From: J. L. (milveh@dslextreme.com)
Date: Sun Dec 18 2005 - 14:28:17 PST
My uncle was wounded, but survived the battle of Wake Island (the Alamo of
Pacific) only to become a POW. He was tortured and nearly died on Wake,
before being loaded on a freighter with other POWS bound for Japan only to
be torpedoed by one of our subs. Somehow he survived the sinking, but again
he became a POW and finished the trip to Japan. In Japan, he suffered at
hard labor and more torture, for years, but by the end of the war he had
miraculously survived thanks to his faith and a strong will that kept him
going. He had suffered beyond what most of us could even imagine. He was
tortured physically and mentally for years and when he was finally released
his life was in a word...."difficult." Much later in later in his senior
years things were actually pretty good...at least. His mind and body had
recovered so that could lead an active life in his church. This now frail,
aging hero of Wake Island, was beaten to death near his bus stop on the
streets of Los Angeles by two young black males, who not only stole his
money, but had to viciously kick, hit and stomp him to death, because he
fought back. It was predicatable that he would fight back, despite the odds
or even the consequences...just like on Wake Island. He was a good man,
with a good heart and an indominable spirit. He deserved a better end in
the country he loved.
The people that did it were never caught.
-----Original Message-----
My Maternal Grandfather participated in this. The only thing he ever said
From: Military Vehicles Mailing List [mailto:mil-veh@mil-veh.org]On Behalf
Of DBaumanjr@aol.com
Sent: Sunday, December 18, 2005 1:22 AM
To: Military Vehicles Mailing List
Subject: Re: [MV] 1944 Battle of the Bulge
about it was that his feet were never *that* cold before or since. He also
mentioned that they would wrap newspaper around their feet & put them into
their boots for insulation. This might be of interest to Bulge
reenactors.... Grandpa was beaten to death last February in Florida after
surprising a neighborhood guy that was trying to steal his van out of his
garage. But Grandpa went down fighting, at 93 years young......
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