76 years ago, December 1944, the Oryoku Maru was sunk in Subic Bay, Phillippines.

[jeffreyi]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%8Cryoku_Maru

The Oryoku Maru was one of the "hell ships," POW transport ships.

My mom's first husband, a West Point grad and a major in the army, and a POW due to the fall of the Phillippines...was killed. He had been a POW since 1941. He survived the Bataan death march, but not the Oryoku Maru, which was not marked as a POW transport and which was bombed by our own forces. I never knew him, he died years before I was born, but every year about this time I think about him and reflect a bit on what those times may have been like.

Respect to all those who sacrificed everything.

[judesedit]

1. Absolute utmost

[Kid Berwyn]

2. We owe ALL to them.

Since 1776, the good major and all who have given their lives — plus blood, sweat and tears — have kept us free. We are forever in their debt.

[cwydro]

3. I'm currently reading Thunder Below, by Admiral Eugene Fluckey.

He was a sub captain, and in one of the (many, many) stories he tells of his experiences...his sub, the Barb, picked up survivors from some of the POW ships.

Absolutely gripping story.

[Chainfire]

6. That is certainly a great WWII read.

Fluckey was a unique leader, to say the least. Some of his escapades read like an adventure novel. Admiral Fluckey did not mind ringing his own bell, and some of the details of some of the stories have to be taken with a grain of salt. But I agree with you, Thunder Below is a must for WWII readers.

[jeffreyi]

9. Sounds good, I will check that out.

[cwydro]

13. Lol, yes, he certainly doesn't mind ringing his own bell.

But damn, from what I’m reading, he has the right to do so. Fascinating.

Medal of Honor, several Navy Crosses, and bringing his crews back alive - really something. Now I want to read some other sub books. Any suggestions?

[Chainfire]

14. He almost got two MOH awards

Try Clear The Bridge By Richard O'Kane. (he also became an Admiral)

[cwydro]

16. Thanks!

I appreciate the suggestion!

So sad to read Fluckey died of complications from Alzheimer’s, though he did live to a ripe old age.

[Chainfire]

19. If I am not mistaken, Fluckey had served as one of Dick O'Kane's junior officers.

Fluckey has not been gone long. I was sad to hear of his passing, and even sadder that it made no headlines. He was a hero.

[denbot]

17. Take a look at "Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors". Part of the Battle of Leyte.

Incredible sacrifice and courage of Destroyermen (Most notably the USS Johnston DD-557) saving the their Taffy 3 convoy (my grandfather was on the escort carrier USS Kalinin Bay), and driving off a massive counter force tasked with attacking MacArthur’s Philippine beachhead.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

4. I had an uncle who was a POW on a hell ship.

He survived, but reading his shorthand notes from his experience, many of his fellow men did not.

[jeffreyi]

10. My stepmother's first husband, George

was also on the Oryoku Maru. He survived, both the Death March, the prison camps, and the boat. The marriage to my (later) step mom didn't survive. As I understand it, George was really messed up psychologically for the rest of his life. He may have crossed paths with my mom's 1st husband, the major, who knows. Wierd that there was sort of a convoluted family connection.

[llashram]

5. ++

[Mendocino]

7. My father (Lt jg) 7th Fleet

was in the Philippines in early 1945. He was in the Mindanao landings and the Battle of Balikpapan in Borneo. He served on a LST, which was assigned to be in the planned invasion of Japan.

[Chainfire]

8. The Japanese army was brutal

Officers were brutal to lower officers, lower officers were brutal to non-coms and non-coms were brutal to privates. Prisoners were at the end of that list. Japanese treatment of prisoners were crimes against humanity. The Japanese considered that anyone who surrendered, their own, or their enemies, to already be dead. Prisoners were considered as sub-humans who deserved no kindness or consideration. The Germans and Russians treated each other in the same way.

I had some long conversations with a Doctor who was captured on Wake Island and spent the entire war in a Japanese prison camp. He considered himself lucky that he was captured when the Japanese were dominating the Pacific. As things went worse and worse for the Japanese, the treatment of prisoners got worse as well.

Two of my uncles were severely injured fighting as Marines in the Pacific. They took Japanese metal and a deep hate for all things Japan to their graves. They never got over the war.

C'est la guerre

[jeffreyi]

11. Yep. Wasn't pretty.

I knew a few Marine WWII combat vets who were bitter and hateful. I also knew one Pacific Theatre combat vet who turned into a dedicated Dem pacifist, hated war in all its forms. That was definitely swimming against the tide.

[panader0]

12. I took a tour of Corregidor in '66 when my parents visited Manila.

My dad was AF and had to go to Clark AFB. It made quite an impression, knowing the
soldiers there went on the Death March.

[denbot]

18. .

[R B Garr]

20. That is very nice that you honor and think of your

Mom’s first husband this way. You are related to him also through them which you must sense and feel. Thanks for sharing.