Team Edwards honors the 'not forgotten'

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class William A. O'Brien
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Team Edwards's commemorated Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Day Sept. 17 and 18. POW/MIA Day is nationally recognized in honor of all who have been prisoners of war or are listed as missing in action.

"It was quite a treat to celebrate this with all of you," Col. Jerry Gandy, 95th Air Base Wing commander told the attendees of the luncheon. "I call these folks servant leaders, servant leaders is an ancient concept and POWs have been living it for centuries."

POW/MIA Day recognition began Sept. 17 with a 6-mile ruck march. Participants marched the course with 30 pound rucksacks. On Sept. 18, a POW/MIA luncheon was held at Club Muroc to honor the families of servicemembers still listed as MIA and former POWs. The keynote speaker for the luncheon was former POW Joe Johnson. The two-day recognition was concluded with a retreat ceremony.

During his speech, Mr. Johnson discussed the importance of honoring and remembering POWs and MIAs.

"We are all here to honor the POWs and MIAs," said Mr. Johnson. "Each servicemember who serves in combat will likely come home with physical scars, but others come home with mental scars."

"One of the most degrading things that could happen to any servicemember is to become a prisoner of war," he said. "No amount of training can prepare you for that experience. It affects you both physically and mentally many POWs come home with mental scars that are hard to live with."

"In recent years, DNA technology has helped identify servicemembers that were long lost," said Mr. Johnson. "This technology has helped and more have been identified, but it remains our responsibility to search to the corners of the Earth to find and identify all of our POWs."

Mr. Johnson then shared the story of how he joined the Army and became a POW.

"When I was 14 years old, my dad gave me two folded $20 bills and said I had two options, I could go back and live with my mom or I could go back and life with my grandmother, but he said either way I couldn't stay with him," said Mr. Johnson. "So I left and instead of going with either of them, I decided to join the Army."

"I was too young to join, but when the recruiter asked how old I was, I told him I was 18 and that if he needed it I could my birth certificate. The recruiter told me not to worry about it and off I went to Ft. MacArthur in San Pedro, Calif.

"About two weeks later, I was scheduled to be sworn into the U.S. Army," said Mr. Johnson. "I was scheduled to stay in California and be in the 32nd Infantry regiment, but right before I was sworn in the captain said that two of us could get the once in a lifetime chance to be stationed in the Philippines if we stepped forward. So I stepped forward and two weeks later I was in Manila."

"I was stationed in both Bataan and Corregidor while I was over in Manila," he said. "I was over in Corregidor when Bataan fell, but on May 6, 1942 Corregidor was captured too," he said. "They marched us down Manila Boulevard, the Bataan death march was a month earlier, and to them we were their victory march.

"They took us to a prison downtown and we waited there for two weeks," said Mr. Johnson. "Then they fed us rice and put us on a box car and sent us up to Cabanatuan and marched us over to a camp called Cabanatuan No. 3."
He said once in captivity, the Japanese made them work.

"The Japanese used us for details; they would send us where they needed us to do whatever they needed us to do," he said. "I was sent back to Manila to pick up the shell casings from all the rounds that were out there."

He said the next place they sent him was Nichols field and they called the man in charge there the White Angel and he liked to chop off the heads of prisoners.

Later on, along with about 2,000 others he was sent to Japan but, by the time they arrived there was approximately who 400 were still alive.

"Once I arrived in Japan they sent me up to Hiroshima," he said. "After two months I was transferred to another coal mine just outside Nagasaki and that's where I ended the war."

"A lot of what I went through I didn't tell you because I didn't have time to tell you. It's hard trying to tell the story of four years in thirty minutes," he said. "There are a lot of things to say about prison camp some you might want to know about and some you might not.

"I was very fortunate," he said. "After the war I reenlisted in the Army Air Corps and went to Brooks Field, Texas. While I was there it became the Air Force."

Afterward, Colonel Gandy said that he was moved by Mr. Johnson's story and that the accounts of all servicemembers that have gone through things like Mr. Johnson has, makes him proud to be an American.

"When Mr. Johnson shared his story, if you didn't get chills down your back, then you must not have been awake," said Colonel Gandy. "I could not be prouder to be from a nation that produces heroes like him."

Col. William Thornton, 412th Test Wing commander, closed the luncheon by thanking the POWs and families of those who are MIA for joining Team Edwards while they recognized POW/MIA Day.

"I just want to say what an honor it was to have the POWs and families of MIAs here today," said Colonel Thornton. "We cannot and we will not forget you and your family members. I can't tell you how much it meant to have you here today and yesterday."

The luncheon was followed by a retreat ceremony in front of AFFTC Headquarters. The retreat ceremony was the final event of the two-day observance of POW/MIA Day.

"Thank you for your service. It is inspirational to have you all here and you're welcome back any time," said Colonel Thornton.

Mr. Johnson noted that he enjoyed his experience at Edwards and would be happy to return.

"I've been to a number of military installations to speak," said Mr. Johnson. "But Edwards truly stands out. You have great leadership and great followers serving our nation."