Hellships Memorial - Subic Bay
Details:
At the west side of the road. Monument
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.
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(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
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(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
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(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
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(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
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(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:
Samual Lawrence, Jr. Heisinger
Units:
20th Infantry Regiment, 6th Infantry Division
Philippine Army
Philippine Scouts
Quartermaster Corps
United States Navy
Wars:
WWII
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