Death By
Hanging
A Japanese Soldier Hung After the War
for War Crimes He Committed.
The Story of a Tokyo Prisoner
of War Camp 2-D
by
Maj. Richard M.
Gordon (USA
Ret.)
To steal a line
from the noted radio commentator Paul Harvey: "And now the rest of the
story."
In July 1990, I
was contacted by the Japanese television network SBC, Shin-Etsu Broadcasting Company,
Ltd., of Nagano Prefecture,
Nagano, Japan,
regarding their forthcoming documentary dealing with Japanese war criminals
from Nagano Prefecture, the program to be titled,
"Death By Hanging". To complete the program,
the TV network was seeking surviving American prisoners of war who had spent
three years in the Japanese prison camp, Tokyo
2-D, known as Mitsushima in Nagano Prefecture.
The village of Mitsushima is
more properly identified as Hiraoka.
I agreed to
participate in the program, as there are only two survivors of that camp who
spent three years there including myself. The other
surviving former POW is Arvil Steele of Houston, Texas.
We two were among the 81 American POWs captured in the Philippines who entered Mitsushima late at night on Nov., 26,1942.
Reaching Japan aboard the Nagato
Maru, we were the first American shipment of Japan's
"slave labor" to arrive in that country. Only 13 American prisoners
remained in Mitsushima until Sept. 4,1945. Those who did not die in that camp were sent to a
carbide mine in Kanose,
Japan, in April
1944. The following day, Nov. 27, 1942, 183 British prisoners captured at Singapore
arrived. All but 13 of their number either died in the camp or were also
transferred to Kanose along with their fellow
American prisoners in 1944.
During the first
five months of captivity in Mitsushima, 48 allied
POWs died from diseases, starvation, or beatings. Dysentery and pneumonia were
the leading causes of their deaths. While diseases were rampant, medications to
treat them were non-existent. Food, such as it was, was hardly sufficient
nutritionally to rebuild one's strength, and the prisoners grew weaker by the
day. To compound the situation, all prisoners were required by the Japanese to
work, in ten day weeks, building a hydroelectric power dam.
Doing
"coolie" labor with "coolie" tools, we found ourselves
digging out the side of a mountain. The dam we helped build is one of Japan's four
major sources of power today. On top of sickness, you must add the brutality of
the Japanese guards. Initially guarded by active duty troops, the needs of
Japanese manpower to fight the war shortly dictated that such troops be
replaced with former soldiers, all of whom had been wounded by Chinese,
American, or British troops. While the active duty soldier was vicious, the
former wounded were even more so. It was their chance to strike back at those
who may have caused their loss of an arm, leg, or an eye. With both types of
guards, entire barracks of either, or both, American and British prisoners were
forced to stand outside the barracks, at attention, in below freezing
temperatures, all night. (Winters in Mitsushima,
where the elevation is well over 6,000 feet, were extremely harsh.)
As a result of
such brutalities and deprivations, charges were brought against a number of the
guards at the war's end. However, the most notorious guard of all, not only in Mitsushima, but in numerous other camps, was never brought
to trial. This guard, Watanabe or "The Bird" as he was nicknamed,
disappeared the day after the war ended and was never seen again, nor are his
whereabouts known to the SBC. This most vicious individual was sent to Mitsushima to "improve discipline",
and his only duty was to go from prison camp to prison camp to improve
discipline. "The Bird" obtained his name when he would sit in a
circular booth shaped much like a bird cage, in the middle of the camp and
watch the entire compound. Calling individual prisoners to his
"cage", he would beat them on the slightest pretext: "You did
not respond fast enough ...you did not bow correctly to a Japanese soldier
...you have a button open on your jacket." These charges were followed by
a severe beating about the head. Taking his orders only from Tokyo, he was completely uncontrollable by
even the camp commander.
The very first Yokohama war crimes trial war were held in 1946 to try the Mitsushima
guards. As a result of this trial, five Japanese guards, including the first
camp commander, Nakajima, were sentenced to death by hanging. Others received sentences
up to and including life imprisonment. None of these guards served more than
seven years in Sugamo prison, outside of Tokyo. Nearly all of
those convicted were from Nagano
Prefecture, hence SBC's
interest in doing a television documentary.
With some of the
war information available in Japan
to SBC, a full scale investigation was initiated by the network's freelance
writer, Mr. Takashi Higaki. A scenario of "Death
By Hanging" was sent to me for my perusal.
Fascinated by the Japanese lack of knowledge concerning what happened in Mitsushima, I agreed to participate. It was obvious from
their scenario that they were of the impression that all five guards had been
hastily executed, without sufficient proof of their guilt. (The trial of these
individuals lasted two years.)
As a result of the
executions, "the families of those executed are still bereaved." If
these men had to be executed, the scenario went on to say, "death by shooting" would have been preferred".
Also apparent in reading the scenario was the Japanese lack of knowledge of the
fighting in the Philippines
in World War II. They knew nothing about the fight for Bataan, the Bataan Death
March, or the prison camps where the American prisoners of Bataan
were held. Referring to Bataan, they knew it as Batan Island,
a small island off the coast of Luzon, far removed from Bataan Peninsula.
In late August
1990, the writer, Mr. Higaki, visited my home
accompanied by an interpreter, where he spent four hours obtaining the story of
the American prisoners in Mitsushima. Obviously
surprised at what he heard, he kept repeating "The Japanese people don't
know this." Completely ignorant of Bataan and its Death March (and he
honestly was) he offered to return to the United States with his program's
director, Mrs, Matsuyo Iwai
for filming in late October 1990. From my home, armed with a letter of
authorization from me, he went to the National Archives in Washington, DC,
where he retrieved copies of my depositions and of other prisoners used in the
trial.
True to his word, Higaki returned on Oct. 29, 1990, accompanied by the
director, a camera man, a sound man, and an interpreter. The filming of my
interview took over four hours. All during this filming, the director, Iwai,
also kept saying, "The Japanese people don't know this," and
"Would you like to tell your story in Japan?" I recalled the words
of Major Walter Hewitt, who had been with me in the early days of Mitsushima and who was a witness in the war crimes trial.
In a letter addressed to former American prisoners at Mitsushima,
he urged us to speak for those prisoners unable to speak for themselves, when
given the chance, I quickly accepted Iwai's offer to face the surviving
Japanese guards "eyeball to eyeball". While I certainly have empathy
for the widows of those executed, I felt ready to face them as well. The story
of what happened to the prisoners in Mitsushima has
been unknown to the Japanese for too long.
Before the
departure of the SBC crew, I accompanied them to East Syracuse, NY,
where they obtained the story of another American prisoner of Mitsushima, Matt Braun. Matt had left Mitsushima,
in April of 1944, when the main body of allied POWs were
relocated to Kanose. After leaving Matt, the
television people then went to New Jersey to
interview Dr. Paul Loong, captured at Singapore and
interned in Mitsushima in November 1942. Paul, who
became an American citizen after the war, left Mitsushima
with Matt Braun. Their stories of what had happened in Mitsushima,
while they were there, were exact copies of my story. From New
Jersey, the SBC crew traveled to Atlanta, GA,
to interview the widow of Dr. Alfred £. Weinstein, author of
"Barbed Were Surgeon," the latter part of which concerned Mitsushima.
In late February
1991, a call from SBC, in Japan,
gave me one week to prepare for my trip. I soon found myself flying nonstop
aboard a 747 from Newark Airport, in New Jersey,
to Narita Airport
outside of Tokyo.
Flying nonstop for such a distance brought to mind the many American lives lost
in an attempt by the American military to secure bombing bases nearer to Japan, while
giving the crews of the planes a reasonable chance to return safely from their
bombing runs.
Bored after better
than 14 hours of flying, our aircraft touched down in Narita Airport,
where I was greeted by the SBC crew who filmed my arrival. Anticipating a
stopover in Tokyo to recover from the flight, I
had a rude awakening when I found myself ushered to a train running from Narita Airport
to Tokyo's main
railroad station, about an hour's ride away. Here we had dinner in a terminal
restaurant while we waited for our train to depart. Boarding this train, we
rode for about 2-1/2 hours to Komoro
City, in Nagano,
arriving there about 9:30 p.m., Tokyo
time. By now I had been awake over 36 hours and the prospect of a warm bed on a
cold night was very appealing. That pleasure was postponed
when my hosts decided they were hungry and, after checking into a modern
Japanese European style hotel, we proceeded to have a very late meal in one of
a Japanese chain of restaurants named "Skylark", which resembled our
Howard Johnsons. Immaculately clean, with excellent food, they offered a wide
range of American style meals. Our hosts were not only hungry, but curious to
hear about Mitsushima from a prisoner's point of
view, and we remained in that restaurant until well after midnight.
After a very brief
night's rest, we began our travels through Japan. At 7:00 a.m., we
motored to a suburb of Komoro City
where "Little Glass Eye", a former guard sentenced to life in prison
whose Japanese name is Tsuchiya, lived. Given the nickname by the prisoners,
Tsuchiya was one of the worst guards,. He had lost his
eye in China
and was bitter to all POWs. The SBC crew told me, enroute
to "Little Glass Eye's" house, that he refused to see me, but that
they would try to get him outside his home for an interview with me. Arriving
at his home bright and early, I was wired with a miniature microphone and
recorder and advised not to mention his name on tape, should he decide to speak
to me. Apparently the identity of Tsuchiya without his
permission was illegal.
Little Glass Eye: "It looks
like we are shaking hands.... NO
WAY!"
While the camera
and sound men concealed themselves in a doorway nearby, our writer, Higaki, rang the doorbell and spoke to "Little Glass
Eye" through an intercom. I heard the same bellowing, threatening Japanese
voice that I had heard daily for three years coming through the intercom,
yelling that he did not want to see me. Higaki
finally calmed him down by explaining that I had "come all the way from
America to see you," Perhaps his curiosity got the best of him; he agreed
to come out of the house to meet with me. Before he did so, I was asked by Higaki to try to put Tsuchiya at ease, "since he is
somewhat afraid of you."
Finally, "Little
Glass Eye" emerged from the rear of the house. While 46 years have passed,
the recognition was instantaneous. Looking very well for a 74-year-old man (and
apparently well fed), he approached me somewhat apprehensively and with good
reason. Showing him my POW photograph, taken in early 1943, I asked him if he
remembered me. He not only claimed he did not remember me, he also failed to
remember any of the events that led to his conviction as a war criminal. Yet, a
look in his eye convinced me that he did remember me. Quite surprisingly, his
first comment came in the form of an apology for the treatment he had accorded
me in Mitsushima, but at no time did he ever mention
specifically the beatings he gave me and others. His only response when asked a
specific question was, "I was only following orders."
Prior to my
visiting Japan,
Tsuchiya had been questioned by SBC as to his part in the beating death of an
American prisoner named Gordon Teas. "Little Glass Eye" denied to SBC
that he was involved in the beatings, over a three day period, saying that he
was not in the camp at that time.
My testimony as an
eye witness to the beatings was part of the evidence that convicted him, along
with two others who took part in the beatings. "Little Glass Eye" had
insisted to the Japanese TV network that he was innocent. Yet, when I raised
the subject to him, his response was "My attorney told me to never discuss
the matter." Standing outside Tsuchiya's house, we all became quite cold
with the temperature around the freezing mark. "Little Glass Eye",
shivering in a light jacket and trousers, invited us into his house with the
admonition that he was living with relatives who knew nothing about his wartime
experiences and he wished to keep it that way. No sooner had he opened the
front door and invited us in, the sound and camera men came running into his
home. Sitting on a tatami mat, he and I talked about
the days and nights in Mitsushima. Each time I would
raise the subject of the Teas killing, I received the same answer, "My attorney...:' By this time I am sure that the SBC people
were aware that he had lied to them about his part in the case.
I then pursued the
subject of why, as the camp's supply officer, he refused to issue the several
hundred pairs of South African army boots, or high shoes as the Americans
called them. These boots had been delivered to the camp several days after our
arrival. Asking for the boots at the time of their delivery, we were told
"We will save them for you until you go home." I expected that
"Little Glass Eye" would tell the truth, that it would have been
demoralizing to the Japanese civilians to see us wearing excellent leather
shoes while they had to wear a Japanese canvas sneaker, called a "tabi". Instead, "Little Glass Eye" lied once
more and said that tabis were safer for us to work in
than the hobnail boots. The many prisoners who had rocks fall on their feet
would dispute that claim. When "Little Glass Eye" distributed the tabis to the prisoners he issued one size-small. When our
big-footed American and British would complain about the size, "Little
Glass Eye" would scream at them and beat them about the head with his
wooden sword, a very mean weapon considering the hardwood of which it was made.
Men unable to wear these tabis went to work with
their feet wrapped in gunny sack. Walking through puddles of ice water in the
numerous tunnels leading to and from their work site, they often caught colds
which led to pneumonia. Eventually some of these men died from such exposure
and their deaths can be attributed to "Little Glass Eye." He did a
lot of explaining, but he was not specific about anything. After a 30-minute
meeting, we left Tsuchiya's house, with him following us to our van. I always
felt he was anxious to see us go and wanted to make sure we had left town.
The picture above is of the prison
guards in Mitsushima,
Japan. Sitting
in the center of the first row are two officers. The one on the left was Capt. Sukeo Nakajima. The other officer was Lt. Kubo. Lt. Kubo
eventually took over command of Mitsushima, because
of the high death rate under Capt. Nakajima. Capt. Nakajima was executed by
hanging. The one to the left of Lt. Kubo was Matsuzaki,
"Scareface". He was executed by hanging. To
the left of Matsuzaki, was Tamotsu Kimura, "The
Punk". Kimura was executed by hanging. Major Richard Gordon witnessed
Kimura beat to death one of the POWs. In the last row, directly over
Capt. Nakajima, was Sadaharu Hiramatsu,
"Big Glass Eye". Hiramatsu was executed by
hanging.
Somewhat
disappointed, I apologized to the SBC people for slipping once and referring to
"Little Glass Eye" as Tsuchiya. Have no fear, I was told, once he admitted us into his house that barrier had
been removed. They could now identify him publicly for the first time. Having
him on tape seemed to make SBC very happy.
Down through the
mountainous area of Nagano, we made our way to lida
City, where another
former guard, Kitazawa, lived. While Kitazawa had never served in the military
due to polio, he did serve as a civilian bookkeeper for the camp during the
first year of its existence. The SBC, knowing he had testified on behalf of
those accused, invited him to be part of the documentary. While he and I had a
long conversation, the gist of it remained that the Japanese accused were only
following orders from higher authorities in their treatment of prisoners. On
camera he did say that in the eyes of the Japanese, all POWs were considered
animals and were to be treated as animals. His honesty was refreshing. He also
added, however, that "Japan
is a racist nation which has to change its way of thinking." Showing the
numerous photographs he had taken as the camp's photographer during the war,
the SBC crew set about filming his photos, while I filed away his comments
concerning the Japanese opinion of prisoners of war. We then spent this night
in a true Japanese inn in the mountains near Mitsushima.
Early the next
morning we drove to Mitsushima, where I had spent
three very hard years of my life. Touring the dam site brought a multitude of
memories, mostly bad ones. All that remained of Tokyo Prison Camp 2-D is a
field that was once used for our tenko roll call
formations, and where numerous beatings of the prisoners took place in front of
the entire assembly of prisoners.
I recalled vividly
the night I was beaten on that field by the camp commander, Nakajima, and
placed into the ASO (solitary confinement cell resembling a large coffin)
inside of the Japanese administration building. My offense was that I was in
charge of a detail who had refused to do more work
than our camari (contract) which the Japanese had
called for. The Japanese in our camp felt they could obtain more work from
their prisoners by setting a work quota. As a reward, the prisoners were
allowed to return to their barracks upon completion of the contract, which in
extremely cold weather was a great incentive. Unfortunately, once back in camp,
the interior guards found work for the returning prisoners. In this one
particular case, our work was completed. Being democratic Americans, we took a
vote on doing additional work as proposed by our guard. Upon his learning that
the prisoners intended to stick to the work agreement, he reported to the camp
commander that we had refused to work. I never could understand the position of
my fellow Americans on that vote, considering I received the punishment for
their stance. The parade ground, as it once was known, is now a soccer field
for a primary school, whose students are totally unaware of its history.
After relating my
accounts of the camp as best I remembered them, we visited the railroad station
high above the campsite. I remembered our arrival at that station on a pitch
black night, after a two day train ride from Moji in late November 1942.
Dressed in shorts cut down from our tropical trousers and short sleeve shirts,
cut down, we shivered for hours attempting to find warmth that night, without
success. Somewhere before our one car electric train arrived in Mitsushima, a snow slide occurred which blocked one of the
several tunnels our train had to travel. Stymied at first, we sat in a freezing
cold train for some time. Finally the word was passed to all, for us to detrain
and climb over the mountain to the other side of the tunnel where another
electric car awaited us.
Climbing a steep
hill that night, unable to see where one was going, tested the physical
condition of every prisoner on the train. As for me, my legs gave out somewhere
near the top of the hill. If it had not been for the help of a fellow prisoner,
Bill Standish of Chicago,
I would have remained on that hill. Several men failed to make the climb and
were never seen again.
From the interview
at the railroad station, we went a short distance, to the cremation site for
the prisoners, sitting high on the side of a hill. To locate the site, a local
Japanese guide was obtained. Mr. Masami Teradaira, a
former Japanese army sergeant in charge of the Chinese prisoners who also
worked in building the dam, guided us up a narrow path no wider than two feet.
While 85 years old, Teradaira was as nimble as a
mountain goat. As for the rest of us, we were grasping at vegetation along the
path to maintain our footing.
Arriving at the
cremation site, we were told what to me was the most amazing
story of my trip to Japan.
Teradaira, on camera and audio, readily told
us that due to a shortage of wood during the war, the remains of the prisoners
"cremated" at the site truly never had been cremated. Further, that
wood ashes were retrieved and brought back to camp as the ashes of the dead.
Unable to completely cremate the cadavers, the skulls and bones of countless
soldiers - Chinese, British and American - were swept over the side of the hill
into a ravine. Those remains, however, were left laying
in the open at the cremation site until about 1974 when it was learned that a
Chinese delegation was going to visit the site for the purpose of erecting a
monument to their dead. The visit brought about a cleanup of the area and the
sweeping away of the skulls and bones. From all indications, all or some of
those remains are still in that ravine, laying under
the vegetation added through the years by countless snow slides. I found this
story incredible and kept asking, "Are the remains still here?" The
answer from our guide was that one couldn't tell the difference between Chinese
and American bones if you looked for them. After returning to the United States,
I set about to ascertain what our official Army records indicated had happened.
Having the names, ranks and serial numbers of 16 of those American who had died
in the camp and were "cremated", the Army responded that 15 of the 16
were accounted for when their "ashes" were returned to our government
in 1946. The Army did add, however, "that a great deal of confusion
existed at the time. "Further check with Japanese
friends from my trip revealed that "Those bones, mostly Chinese. were collected at the site are now laid in Zeakorji Temple, in Nagano."
There is some question as to what percentage of bones and skulls were
recovered. It is highly probable that some of the remains are still on that
mountain. The entire story, however, leaves open the question of what ashes
were returned to this country. The official U.S. Army records state that the
ashes of the dead American prisoners were given to the senior American prisoner
and he returned them to U.S.
authorities. That senior American prisoner at the time was a Dr. Alfred E.
Weinstein, author of "Barbed Wire Surgeon." In his book, Weinstein
never mentions the ashes of dead American prisoners. Further, this writer
accompanied Al Weinstein out of Mitsushima and he had
no such item as ashes of our dead. (Unfortunately, Dr. Weinstein died a number
of years ago.)
Asked my feelings
about the site of the cremation and what we had been told by our guide, I
responded, "Kitazawa, yesterday, stated we were like animals and to be
treated as animals. Now I know what he meant. How else can one explain the
treatment of honorable soldiers whose remains are thrown away like garbage." From that time on, I refused to talk to Teradaira, whose animosity, towards Americans was very
evident. The callousness of his story telling will remain with me.
From here we drove
across the Tenryu River, which winds its way along
the campsite, to visit Mrs. Hisae Hiramatsu, widow of
a Japanese guard we had the nickname "Big Glass Eye'. He had lost his eye
in China
as did "Little Glass Eye". While very a strict soldier, I never saw
him doing anything more than slap a prisoner for some violation of the camp
rules. (This type of corporal punishment was very common within the Japanese
army.) I was unaware of his death until about 1980, and quite surprised to hear
of his execution as a war criminal, as were fellow prisoners Braun and Loong.
During our visit
to Hiramatsu's widow, we were shown her two prize
mementos: her husband's medal which he had won in China, and his glass eye taken from
him after his execution. The meeting, with Mrs. Hiramatsu,
was a most traumatic experience. This woman, and her family, still grieves over
"Big Glass Eye's" death. I was asked to read a letter her husband had
written to her shortly before his execution (which had been translated into
English by the SBC for my benefit). Hiramatsu had
asked her not to take her own life-and the lives of their three children, but
to live for the children. I believe that some of the crimes of "Little
Glass Eye" were attributed to "Big Glass Eye and said as much. Stoic
as Hiramatsu was, he went to his death without any
attempt to find an alibi. To my knowledge, provided me
by those who were in constant attendance at the trial, Hiramatsu
was the only Japanese guard accused who admitted to striking a prisoner.
Widow and Grand Childred
of Hiramatsu - Big Glass Eye, with
Maj. Richard M. Gordon
"Big
Glass Eye's" son. who bears a striking resemblance to
his father, told me that the Japanese people were also hungry during the war
and that we in camp had a vegetable garden, which was true. What the son did
not know, and I was quick to tell him, was that we knew the Japanese civilians
were hungry, but we did not eat the vegetable grown. The Japanese guards did
that for us.
Initially bitter
towards me, the Hiramatsu family soon became
friendly, and with true Japanese hospitality, brought out a great variety of
food. After a several-hour visit, we departed with an invitation from Mrs. Hiramatsu for me to return to her home at any time. She
stated to the television crew. "The soul of my dead husband must be very
happy to see Mr. Gordon come from so far away." Any anger towards me had
vanished by the time I left the Hiramatsu house. I
truly feel sorry for this woman and her family, Raising her three children in
post-war Japan was extremely difficult for her, taunted as the children of a
war criminal by their classmates, her children found life very difficult for a
number of years. I am bothered by the possibility that her husband was innocent
and paid the supreme sacrifice for "Little Glass Eye", who had been
asked by the writer, Higaki, "How do you feel
about living when Hiramatsu died?" "Little
Glass Eye" became furious with the question and responded, "How dare
you ask me such a question!"
Our next stop
after a night's rest in Shiojiri
City, a railroad town, was the city of
Hiroshima.
After several hours aboard two trains, including the Japanese bullet train from
Osaka to Hiroshima,
we visited the relatives of the second camp commander, Lt. Kubo. Lt. Kubo had
been arrested at the end of the war, but several of us, knowing he was innocent
of any crime, testified in his behalf. His family never forgot this and has
always expressed their gratitude to me and others who assisted their father.
Kubo, it must be said, did everything in his power to treat his prisoners in a
humane fashion. Unfortunately, his hands were tied. At no time did he ever
abuse a prisoner or knowingly allow the abuse of a prisoner. When told of such
abuse. he would punish the Japanese offender, except
for "The Bird" who took orders only from Tokyo.
Before meeting the
Kubo family at the Riverside Hotel, in Hiroshima,
I was taken to Hiroshima's Peace Park
and Museum. The museum, a true horror show, vividly depicts what the atom bomb
did to the city and its people. I learned through our interpreter, a fine lady,
named Hideki Kondou who had spent four years in the United States as an exchange student, that every
junior and senior high school student in Japan
must visit Hiroshima
during their school years. It is a mandatory part of each Japanese student's
curriculum. I know of nothing that could foster anti Americanism more than this
requirement, despite Heidi's comments to the contrary when I raised this issue
with her. To offset this, we Americans could mandate that every student in our
high schools visit Pearl Harbor. But knowing
the modern American student's lack of American military history, I doubt such a
trip would offer more than a chance for the student to swim at Hawaii's beaches.
I was asked to
examine each exhibit, set in a circular fashion in the museum, with the SBC's
camera focused on any reactions I might show. Upon completing the tour, I was
put on camera and asked the question I expected. "What do you think of the
crime your country committed here?" Recognizing my anger at the question,
my interpreter apologized for asking it. stating she
merely worked for SBC as part time interpreter. I explained that the bomb was
not only necessary, but that it saved Japanese as well as American lives,
especially my life as a prisoner, as we fully expected to be put to death, if
American should have invaded Japan.
Not satisfied with
my answer, they repeated the question. Fortunately, as I toured the museum, I
had read a placard on an exhibit at the beginning of the tour, which read:
"In 1941, Japan as well as the United States was working out an atomic
bomb, but gave up on it as Japan felt that no country could complete such an
undertaking during the war..." Armed with that information, previously
unknown to me, my answer to their prime question was in the form of a question.
'If Japan had continued
their work on an atom bomb and completed it during the war, would Japan have
dropped it on Americans?" The answer is a positive
"yes." From that point on, the question of "America's
crime" never surfaced again.
On the following
day, after a totally pleasant visit with the Kubo family, we left by train for Osaka. where we boarded a
flight to Tokyo and then to Manila, Philippines, where the SBC crew learned a
great deal about Bataan, the Death March, and the "hell hole," Camp
O'Donnell, where the marchers of Bataan were finally taken. It was here that I
had to admit that O'Donnell was a hundred times worse than Mitsushima,
which it was. I assured the film crew, however, that the conditions at
O'Donnell were created by the Japanese. We also had the opportunity here to
point out the stories of the hell ships. Japanese transports taking the
prisoners from the Philippines
to Japan and Manchuria. In particular, we pointed out how Japanese
sailors in lifeboats, after their ship was sunk, would reach for an American
prisoner in the water swimming to the boat, and then, using a boat hook, hold
the prisoner's head under the water until he drowned. I know the SBC film crew
learned more about what happened in the Philippines and enroute
to Japan than they had ever known.
Returning to the United States after an eight day tour of Japan and the Philippines, I questioned my role
in the making of "Death By Hanging". Did I
accomplish what I had set out to do? The broadcast, set for May 25,1991, as I write this, will provide the final answer. While
on camera over 50 hours, I am not so naive as to think that everything I said
that may be detrimental to the Japanese will be heard or seen. However, I am
firmly convinced that Hagaki and Iwai are both
sincere in their stated goal of insuring that their people, especially the
young, know what happened in Tokyo Prison Damp 2-D, Mitsushima,
Japan, from 1942-1945, as well as what took place on Bataan and the prison
camps for Bataan's survivors.
It was an
opportunity for me to speak for so many who could not speak for themselves. It
is my sincere hope that I did right by them.
Maj. Richard M.
Gordon
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