|
|
How Marine POWs Hung ToughBy Gregory J. W. Urwin | World War II | 10 comments | Print This Post | Email This Post Still fit and trim at forty-one, Brown possessed a dynamic personality and impeccable military bearing. “He always had on [a] polished Sam Brown belt, in full ‘Greens’ and shined shoes, neatly shaven and a well-trimmed ‘Ronald Coleman’ moustache,” marveled Pfc. Jack R. Williamson. Brown made it clear to both the North China and Wake marines that they still belonged to the Marine Corps, POWs or not. “We are a military organization,” he preached, “and I intend to see that we remain one. To do that, there must be discipline.” In the prewar Marine Corps, Brown was known as “Handbook” Brown for authoring The Marine’s Handbook, the enlisted man’s primary guide to service life. He was as tough as he was savvy. When one imprisoned leatherneck responded to a reprimand by snarling, “Goddamn the Marine Corps!” the major laid him out with a roundhouse punch to the face. Subscribe Today
Brown demonstrated the same indomitableness in dealing with the Japanese. Among Brown’s most prized possessions was a U.S. Army training manual, The Rules for Land Warfare, which contained excerpts from the Geneva Convention on the proper treatment of POWs. Whenever his keepers violated the convention, Brown would march into the commandant’s office to file a forceful and authoritative protest. “He never quit trying to make life better for us,” remembered Cpl. Terence S. Kirk. “Every time I saw him heading for a conference with the Japs, he clutched his international law book like a preacher going to church with a bible.” Brown never showed the Japanese the slightest hint of fear. When an enemy interpreter slapped him in the face in the presence of the camp commandant, the marine major promptly decked him. On another occasion, Brown disarmed a different interpreter who was drawing his samurai sword to behead Sir Mark Young, the British governor-general of Hong Kong. In another camp, such gestures would have earned Brown a summary execution, but authorities at Shanghai were either too impressed or intimidated by his courage to punish him. Brown’s heroic exertions were supported by Maj. James Devereux, the commander of the Wake marines. “Hidden behind the routine, under the surface of life in prison camp was fought a war of wills for moral supremacy—an endless struggle, as bitter as it was unspoken, between the captors and the captives,” Devereux recounted. “The stake seemed to me simply this: the main objective of the whole Japanese prison program was to break our spirit, and on our side was a stubborn determination to keep our self-respect whatever else they took from us.” A notorious martinet before the war, Devereux continued to insist on the strict observance of military courtesy within his captured detachment. “Our morale was good,” he declared, “so much different from some of these places I heard about, because I insisted on military courtesy. As a result of having the respect of the men, we could more properly represent them to the Japanese, and insist upon certain things we thought we were entitled to.” Devereux also did everything in his power to preserve his marines’ sense of group identity and loyalty. “This is a unit,” he would say. “This is the 1st Marine Defense Battalion, Wake Island Detachment. This is a group.” On another occasion, Devereux told his men, “I don’t need to threaten you. You’re still marines. Act like it.” Yearning for the day when Allied troops would liberate Shanghai and the Wake marines could reenter the war, Devereux had an enlisted clerk draw up a complete order of battle, assigning every officer and man to a specific battery and combat assignment. Devereux did not hesitate to employ harsher means in his struggle to maintain order. When one of Devereux’s corporals started a fistfight with a sergeant, Devereux had the Japanese place the corporal in solitary confinement. He then assembled his marines and warned, “I will sacrifice a few of you to get the rest of you back.” Pages: 1 2 3 4 5Help HistoryNet by bookmarking to
            Tags: 20th - 21st Century, Historical Conflicts, World War II
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||
What is HistoryNet?The HistoryNet.com is brought to you by the Weider History Group, the world's largest publisher of history magazines. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 5,000 articles originally published in our various magazines. If you are interested in a specific history subject, try searching our archives, you are bound to find something to pique your interest. |
From Our Magazines
|
Weider History Group |
Weider History Network: HistoryNet | Armchair General | Great History | Achtung Panzer! Terms of Use | Copyright © 2009 Weider History Group. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. |
||
Loading ...
10 Comments to “How Marine POWs Hung Tough”
SEMPER FI, BROTHERS .
By otto11 on Jun 17, 2008 at 7:37 pm
What more is there to say?
The Few, The Proud, The Marines.
I hope my son grows up to be a Marine.
By Tim on Jun 27, 2008 at 4:32 pm
I want to thank all the amreicans at that time for their hardwork in liberating our
country…
By Unknown on Jul 1, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Thank GOD for our “Greatest” generation! My personal belief is that the entire generation was 10 times tougher than the present group of wusses that call themselves Americans. As far as the Mairines losing less men they are just some bad men………
By rsmith68 on Jan 3, 2009 at 6:51 pm
Just read ghost soldiers about the US prisoners liberated by the rangers on luzon.
What a shame macarthur vetoed a similar jailbreak for 2400 australian soldiers at sandakan,north borneo.
And shameful that we executed general homma but the man probably most responsible for the death march general tsuji escaped punsihment,later served in the parliament and was unrepentant about his crimes.
Shame macarthur,shame.
But a great book.
By humphrey on Jan 20, 2009 at 4:36 am
how didnt they survuve were they in the way
By domonique bazemore on Jan 27, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Read about the Marines who were sent to Mukden Manchuria. Arriving on Nov 11, 1942, these great American Heroes- Marines, AirCorps and Sailors stood in freezing weather in this infamous POW slave labor camp. A recently published story entitle Undaunted Valor details the horrendous activities of these abandoned and forgotten National Treasures. They survived the Death March, the slopes of Corregidor and Cabanatuan and O’Donnell. They survivied the Tottori Maru. Arrivivng in tattered threads from their worn uniforms, they were provided with Japanese summer uniforms where the thermometer seldom moved above minus 22 until March. They had to walk 6 miles in this tundra like weather. Performing slave labor tasks, they fought back the only way possible. Sabotague. In the summer of 43, they were relocated to the new camp in Mukden, (now the city of Shenyang. Two hundred of these heroes died during the first 90 days. In June of 43, three men, two Marines and one Sailor escaped and evaded capture for a couple of weeks. Betrayed by the Chinese, they were brought back to camp and executed in July 43. The men continued their frugal existence. Most weighed below 100 – but didnt realize how bad they looked – why- they all appeared the same.
On Dec 7, 1944, American B29’s bombed the camp and killed 19 men and wounding 54. Bob Brown an Air Corp PFC and medic helped save the lives of those wounded in this tragic error. ByJan 45, the war in Europe was coming to a conclusion, and FDR allowed the3 Russians to sing treaties that would enable them to declare war against the Japanese. By May of 45,with the war over, our focus was back in the Pacific. This area abandoned initially by Marshall and FDR was now the last bastion againt fascism. In May, Gen wainright and other senior officers were in the Mukden area camps. Early that month, most of the seniors were sent to the main amp in Mukden and in August, the OSS team Cardinal was assigned to parachute into the camp area and liberate these men. Hours from execution, their lives were saved on the 16th of Aug and on Aug 20, 1945, the men were freed by the Russian Army. Over the next few weeks, the camp survivors were on their way home. Marines like Roy Weaver, Glenn Stewart had survived. tragically on the way home, SGt Wm Frisier 4th Marines was killed when his ship hit a Japanese mine.
These men have never told their story until the narrative Undaunted Valor was published this past Sept 08.
These men although surrendered and captured were never defeated,. Many returned to serve in Korea and a few in Viet Nam. Today, they meet annually as the Mukden Survivors and Edescendants Group. They along with their fellow service men and woman changed the course of the war. They had given our nation the time to keep the enemy from invading Austraila and allowed MacArthur and our country to reinforce Australia. Most importantly halted the Japanese advance. Yes, they had been surrendered by their officers, but had stopped the Japanese in the Philippines. They were invaded hours after Pearl Harbor- but no one celebrates nor commemorates their great courage and sacrifice.
God Bless these great American Heroes-
By Shelly Zimbler on Jan 29, 2009 at 4:52 pm
thank you allyou brave men. thanks to you i live in freedom today.
By mike cox on Apr 13, 2009 at 4:28 pm
“Not one of the 650 Americans who died on the Death March was a member of the U.S. Marine Corps.” Need I say more?
By Matthew Harper on Apr 24, 2009 at 3:52 pm
All the best from the son of Captive 1210
By Maurice A Christie on Oct 2, 2009 at 4:11 pm