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Post by Registrar on Jan 18, 2013 18:42:10 GMT 8
Peter Parsons has asked me to further complete the picture of the traitor Provoo. In doing so, I make the point that just because a so-called superior court may release a man on a legal technicality, that does not injunct us against ostracizing and shunning him, and calling him a traitor. Peter writes:
I did some research on Provoo, a despicable traitor, while in the National Archives looking for other material.
I read the two testimonies of the Japanese soldiers who witnessed him kill a US officer. This evidence (very believable in the amount of detail given) was tossed out of court. He was convicted, but the decision was also tossed out because length of time it took to get to the conviction.
Basically, Provoo, a homosexual, lover of Japanese culture including the Buddhist religion, greeted the invaders on Corregidor in a kimono and spoke Japanese to them.
He told his commanding officer in mess hall one day to take something to a Japanese officer. The officer told Provoo to f**k off. Incensed, Provoo plotted his revenge, eventually killing this officer.
Well, no that's not right. He shot the officer several times but did not actually kill the man. The Japanese officers who were there as witnesses felt they had to kill the poor guy to put him out of his suffering.
The irony in this whole situation is that Sakakida was sent to Tokyo to bring the suspected traitor to Hawaii--I love the image of the two of them handcuffed together. Provoo had been working for Tokyo Rose broadcasts.
You couldn't make this stuff up.
Peter Parsons
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Post by Registrar on Jan 11, 2013 14:57:04 GMT 8
Reposted from e-mail from the Author. _____________________________________ Thank you for such a quick response. I am in Milan, Illinois, a small town next to Rock Island, Illinois on the Mississipi and Rock Rivers (bordering Iowa). My cousin was SSgt. Robert Stanton. He was born in Davenport, Iowa, just across the river from here and was raised in Rock island and Chicago, Illinois. He was a Golden Gloves Boxer with the Chicago Youth authority when the war broke out and he enlisted in the Marines. I never actually met Bobby, as he was killed before I was born. My father told me many stories of him (they were basically raised together). I have Bobby's photo's, pins, and Purple Heart. His parents and only sister are gone now. I do have quite a bit of information on him and numerous photos of his childhood, boxing days and some Marine photos. My father, also an amateur boxer at the time, told me that if Bobby hit you, you thought you had been hit by a train. I believe he also did some boxing (on the sly as the USMC would have frowned upon it) on the west coast while stationed there. I am just about to take the information to the local Congresswoman, to attempt to get Bobby and Lt. Rue recognized in a POWs status during the war. I tried this once before with our local congressman some years ago, but that fellow was totally useless unless you had money in hand for him (large contribution was the only language he understood). I do have status cards from the USMC showing that they were captured and beheaded, his Purple Heart Citation, Discharge and other papers, but there was no one left to get Bobby and Lt. Rue recognized in POW status. When U.S. forces retook the Island, they found the bodies buried in shallow graves near the makeshift airstrip on Panay Island. It is quite an interesting story if you hear it all, but then, I am sure you have heard many such stories. As I said, I heard many stories from my father, Bobby's mother and his sister, Catherine. Quite the tales of interfamily strife, a dominating mother figure and a boy who became very tough despite it all. A VFW post in Chicago was actually named for Bobby for a short time. His mother claimed she forced them to remove his name after she discovered there was illegal gambling and ladies of the evening there. Bobby's sister told a bit of a different story. Bobby did marry once, but, well, that is a story in itself. I am the family historian, a Veteran, member of the VFW and American Legion, the father of three daughters and one son who are also Vetereans, and a Retired Police Chief to boot, so I love the research. I am located at [address removed for privacy reasons - Registrar]. No, I am not looking to anyone to publish anything on my behalf, only to tell the story so the story gets preserved. Many, many boys died for our country and deserve to have their stories told, or at least preserved, for future generations. Thank you, Tom
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Post by Registrar on Jan 11, 2013 11:26:33 GMT 8
This is a reprint of a message to Peter Parsons, who shares it with us. The gentleman who sent it isn't actually asking for anything, but we felt that if it was published, there may be someone around who has knowledge of the episode and who can add a little something - Registrar.
_____________________________________
The reason I write to you is the story of my cousin who was killed on Panay Island along with his pilot.
SSgt Robert Raymond Stanton and Lt.Charles T. Rue of VMSB 142 were on a flight from Mangaldan to Zamboanga on March 14, 1945 when they experienced engine problems and had to make an emergency landing on Panay Island, the airstrip of which, they thought was in friendly hands. they were captured, held prisoner for some days and then executed and buried near the airstrip. The basic story is found inb the book "Marine Aviation in the Philippines from the Historical Hdq. of the U.S. Marine Corp. 1951 pages 102-103.
If this email gets through to you and if you have any further interest in this story, I would be most happy to share the story and photos with you.
Thank You Tom Hickson
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Post by Registrar on Jan 5, 2013 9:17:38 GMT 8
The following is posted on behalf of Hans H. Hoeflein, concerning his experiences relevant to the Battle of Manila. Mr. Hoflein is one of the co-authors of the short book "Manila Memories - Four Boys Remember Their Lives Before, During and After the Japanese Occupation", Edited by Juergen R. Goldhagen, ISBN 978-1-84861-010-1. - Registrar"...We lived at 1196 MH DelPilar. This is one block from Dewey Blvd., and in line with the Mitchell Apts and one block from the Syqiua and Admiral Apts - both of which were being used by the Japs during the occupation. I was going to LaSalle during this time and the schools closed just before the first air raid on Sept 21st 1944. It was then the Japs started building pill boxes at many of the intersections. In January they mined many of the streets with artillery shells buried vertically. They also put aerial bombs in the ground floor of all the bigger buildings with fuses attached. Most of the Japs in our area disappeared. We did have a battery of 120mm Dual purpose guns dug in on Dewey across from the Apostolic Delegation, with many 25mm AA automatic weapons supporting them, all manned by Naval forces. These were the guns that fired on Santo Thomas and drew a lot of counter battery fire from the US. On February 6th the Japs came to our house and told us they were going to burn all the houses and to get out. They did not bother us and we went to Remedios Hospital, which was two blocks from us. We stayed there until the artillery fire became very heavy and left on the 12th to dig a hole where we hid until we were liberated by the 37th Div on the 16th. The word in our area was watch out for the Makapilis. In my rambling way this supports the conclusion that someone decided to prepare to fight for Manila at least five moths before the battle. H/3
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Post by Registrar on Dec 28, 2012 9:58:23 GMT 8
At the request of the 503d PRCT of WWII Association - Registrar It is with a mixture of sadness and joy that we let you know Bob Weber passed away yesterday afternoon, December 22, 2012. All of us in his family would greatly appreciate your help in conveying his love and this message to his 503 friends. I am certain that they all would be interested in knowing that he was honored on Veterans Day here in Riverside. Like many communities, Riverside held a ceremony honoring all veterans. Bob was in uniform and personally recognized along with several other veterans from the Riverside community. In the address to him, the efforts and heroics of the 503 were described for a very large crowd at the Riverside National Cemetery. His daughter, Shirl, put the pieces together to have him included. His pride in the 503 was beyond description. Please also let his friends know that the legacy of the 503 will continue through his family. Bob has, for decades, told us every possible story, told us about each individual, and described every event many times. In addition, please let them know how much each reunion meant to him and how good the reunions were for him. The Bob Weber Family A collection of Bob Weber's WWII Photographs is at:
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Post by Registrar on Dec 22, 2012 18:51:55 GMT 8
JAMES ZOBEL writes:I really hope these people come to visit me, but I seriously doubt it. I mean if you are going to write a book and do a movie about MacArthur, Yamashita, and the battle for Manila why would you go and research the papers of the General, the war, and the war crimes trials? That would be stupid. MacArthur Memorial Z
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Post by Registrar on Dec 22, 2012 7:08:51 GMT 8
JOYCE B. VELDE writes:
It is really hurtful to see how history can be rewritten to suit the slant of the times. And they are believed by a world of non-readers.
I am certainly not surprised that PBS would be involved, and the Japanese have constantly revised their deadly incursions into China and the Far East, as well as Pearl Harbor. So why not blame it on MacArthur individually and the US armed forces in the Philippines as a group?
We, who were part of the times, especially are resentful at the revisionist history and the public will buy it for lack of history being taught otherwise.
Right now, 3 US senators, Feinstein (D), Leahy (D) and McCain (R) have called for a retraction of the Hollywood movie accusing the US military of using torture as a major method used in the capture of Osama bin Laden, as well as other major inaccuracies. Whom do you think will win?
The Japanese textbooks have also been rewritten, hiding the involvement of the Japanese, and today's younger generation does not believe that the Japanese did anything wrong. I watch the History Channel frequently, but this new version of The Battle for Manila has not been shown, I believe.
Joyce B. Velde
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Post by Registrar on Dec 22, 2012 6:48:25 GMT 8
The following is lightly edited, but reflects Author and Historian JOHN D. LUKACS' message to our group as of 22 December, 2012:
Unfortunately, since I'm incredibly swamped with various projects right now, I'll have to let my forthcoming book on the Battle of Manila, to be published by Penguin NAL/Caliber in late 2013, serve as my major contribution to the fight. Since the book is from a major publisher and will hopefully reach a large audience, it may serve as the Little Boy or Fat Man that can obliterate whatever offensive the Yamashita documentary folks or other far left, liberal revisionists here in the States are planning.
Just about the only thing I can tell everyone right now is that PBS itself isn't responsible for the genesis of, nor financing of this Yamashita cleansing project. Outside of Sesame Street or the McNeil Lehrer news show, PBS really doesn't have any organic, or in-house production capabilities. I'm guessing that most, if not all, of what the documentaries they are are "outsourced." In other words, they depend on outside production entities to finance and put together their doc programming. They just air it. These outside programming entities raise the funds themselves, usually by grants from foundations or even sometimes through donors, sponsors and investors, corporate entities and rich individuals alike. PBS doesn't even pay Ken Burns - if you notice, his films are always made "thanks to the generosity of Chevrolet" or "a grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundation" or what have you. So us, the American taxpayers, are not commissioning this project.
Furthermore, do we even know how legitimate this production is? Most people like to say "I'm with PBS" or "We're shooting for the History Channel" or whatever in order to gain credibility with whomever they are contacting. This whole thing could be an expensive home movie bankrolled by the Yamashita family for all we know. Beyond this Sunshine, who appears to be the Manila intermediary, has anyone had any contact with the film crew? Perhaps Rico got some names or a business card when they interviewed him? What is the production company called? If we learn that, we could find out who they got a grant from or who is paying for the production. Of course, such sleuthing would help us get to the bottom of this project, but if they raise the funds and are successful in convincing the PTB at PBS to air the thing, it'll see the light of day. Sadly, the latter isn't too difficult nowadays, seeing as how an alarming majority of programming VPs and other execs are left-leaning and also have no clue about anything historical. Plus, they'd likely jump at the chance to bash MacArthur.
I can speak from experience on these items because I'm currently producing a documentary myself, on the Davao POW escape. I received a grant from a foundation in Texas to finance the film, which will be produced in conjunction with the World War II Foundation and will likely air on PBS late next year. Likely, because while the possibility exists for us to air the film on the History Channel, Nat Geo, Discovery, etc., I'm personally leaning towards PBS because I'll have more editorial control and won't see my hour-long masterpiece whittled down to 43 minutes by the cable TV necessity of commercials.
Best Regards, John D. Lukacs
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Post by Registrar on Dec 21, 2012 6:20:18 GMT 8
On 21 December, Angus LORENZEN, writing for BACEPOW, invited us to publish the following:[/i] In April of 2011, I wrote an editorial for Beyond the Wire, the journal for civilian POWs in the Philippines that highlights what is happening here. There are many academics who are trying to rewrite the history of the Pacific war, pointing at the U.S. as the culprit. Here is that editorial. ____________________________________________ From the Commander The number of people with first-hand knowledge of WW II is diminishing rapidly as the GIs who fought in the battles and the POWs who suffered in captivity decline. We now see a new breed of authors writing books about their fictional personal experiences. Also, there is a new breed of academics intent on rewriting the history of the war to reflect a bias that casts us as the aggressors rather than the victims. We can start with the Japanese. There is a documentary made for the History Channel by NHK called Remembering the Battle of Manila which blames the United States for the destruction. It asserts that the battle would never have occurred if American forces hadn’t surrounded the city, preventing the Japanese troops from evacuating it, and that the killing of Filipinos was only required to prevent guerilla infiltration (80,000 murdered including women and children ). The December 23, 2010 issue of Shukan Shincho, the second largest weekly magazine in Japan, made a scurrilous attack on Bataan Death March survivor Lester Tenney, presenting outrageous lies about the Japanese treatment of American POWs. It claims that the Death March was far less rigorous than described, and was the Americans fault for destroying their own vehicles, which could have been used to transport them. And then it states that the tortures are strictly American fabrications. The Japanese are not educated about their World War II history, and are susceptible to this kind of propaganda. But when the U.S. government gets into the act with the National Endowment for the Humanities sponsoring a workshop for college professors last July at the East-West Center, University of Hawaii, titled History and Commemoration: The Legacies of the Pacific War, we have to wonder what is going on. The scholarly presentations included such subjects as: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor should be seen from the perspective of Japan being a victim of western oppression.
The U.S. military and its veterans constitute an imperialistic, oppressive force.
War memorials, such as the Punchbowl National Memorial Cemetery are symbols of military aggression and brutality.
Conservatives and veterans in the U.S. have had an undue and corrupt influence on how WWII is remembered.
Veterans' memories of their own experiences in the war are suspect and influenced by their own self-delusion.
The US government, sponsoring academics to cast Americans as the aggressors in World War II, funded this conference. There is only one way to fight this corrosive history and that is to document our own experiences and to broadcast them. That is the purpose of this newsletter, and we encourage anyone who has a story to tell to offer it for us to publish. Please send your stories to one of the editors shown in our masthead. Furthermore, we should make our anger at this “progressive” reinterpretation of history known to our Congressmen and Senators. Eliminating funding of the National Endowment for the Humanities would be beneficial. Angus LORENZENfor BACEPOW
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Post by Registrar on Dec 20, 2012 19:12:23 GMT 8
The following was received for publication from Mr. PETER PARSONS, War Correspondent, Author, Historian and Documentary Film Maker. Peter has done extensive research at the National Archives, locating many documents never before published or taken into account.
I was interviewed by them also.
I found them to be totally convinced already in their views of Yamashita's total innocence.
I argued a bit with them, but I sense their view is fixed and permanent and that their mission to make a video of the innocent Yamashita.
They will give token mention of atrocities just for authenticity. But they are not looking for alternate views of Yamashita; rather I think they are looking for any corroboration of their own already fixed views.
Banzai Peter
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