritime junkyard…” “…We were
loaded into the hold of the ship until everyone was in a standing position.
There was no room to lie down. We
had been stripped of all our belongings except “G” strings.
Japanese men wear these as underwear.
Prisoners started fainting from the heat and several were suffocated. Only after we were all about out, did the Japanese do
anything. Many of us were changed
to another hole (which was empty). That
left seven or eight hundred men in each hole… Once we were in the holes, the
hatch covers were put in place. Very
little air got to us (just enough to live).
Rice was lowered to us in 5-gallon cans to be rationed out.
Can you imagine the filthy stench and odor that resulted?
No bathroom facilities, just cans to use as toilets (which we lifted
through the hatch and discarded in the sea)…” “…August 4, 1944, we docked at what later we learned
was Moji. Japan (a seaport). Quickly,
we were put into buses and taken to a little mining camp at Oeyama, Japan.
This was close to Osaka, on the island of Honshu.
Only about 200 of us were sent to Oeyama.
The others were dispersed to other locations in Japan…”
POW84:Oeyama, Osaka No.3
“…The
camp was located on Wakasa Bay, north of Miyazu (coordinates: 35 degrees,
53’N and 36 degrees, 10’E). At
liberation there were 645 POWs – 384 Americans, 177 British, 73 Canadians, 3
Australians, 3 Dutch, and 5 Norwegian merchant marines…” Dad, and many of his
comrades slaved in the nickel mines living under horrendous conditions until
freedom finally came in August of 1945. Fortunately,
my Dad returned to the United States and was able to lead a “normal” life
(as normal as it gets for a POW of 3 ½ years).
He married his wife Kathleen and had 2 children.
He was well respected in his work and local communities.
Dad lived a rich, full life. He
passed from us on February 13, 2004. Prior
to his death, he had the great opportunity to visit the USS Bataan in Norfolk,
VA. He was treated like the hero
we all knew. It was one of the
finest moments of his life and so richly deserved. Dad was a hero to all who knew him. He shied away from accolades for his service. He always said he was a survivor, not a hero. But, we knew otherwise! ********************************* Submitted by: Joleen Hart, Frederick, MD joleen30@gmail.com |
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Dad stayed in the Philippines until 1944, when the Hellship “Nissyo Maru”sailed into his life.