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Post by wwalker on Sept 2, 2012 3:38:22 GMT 8
I just learned of the passing of Mr. Lloyd Griffiths of Sacramento, California, a Corregidor veteran. He arrived on Corregidor in November 1940 on the USS Grant, and was a member of the 59th Coast Artillery band after it was formed. Once the war broke out he served as an MP, and a bodyguard for Philippine president Manuel Quezon. He was wounded on April 24, 1942 on the west side of Malinta Tunnel just a little ways from his foxhole position there. A shell exploded in the area killing a friend of his, and a number of others. The incident left him with a broken leg, and he was sent to the Malinta hospital where he remained until the surrender. After the surrender he was moved to the hospital at Middleside. He was later sent to Bilibid for 23 months and then about 3 months at Cabanatuan #1. Mr. Griffiths was liberated at Fukuoka #3 in Japan.
I had the pleasure of speaking with him earlier this year about some of his memories. My condolences go out to his family.
WW
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Post by Bob Hudson on Sept 2, 2012 10:35:11 GMT 8
It is always sad to hear of the passing of any veteran of WWII but especially those closest to our hearts who fought in the Philippines. All soldiers suffer physical and psychological wounds in battle but our veterans suffered so much more than that. One veteran told me a few years ago that he felt lower than a cockroach and treated worse. Stripped of dignity and humanity and left in squalor to die in your own feces. They were captives of monsters with no semblance of humanity. To hear of the passing of one of these giants of men is nothing less than unsettling knowing that only a handful remain.
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Post by pdh54 on Sept 2, 2012 12:21:22 GMT 8
Would that I could be so eloquent Bob..
Thanks
Patty
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Post by wwalker on Sept 2, 2012 12:42:59 GMT 8
It is unsettling to hear of these people passing on. His generation came of age during the Great Depression, and then went on to fight WWII. They will always be missed, but I feel fortunate to have known, and still know, some of them. I can think of no other people in my life that are as strong or heroic than them. The ex-POW's of the Philippines to me, are a special segment of that generation. They were in it from beginning to end, from that day of infamy to liberation in prison camp.
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Post by Bob Hudson on Sept 2, 2012 18:26:51 GMT 8
I always like to stress to groups I speak to that Pearl Harbor had its Day of Infamy but our guys had over 1200 of them.
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Post by okla on Sept 2, 2012 22:59:49 GMT 8
Hey Bob....There, as you say, can only be a very small handfull of these special guys left. If one was 17 in 1942, he is 87 now. Surely, just a very few hundred or less can still be alive, This is especially true since so many were destined to suffer from injuries/diseases the rest of their lives and fated for premature deaths.. It is almost as if this segment of our military was cursed. Such a high percentage of them, especially of the enlisted variety, volunteered in the dismal 1930s to escape the trials of the Great Depression with its high unemployment and "breadlines", etc. and eventually, if not dead, ended up in conditions that made the breadlines look like life on Park Avenue. Those that survived are, indeed, very special people. I am blessed and privileged to have served with several of them. Bless 'em all, I say. :'(Cheers.
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Post by chadhill on Sept 3, 2012 4:53:32 GMT 8
I am sad to hear of Mr. Griffiths passing, and extend my condolences to his family. I recently came across a 2006 issue of Quan which had the obituary of another Corregidor veteran, Max McClain, whom I had become acquainted with during my tour in the Philippines 1985-88. Mr. McClain made several trips to The Rock at that time and would reminiscence about his Corregidor experiences and being a POW in Manchuria. If there are no objections I would like to place a tribute to him here also by posting that obituary:
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Post by okla on Sept 3, 2012 5:24:50 GMT 8
Hey Chad....They don't make 'em like him anymore, in my humble. This distinguished group grows smaller by the day. Sad, to say the least.
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Post by Bob Hudson on Sept 3, 2012 12:53:22 GMT 8
A bunch of us were discussing in 2010 about how many American Philippine veterans were left and at that time it was around 250-260. Not many considering about 23,000 were surrendered. Comes out to a little more than 1%. Two years have passed so I wouldn't be surprised if it were closer to 200 or less now. It won't be long before we read about the passing of the last known survivor of the surrender of the Philippines. I'm not looking forward to that day. Those of us who can, should try to meet on Corregidor and Bataan and do something special and newsworthy after that memorable moment when the last man out, closes the door. That will take some thought.
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Post by okla on Sept 3, 2012 22:31:43 GMT 8
Hey Bob...I hear that!!!!y It makes little difference if the "last man" was only a Company Morning Report Clerk down in Cebu, never having heard a shot fired in anger, he is still "special", being a member of the USAFFE who survived the rigors of being a "guest" of the Emperor. Same thing is to be said for a "shipless" member of the USN who was stranded in the PI after Admiral Hart transferred his flag to Java. Special folks they are. Cheers.
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