Post by Karl Welteke on Dec 21, 2013 8:32:53 GMT 8
This POW Camp, the famous Cross that was built here and the Navy Radio Transmitting Facility (NRTF) which took over this Camp and the Philippine Capas National Shrine which was built in the southern portion of the camp deserve their own thread!
On the 17th Dec. 2013 my friend Jim Niland, GySgt USMC (ret) and I revisited the site to see whether we could find the former location of the POW Cross but failed because of all the civilian residential houses that have been built there and we did not have the Long-Lat of the location.
Jim N. served here at the former NRTF as a Marine in the very early 1990s but it was too difficult to locate much because the houses in this new resettlement are very densely built and the streets are like a mace. We will keep on trying. A few interesting things are still left from the NRTF days and will be presented later.
The POW Camp O’Donnell should not be mixed up with another Camp O’Donnell that was located maybe another 3 or 4 km further west and was operated by the US Air Force and is now the location of Philippine Army Motorized Forces and an Officer Candidate Facility.
We also visited the Capas National Shrine and had a short look at the replicate POW Cross placed as the center piece to the Memorial for the American POWs, placed here by the Battling Bastards of Bataan Organization (BBB).
I have been interested in this area because I became aware of this camp/location early in my retired life here in the Philippines. I frequently had visited the O’Donnell River area which is the best starting point to walk to Mt. Pinatubo or across the mountains to Zambales, one passes by this former POW Camp.
Over the years I have collected material or people have sent me material and there is material available on the www. I will consolidate much of the history of this camp, the Cross, the Capas National Shrine and the former NRTF in this thread.
Here are some sample images of the material I or others will present in this thread:
Y201- This picture original came from the National Archives but appears on many web pages dealing with WWII POWs in the Pacific. It shows part of Camp O’Donnell in 1942.
Y202- This picture was sent to me by the web master of the Battling Bastards of Bataan, Federico Baldassarre, and shows the POW Camp O’Donnell cemetery.
Captain John Olson was Adjutant of the American Group at Camp O’Donnell and kept records on the deaths that took place there. He later wrote: Camp O’Donnell’s appearance in the endless stream of History was brief, but dramatic. During its less than nine months as a concentration area, it saw some 1,565 American and over 26,000 Filipino, all in the prime of life, perish ignominiously and needlessly. Because of the callousness and inefficiency of an enemy who relentlessly applied an atavistic code of conduct to dealing with helpless individuals, they were not treated according to the codes subscribed to by most of the nations of the Twentieth Century. Though what happened to the Americans was reprehensible, the studied extermination of the Filipinos, whom the Japanese had ostensibly come to free from the “Tyrannical Oppression” of the Imperial Americans, is utterly inexplicable. - See more at: www.japanfocus.org/-kinue-tokudome/2714#sthash.PLFB721r.dpuf
Y203- This picture also came from Federico Baldassarre, the web master of the Battling Bastards of Bataan
Y204- In the Capas National Shrine is a small fenced area built for and by the Philippine Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor. They had built their Memorial there and this is a plaque from that Memorial. The POW Memorial of the Battling Bastards (BBB) has also been placed here. The number of American POW death is listed higher than stated under the picture Y202. The BBB found out that the number of POW death at Camp O’Donnell stated by Capt Olson was not correct and had to add additional plaques with the additional names.
Y205- The web page carrying this picture said it came from the Fort Houston Philippine Scout Museum. This picture may have been a Life Magazine 1945 picture.
Y206- This picture shows the famous POW Camp O’Donnell Cross in 1988. It was located then on the grounds of the Navy Radio Transmitting Facility, Capas which was the WWII POW Camp O’Donnell. This picture is from retired Navy Man Chad Hill. He has contributed many pictures in the forum, thank you Chad.
Y207- This picture is from Lt. Leroy E. Jones and his web page and shows the new Multi Purpose Building aka the Main Building or Quarterdeck. I will copy more in the future from the web page to interest you more to visit this, his web page about the Navy Radio Transmitting Facility (NRTF):
www.leroyjonesnavyhistory.com/Capas.htm
The area at left in the picture was called the Main Deck.
Y208- The Capas National Shrine where the other Memorials are located like the Philippine Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor and the POW Memorial of the Battling Bastards of Bataan etc. This picture is from the 17th Dec. 2013 and the flags were flying. We asked and were told, the flags are flying today because the Philippine Officer Candidates were marched here today for a ceremony. On our trip today we also drove to the entrance to the Bombing Range, Crow Valley, on the O’Donnell River to seek information to visit Mt. Pinatubo. On our ride back we met the Officer Candidates Marching detail who were returning to the Philippine Army Camp, the former US Air Force Camp O’Donnell.
Y209- The Battling Bastard of Bataan POW Memorial at the Philippine Capas National Shrine located in the fenced area of the Philippine Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor. It was a long and hard struggle by the BBB to get it built. Here is the BBB web page:
www.battlingbastardsbataan.com/
Y210- This Google Earth image shows what has happened to the former NRTF Capas, Tarlac, which was the north section, the American section of the former WWII POW Camp O’Donnell.
On the 17th Dec. 2013 my friend Jim Niland, GySgt USMC (ret) and I revisited the site to see whether we could find the former location of the POW Cross but failed because of all the civilian residential houses that have been built there and we did not have the Long-Lat of the location.
Jim N. served here at the former NRTF as a Marine in the very early 1990s but it was too difficult to locate much because the houses in this new resettlement are very densely built and the streets are like a mace. We will keep on trying. A few interesting things are still left from the NRTF days and will be presented later.
The POW Camp O’Donnell should not be mixed up with another Camp O’Donnell that was located maybe another 3 or 4 km further west and was operated by the US Air Force and is now the location of Philippine Army Motorized Forces and an Officer Candidate Facility.
We also visited the Capas National Shrine and had a short look at the replicate POW Cross placed as the center piece to the Memorial for the American POWs, placed here by the Battling Bastards of Bataan Organization (BBB).
I have been interested in this area because I became aware of this camp/location early in my retired life here in the Philippines. I frequently had visited the O’Donnell River area which is the best starting point to walk to Mt. Pinatubo or across the mountains to Zambales, one passes by this former POW Camp.
Over the years I have collected material or people have sent me material and there is material available on the www. I will consolidate much of the history of this camp, the Cross, the Capas National Shrine and the former NRTF in this thread.
Here are some sample images of the material I or others will present in this thread:
Y201- This picture original came from the National Archives but appears on many web pages dealing with WWII POWs in the Pacific. It shows part of Camp O’Donnell in 1942.
Y202- This picture was sent to me by the web master of the Battling Bastards of Bataan, Federico Baldassarre, and shows the POW Camp O’Donnell cemetery.
Captain John Olson was Adjutant of the American Group at Camp O’Donnell and kept records on the deaths that took place there. He later wrote: Camp O’Donnell’s appearance in the endless stream of History was brief, but dramatic. During its less than nine months as a concentration area, it saw some 1,565 American and over 26,000 Filipino, all in the prime of life, perish ignominiously and needlessly. Because of the callousness and inefficiency of an enemy who relentlessly applied an atavistic code of conduct to dealing with helpless individuals, they were not treated according to the codes subscribed to by most of the nations of the Twentieth Century. Though what happened to the Americans was reprehensible, the studied extermination of the Filipinos, whom the Japanese had ostensibly come to free from the “Tyrannical Oppression” of the Imperial Americans, is utterly inexplicable. - See more at: www.japanfocus.org/-kinue-tokudome/2714#sthash.PLFB721r.dpuf
Y203- This picture also came from Federico Baldassarre, the web master of the Battling Bastards of Bataan
Y204- In the Capas National Shrine is a small fenced area built for and by the Philippine Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor. They had built their Memorial there and this is a plaque from that Memorial. The POW Memorial of the Battling Bastards (BBB) has also been placed here. The number of American POW death is listed higher than stated under the picture Y202. The BBB found out that the number of POW death at Camp O’Donnell stated by Capt Olson was not correct and had to add additional plaques with the additional names.
Y205- The web page carrying this picture said it came from the Fort Houston Philippine Scout Museum. This picture may have been a Life Magazine 1945 picture.
Y206- This picture shows the famous POW Camp O’Donnell Cross in 1988. It was located then on the grounds of the Navy Radio Transmitting Facility, Capas which was the WWII POW Camp O’Donnell. This picture is from retired Navy Man Chad Hill. He has contributed many pictures in the forum, thank you Chad.
Y207- This picture is from Lt. Leroy E. Jones and his web page and shows the new Multi Purpose Building aka the Main Building or Quarterdeck. I will copy more in the future from the web page to interest you more to visit this, his web page about the Navy Radio Transmitting Facility (NRTF):
www.leroyjonesnavyhistory.com/Capas.htm
The area at left in the picture was called the Main Deck.
Y208- The Capas National Shrine where the other Memorials are located like the Philippine Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor and the POW Memorial of the Battling Bastards of Bataan etc. This picture is from the 17th Dec. 2013 and the flags were flying. We asked and were told, the flags are flying today because the Philippine Officer Candidates were marched here today for a ceremony. On our trip today we also drove to the entrance to the Bombing Range, Crow Valley, on the O’Donnell River to seek information to visit Mt. Pinatubo. On our ride back we met the Officer Candidates Marching detail who were returning to the Philippine Army Camp, the former US Air Force Camp O’Donnell.
Y209- The Battling Bastard of Bataan POW Memorial at the Philippine Capas National Shrine located in the fenced area of the Philippine Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor. It was a long and hard struggle by the BBB to get it built. Here is the BBB web page:
www.battlingbastardsbataan.com/
Y210- This Google Earth image shows what has happened to the former NRTF Capas, Tarlac, which was the north section, the American section of the former WWII POW Camp O’Donnell.