<Temple ICAS Special Program> Dialogue with Former US Prisoners of War in Japan 2015

Robert Dujarric Announcement
Location
Japan
Subject Fields
American History / Studies, Japanese History / Studies, Political History / Studies, Social History / Studies, World History / Studies

​W​e are happy to invite you a special event with nine former American prisoners of war who are visiting Japan at the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. ​
​​This program by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, entitled “2015 The Japanese/POW Friendship Program”, seeks to promote of mutual understanding between the Japanese and American people by inviting former American POWs and their caregivers to Japan as a gesture of reconciliation. The program started in 2010.​
​ We are honored to be able to host them again for five consecutive years.​
​​

•Date: Wednesday,October 14, 2015
•Time: Program starts at 6:30 p.m. (Door opens: 6:15 p.m.)
•Venue:​ ​Temple University, Japan Campus,Mita 5F
(access: http://www.tuj.ac.jp/maps/tokyo.html)
•Speakers:​ ​9 former US prisoners of war
•Moderator:​ ​Robert Dujarric, ICAS Director
•Admission: Free (Open to general public)
•Language: English
•RSVP:icas@tuj.temple.edu
* If you RSVP you are automatically registered.  If possible, we ask you to RSVP but we always welcome participants even you do not RSVP.

Speakers​' profile​s

LELAND CHANDLER, 92, lives in Galesburg, Illinois. Mr. Chandler was born on January 3, 1923, in Table Grove in Illinois. He served with the 60th Coast Artillery anti-aircraft regiment on Corregidor Island. After he was surrendered he was sent to Camp Cabanatuan until Oct. 1942. In Nov. 1942, Mr. Chandler was shipped to Japan with 1481 other American POWs aboard the hell ship Nagata Maru. Thirteen men perished at sea, but conditions aboard were so bad that 198 more men died in the first 90 days in Japan.Initially, Mr. Chandler worked as a slave-laborer in the Yodogawa Steel Mill in Osaka. He was later transferred to Oeyama POW camp where he labored as a stevedore at Miyaza Harbor for 8-10 months prior to the war's end. He was liberated on Sept. 10, 1945 at Yokohama. Following the war, he worked as a firefighter and retired as Fire Chiefin 1974 and has been married to Ruth Chandler for 66 years.

WILLIAM HOWARD CHITTENDEN, resides in Wheaton, Illinois.  Mr. Chittenden was born on May 16, 1920, and grew up in Chillicothe, MO. He enlisted in United States Marine Corps. Mr. Chittenden was captured on December 8, 1941 at the United States Embassy of Peking, China. He was then moved to Woosung, then Kiangwan (both near Shanghai). In August 1943, he was moved to a steel mill at Kawasaki. There he was put to work for unloading freight ships in Niigata. Mr. Chittenden was placed on a hell ship and sent to Kobe from Shanghai Chiang. Then he was moved to Niigata in June 1945. There he was put to work as a lathe operator and grinder operator until the end of war. After the war ended, Mr. Chittenden went to Notre Dame on the GI Bill and worked for 32 years for quality Sears & Roebuck.

CARL DYER, resides in Oglesby, Illinois. Mr. Dyer was born on September 27, 1924. He enlisted in U.S. Army. Mr. Dyer was stationed in the Philippines at Fort William McKinley in the 12 Supply Company. He was captured on May 6, 1942 at Corregidor. After the surrender of Corregidor he was taken to Cabanatuan Camp 3. In Nov. 1942 he was sent to Japan with 1481 other American POWs aboard the hell ship Nagato Maru.  Three hundred ninety six of those men died in Japan, most in the first months after arrival.  Mr. Dyer was first sent to Tanagawa Camp. He was put to work for making shipping break water structures there. He was then moved to a sulfur mill in Osaka to work as a carbon factory laborer. Later he was moved to Tsuruga camp 3 where he unloaded ships coming into Japan. He was liberated from Tsuruga Camp on August 9, 1945. After the War ended, Mr. Dyer worked as a brick yard laborer at Lowell and Caterpillar Manufacturing.

ARTHUR GRUENBERG, 94, lives in Camano Island, Washington. Mr. Gruenberg was born on October 30, 1921, in New York State. He served with L Co of the 4th Marines and was surrendered at Corregidor on May 6, 1942. Mr. Gruenberg was first taken to Cabanatuan Camp #3 and then to Cabanatuan Camp #1. In July 1944, Mr. Gruenberg along with 1540 other POWs, was taken aboard the hell ship Nissyo Maru to Japan. Mr. Gruenberg was held at Fukuoka #7B, Futase, also known as Shin-Iizuka Japan, and worked as a forced laborer in a mine until the end of the war. He became blind in one eye due to lack of vitamin A.  After liberation he had eye surgery and spent a year in the hospital.  He subsequently reenlisted, served in the Korean War and was discharged in 1952.  Mr. Gruenberg spent several years working for the Denver Water Dept. in Winter Park, Co., then started his own construction company doing excavation and installation of water and sewer lines.  He continued in this business after moving to Seattle in 1966, retiring in 1980.  Mr. Gruenberg met and married his wife in Washington DC in 1947, has two daughters and  two grandchildren in college.  He has been active in the Kiwanis, VFW, DAV and the AXPOW organizations.  This will be his first trip to Japan since liberation.

GEORGE HIRSCHKAMP, resides in Sandpoint, Idaho. Mr. Hirschkamp was born on July 7, 1920 and grew up in Germany and came to the United States when he was eight years old.  He enlisted in U.S. Marines and was sent to China in 1939. Mr. Hirschkamp was captured on Pearl Harbor Day at the U.S. embassy in Peking. He was then taken to Tientsin and then to Woosung.  After that he was taken by a boat to Japan and was sent to several camps around Sapporo. There he was put to work as a coal miner. He was liberated from Camp Hakodate . After the war he took advantage of the G.I. Bill to study mechanical engineering, landed a job with International Harvester and moved on to the Ford plant, where he retired in 1980 with a full pension. He was married for 62 years until his wife Lorraine passed away.

GEORGE ROGERS, 96, resides in Lynchburg, Virginia. Mr. Rogers was born on Apr 18, 1919 in St. Louis, Missouri. He was originally a member of the 4th Chemical Company but was made an infantryman with the 31st Inf Regt (US) on Bataan. Mr. Rogers was captured in Philippines in Apr. 1942. He survived the Death March, Camp O’Donnell and Cabanatuan. In the summer of 1944 he was one of 1541 POWs taken aboard hell ship Nissyo Maru. He was sent to Fukuoka #3 to work in the Yawata Steel Mill for the rest of the war. Mr. Rogers had used the G.I. Bill education benefits in order to attend St. Louis University and later worked in the accounting field.

JACK WARNER, 94, lives in Elk City, Oklahoma. Mr. Warner was born on Oct. 19, 1921. He arrived with the 4th Marines in the Philippines in November of 1941. He was surrendered on Corregidor Island in May 1942 and was sent to Camp Cabanatuan. In Sept 1942 he and 300 other men were sent to Formosa (Taiwan) aboard the hell ship Lima Maru. After two months the survivors of his group were put aboard the hell ship Dainichi Maru to Japan. Mr. Warner was in several camps in Japan including Tokyo Camp #5 and was liberated from Sendai #5B Kamaishi. After returning to his homeland, Mr. Warner used the G.I. Bill education benefits to take a Vo-Ag class and had farmed for 17 years. He later retired from working for Federal Fish and Wildlife Department. Mr. Warner has travelled with his wife to 50 states and a lot of foreign countries.

CLIFFORD WARREN, resides in Shepherd, Texas. Mr. Warren was born on October 15, 1924. He enlisted in U.S. Army and was a member of the 60th Coast Artillery, an anti- aircraft unit. He was captured on May 6, 1942 at Corregidor. He was then moved to Camp Cabanatuan #3 for 4 months.  He was placed at a work detail to build an airfield in Lipa City for 18 months. In the summer of 1944 he was shipped on the freighter, Nissyo Maru, to Japan.  Upon arrival he was sent to Nagoya #1B Kamioka. He worked in the mines in the Hanatsu Mining district until liberation. After the war ended, Mr. Warren worked for Ford Motor Company Parts.

JOSEPH DEMOTT, 97, lives in Lititz, Pennsylvania.  Mr. DeMott was in the US Army Air Corps was assigned to the 341st Bombardment Group (Medium). During a mission his plane was attacked and Mr. DeMott suffered a gunshot wound in the leg. He was placed in a Dutch Military Hospital on the island of Java and was captured when the island surrendered March 8th 1942.  Mr. DeMott was kept in a variety of camps but spent most of his time in “Bicycle Camp” in Malang Batavia, Java. Mr. DeMott was awarded two Purple Hearts. After the war he went to Pennsylvania State University in electrical engineering. He was married to Katie for 67 years who recently passed away this past August.

Contact Information

Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies
Temple University, Japan Campus
www.tuj.ac.jp/icas

Robert Dujarric, Director
Kyle Cleveland, Associate Director
Eriko Kawaguchi, Senior Coordinator

 

 

 

Contact Email
icas@tuj.temple.edu