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Posted: 1/27/2006 5:05:35 PM EDT
I thought you all might be able to appreciate this photo. I took it on Tuesday at the site of the Cabanatuan WWII POW/slave labor camp in the Philippines. Chuck went through it (as did my grandfather), and is pictured here, finding the name of a friend on the memorial to those that died in the camp. Chuck is an extraordinary man. After having survived two slave labor camps, he was on the hell ship Oryoku Maru when it sank in Subic Bay. Many prisoners swam to shore, but Chuck made the trip over and over, saving those that were not able to make it on their own. He only stopped when he was too exhausted to continue. Many people owe their lives to this man.
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Posted: 1/27/2006 5:08:46 PM EDT
[#1]
These guys truly were the Greatest Generation.
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Posted: 1/27/2006 5:10:28 PM EDT
[#2]
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Posted: 1/27/2006 5:14:07 PM EDT
[#3]
we owe an unpayable debt to these men
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Posted: 1/27/2006 5:40:26 PM EDT
[#4]
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Posted: 1/27/2006 5:43:26 PM EDT
[#5]
WW2?
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Posted: 1/27/2006 5:45:10 PM EDT
[#6]
Yup. Did you see the movie The Great Raid? This was the camp in the movie. |
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Posted: 1/27/2006 5:45:52 PM EDT
[#7]
bump..............
'cause that's the best picture I've seen all day |
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Posted: 1/27/2006 5:46:12 PM EDT
[#8]
Yes. If the story holds water, Chuck Norris ain't got shit on that man. A true Hero. |
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Posted: 1/27/2006 5:47:23 PM EDT
[#9]
Havn't seen that yet. I'll have to check it out since my grandfather fought in the Pacific in 1943-44. In all honesty I thought this was another Chuck Norris thread. 
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Posted: 1/27/2006 5:49:09 PM EDT
[#10]
Excellent post. Thank him for all of us.
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Posted: 1/27/2006 5:50:55 PM EDT
[#11]
All honorable men; truly, the greatest generation.
Sadly, those who were witness to this era are dying off and history is being rewritten by those that want to change it to something it was not. We must not forget; record their memories. This piece of history will eventually disappear. Thank your Grandfather for me for his service to our great country! |
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Posted: 1/27/2006 5:53:07 PM EDT
[#12]
My great uncle was in a POW camp for 18 years. He died a couple of years ago and no one knows the details because he NEVER talked about it. We know that 40-something men went in, two survived. He was 6'1" and 90 pounds when he got out.
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Posted: 1/27/2006 5:57:42 PM EDT
[#13]
i thought the same for a second there, I was looking to see Chuck Norris' name photoshopped in on the wall or something |
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Posted: 1/27/2006 5:58:43 PM EDT
[#14]
My grandfather died a week ago today at age 81. He was severly wounded during the Normandy invasion and suffered pain his whole life. He did not complain, and he had eternal admiration for the flag he was wounded under. Men like Chuck and my grandfather were truly great men, and deserve to be remembered.
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Posted: 1/27/2006 6:01:43 PM EDT
[#15]
Your 100% correct. So what happened? |
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Posted: 1/27/2006 6:04:02 PM EDT
[#16]
This kind of post, unlike the "I just bought some ammo at Wal-Mart... duh huh huh" post, is why I keep coming back here every night.
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Posted: 1/27/2006 6:08:18 PM EDT
[#17]
Chuck. Thank you for your service and sacrifice.
_________________  |
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Posted: 1/27/2006 6:09:11 PM EDT
[#18]
How did it happen he was in so long? What War and Camp? |
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Posted: 1/27/2006 6:10:08 PM EDT
[#19]
Unfortunately, my grandfather is listed on The Tablets of the Missing, at the Manila American Cemetery. He died aboard the Japanese hell ship Arisan Maru, torpedoed on Oct 24, 1944. Of the 1,800 prisoners on board, eight survived. It remains the largest loss of American life of any military sinking in history. Tablets of the missing:  
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Posted: 1/27/2006 6:11:03 PM EDT
[#20]
I suddenly feel very small.
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Posted: 1/27/2006 6:13:59 PM EDT
[#21]
My Grandfather passed away last year at 93. He served in Australia / New Zealand during WW2. He was a great man with a real sense of purpose in life. God Bless yours and mine! They were willing to risk it all and they did. Thank you grandfather and tell him how much you love him. I really miss my Pop-Pop. I think he had a greater appreciation for his life because of what he went through.
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Posted: 1/27/2006 6:15:32 PM EDT
[#22]
Now that man is a role model.
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Posted: 1/27/2006 6:24:22 PM EDT
[#23]
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Posted: 1/27/2006 6:40:00 PM EDT
[#24]
And all he got was a bronze star? |
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Posted: 1/27/2006 6:46:20 PM EDT
[#25]
I just finished reading Ghost Soldiers. Holy shit, I can't believe he was actually on Oryoku Maru. They were lucky ANYBODY made it off that fucking scow.
If you guys haven't read the book, I mean, I don't know how to say this. The boat was bombed by American aircraft and the prisoners literally swam out the hole the bomb made in the side of the ship as it was sinking. I mean damn... just read the book! |
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Posted: 1/27/2006 6:50:49 PM EDT
[#26]
I read about Lance Sijan the other night...and I read about Chuck today.
When I put on my uniform I have tears of pride and loss...pride at being lucky enough to wear the same uniform, that of a United States fighting man, and loss at the price to paid, by some such men...a lifetime of pain, death by starvation and torture, fear, abandonment. Chuck was lucky to survive; the tablets filled with names in small font are testimony the multitudes that did not. "Where do we get such men?" |
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Posted: 1/27/2006 9:15:46 PM EDT
[#27]
Duke,
Part of the reason I was there was for the dedication of the Hell Ships Memorial on Subic Bay. The memorial is in the picture below, and the Oryoku Maru lies about 500 yards to the left of the photo. A group of us went out in a boat, had a small ceremony, and laid wreaths in the water above the ship. 
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Posted: 1/28/2006 5:27:04 AM EDT
[#28]
Frosty, I had no idea they were even doing that. I don't know whether to thank you for participating in it, or call you a name because you got to be there and I wasn't.
I guess you honored us all by your participation, and you yourself were honored by being able to participate. Men like Chuck inspire people whom they will never meet. One day, if I ever have children, I will tell them the story of Cabanatuan. It will scare the crap out of them! But I will make sure the lesson that they learn is to never, ever, give up, no matter what. |
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Posted: 2/2/2006 10:17:17 AM EDT
[#29]
Update : I just found out that Chuck passed away on Jan 30th. It is a bit of a surprise to me, as he was looking very good when I was with him a week earlier. It is sad to think that another great WWII veteran and hero to me is gone.
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Posted: 2/2/2006 10:35:47 AM EDT
[#30]
R.I.P. Chuck,
you can go home now. |
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Posted: 2/2/2006 10:48:08 AM EDT
[#31]
In those days, and amognst those men, "uncommon valor" was "common." I suspect you had to do more in those day to earn a medal. That being the case, his Bronze Star was a BIG deal. And absolutely none of them were seeking fame or glory. No disrespect indended to our present generation of heros. |
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Posted: 2/2/2006 10:49:23 AM EDT
[#32]
Finally an honest to God good reason for owning photoshop. |
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Posted: 2/2/2006 10:57:11 AM EDT
[#33]
He is a true red blooded American hero.
Not like those dumb sports numb nuts that people now days call "hero"  . |
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Posted: 2/2/2006 11:02:27 AM EDT
[#34]
Lance was a bad MoFo, I asked a POW about him and he seemed a little bumbed that Capt S. did what he did, I asked why and hew said he didnt return with the rest of us. 
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Posted: 2/2/2006 11:02:41 AM EDT
[#35]
his generation truly was the greatest generation.
today's Americans harbor a sense of entitlement my grandfather served in WWII, lived through the depression, and never felt like anyone owed him anything. what happened to us? |
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