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Hellships Memorial - Subic Bay

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Details:

At the west side of the road. Monument


The monument is composed of 4 engraved black granite blocks. At the center is an information panel. On the left and right sides are two semi-circular low walls surrounding the central patio of glossy tiles. On top of the wall are dedication plaques rendered on black granite. 

The memorial was dedicated to all the POWs on all the Hellships. It was inaugurated in January 2004.

For more on Hellships and Hellspip Memorials, see this website sites: Yokohama (Japan); Kaohsiung City,- Chijin Island (Taiwan); and, Sindangan  (Philippines)

Monument Text:

(1st block from left)

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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(2nd block)

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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(3rd block)

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.

 ------------------------------------------

(4th block)

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.

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(Plaque with the The Silver Bullet insignia)

In memory of those

 

Lost of the hellships

 ------------------------------------------ 

(William C. Blackledge plaque)

In Memory of

WILLIAM C. BLACKLEDGE

Captain, Infantry, USAR

Principal of Pangasinan High School, 1933-1937

 

Served with US and Filipino Forces on Bataan.

Survived the Death March only to suffer brutal

treatment at Camp O'Donnel and Cabanatuan.

 

Shipped in December 1944 on the infamous

series of Hell ships: the Oryoku Maru,

the Enoura Maru, and the Brazil Maru.

 

Died two days after arrival in Japan.

 

Born 10 May 1905 in Rushville, Indiana

Died 1 February 1945 in Moji, Japan

 

Presented by

His Widow, his Sons and their Families

------------------------------------------

(192nd Tank Battalion plaque)

192nd Tank Battalion

Survivors of the Death March

Lost on Hellships

Maywood Bataan Day Organization

 

We Remember

Gift of Pvt Alexander Gorr Family

 

(Lt. Dial plaque)

In Loving Memory of

Lt. N. Minter Dial

 

USNA 32

 

CO, USS NAPA (AT-32)

 

Navy Cross

 

Perished in the sinking of the Oryoku Maru

December 15, 1944

------------------------------------------

(View post 11447 plaque)

VIEW POST 11447

PAUL P. BUSEK

 

In Memory of our Comrades who

Suffered or Perished on the Hellships

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(CPT Erickson plaque)

Captain David G. Erickson, QM, U.S. Army

 

Member of U.S. and Filipino Forces

That Were Surrendered On Bataan, April 9, 1942

He Completed the Bataan Death March;

Interned at Camp O'Donnell, Cabanatuan,

Bilibid, Davao, POW Camps;

Transported to Japan on the Three Infamous

December 1944 Hell Ships.

 

Died January 31, 1945, Moji, Japan

Just Two Days after arrival in Japan

 

Presented by

A proud and Loving Son

David K. Erickson

 ------------------------------------------ 

(Major Heisinger Plaque)

IN HONOR OF

MAJOR SAMUAL L. HEISINGER

JAG, US ARMY

CAPTURED MAY 1942 ON CORIGEDOR

 

DIED: JAN. 1945 ON BOAR HELLSHIP

IN TAIWAN

THIS MEMORIAL WAS ENVISIONED AND

DEDICATED JAN. 2006 BY HIS SON.

CAPTAIN DUAN LAWRENCE HEISINGER, USN

------------------------------------------

(Roll Call of Nations plaque)

WWII Hellships

Roll Call of Nations

 

THIS HISTORICAL EXHIBIT RECOGNIZES THAT EACH

OF THE NATIONS OR OUR WWII ALLIES LISTED BELOW

HAD CITIZENS BOTH CIVILIAN AND MILITARY WHO

SUFFERED VOYAGES OR PERISHED ABOARD THE

JAPANESE HELLSHIPS:

 

AMERICA, AUSTRALIA, BRITAIN, CANADA,

CHINA, CZECHOSLOVAKIA, DENMARK,

FORMOSA, HOLLAND, INDIA, INDONESIA, IRELAND,

MALAYSIA, NEW ZEALAND, NORWAY, PHILIPPINES

SCOTLAND, SINGAPORE, SWEEDEN, SWITZERLAND,

THAILAND, RUSSIA

Commemorates:

People:

William C. Blackledge

Nathaniel Minter Dial

David G. Erickson

Samual Lawrence, Jr. Heisinger

Units:

20th Infantry Regiment, 6th Infantry Division

Philippine Army

Philippine Scouts

Quartermaster Corps

United States Navy

Wars:

WWII

Other images :