Veterans Sue Japanese Over POW Treatment

[antiquity]

Veterans Sue Japanese Over POW Treatment
Sunday, September 8, 2002Â*
Gene Jacobsen. BY DAWN HOUSE
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE

Â*Â*Â* Gene Jacobsen remembers the starvation rations and beatings he received at the hands of Japanese guards while working as a slave laborer in a coal mine at Omuta, Japan. It was worse for four other prisoners caught stealing carrots in the winter of 1944.

Â*Â*Â* The men were stripped and forced to stand naked on tables in a makeshift mess hall, each holding a carrot, in view of fellow prisoners of war. The four were then ordered outside to stand for hours in the snow. Two of the men died. Another had both legs amputated, and the fourth was crippled for life.

Â*Â*Â* Jacobsen, 80, of St. George, is among the tens of thousands of GIs captured by the Japanese in the South Pacific during World War II and sent aboard crowded "Hell Ships" to labor in factories, farms, docks and mines in the Far East.

Â*Â*Â* This weekend, Jacobsen's 20th Pursuit Squadron is having its reunion in Salt Lake City. Of the 216 men in his squadron, 18 were killed in battle, 135 died in camps and only 63 lived to see the end of the war.

Â*Â*Â* Jacobsen and 10 men from the squadron gathered at the Salt Lake Plaza Hotel to renew old friendships and to discuss their efforts to obtain justice for their mistreatment as prisoners of war. They are suing Japanese multinational com- panies they say profited from their slave labor.

Â*Â*Â* As many as 5,000 former POWs have brought lawsuits against firms such as MitsuÂbishi International, Nippon Steel, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Showa Denko and Mitsui & Co. Lawsuits were dismissed in several states because the statute of limitations had expired. California state legislators, however, passed a law extending the time plaintiffs may sue for wartime crimes, prompting former POWs from other states to become part of several class action lawsuits there.

Â*Â*Â* In California, oral arguments are scheduled for October before the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, and a state appellate court is considering whether another consolidated lawsuit may proceed.

Â*Â*Â* "No matter how the state and federal courts rule, the lawsuits will most likely end up before the U.S. Supreme Court," said Jim Parkinson, an attorney with Herman, Middleton, Casey & Kitchen, representing 1,000 former slave laborers. "These are good men who suffered terribly. They deserve their day in court."

Â*Â*Â* Similar lawsuits brought against German companies have resulted in the establishment of a $5.2 billion fund to compensate wartime laborers from the Nazi era.

Â*Â*Â* The Bush administration is opposing lawsuits against Japanese firms, saying a 1951 treaty bans such actions. But Congress has passed resolutions supporting former POWs right to sue, and similar bills are pending before Congress.

Â*Â*Â* Retired Maj. Richard M. Gordon, Burnt Hills, N.Y., said Bush administration fears of harming Japanese-American relations could quash the lawsuits. Gordon is adjutant commander of the 200-member group, Battling Bastards of Bataan, a moniker soldiers in the Philippines gave themselves when ordered to fight against overwhelming Japanese forces.

Â*Â*Â* "I hope and wish for the best," said Gordon of the plaintiffs. "Not for me. I don't need their money. I need an admission of their guilt as war criminals. I wish them to be as honest as Germany has been."

Â*Â*Â* Jacobsen and two other Utah men from his squadron, Harold Poole and V.O. "Johnny" Johnson, say they are suing to force Japanese companies to do just that.

Â*Â*Â* "I joined the lawsuit because this whole sad story has been erased from the history books," said Poole, 83, of Holladay, who labored in a Japanese steel mill. "I don't care about money. I care about people in the United States and Japan knowing what happened."

Â*Â*Â* Said Johnson, 82, of Sandy, who unloaded cooper ore from barges in wartime Japan: "The guards liked to single out tall men so I didn't get as many beatings as the other guys did. These companies need to be held accountable for what they did."

Â*Â*Â* Bataan defenders, whose death rate was nearly 70 percent by the end of the war, may have fared the worst. Americans and Filipinos were forced on the infamous Bataan Death March, deprived of food and water and bayoneted, shot or beaten to death when they paused by wells or muddy ditches for a drink.
Â*Â*Â*
http://www.sltrib.com/09082002/utah/769508.htm

[whiterabbit11]

The Japanese war crimes, not only against Americans and Fillipinos, but hundreds of thousands Chinese in The Rape of Nanking and thousands more after Jimmy Doolittle's escape into China rank as bad or worse than Germany's crimes yet only a very few were tried and I believe about 7 were put to death. Had Hitler survived he would have been executed but Hirohito was spared.Moreover the Japanese history books deny all of it today. My source is The History Channel and NPR. The worst part is the fact that The U.S. through Macarthur more or less plea bargained with the Japanese to spare them in exchange for the results of Japanese experiments on live human Guinea Pigs, mostly thousands of Chinese. American P.O.W.'s were beheaded After the war and packed into ships near the end of the war to be transfered to Japan for slave labor. If they didn't die of their wounds and disease they were torpedoed and bombed unwittingly by our own ships and planes. The Plaintiff's, Bataan survivors etc., mostly seem to want an apology and acknowledgement but if they own Mitsubishi as a result it's okay by me. Go for it from a VietNam vet. WR

[antiquity]

WR11, I was not at all aware that the Japanese were involved in horrific human experimentation unrivaled only by the Nazi's under Mengele until reading your post. Since the Japanese government has so far refused to apologize to China and Korea for its war crimes, I doubt former POW's will be successful. Our government also owes them an apology for our complicity near the end. I wish them luck.

This is a small sample of what I found.


A Former British POW Remembers

Other experiments involved "hanging material" (i.e. humans) upside down to determine how long it took for subjects to choke to death. Another involved injecting air into prisoners to test for the onset of embolisms. Almost indescribable was the practise of injecting horse urine into the kidneys of prisoners. A common practise was feeding "logs" with food and drink heavily laced with cholera, heroin and castor oil seeds and other pathogens. A fulsome and incisive account of the inhumane history of Unit 731, can found in Prof. Sheldon H. Harris' excellent book "Factories of Death" (Routledge, London 1995).

Lacking any degree of guilt, Ishii produced scientific papers giving the results of these hideous experiments. Circulated throughout the Japanese medical and scientific community, the "logs" were referred to as "monkeys." Despite this ploy, it was an open secret that humans were the real test subjects. In all, Ishii personally patented over two hundred discoveries, benefiting handsomely from his research.

Former Unit 731 Member Speaks Out

With the "cold war" beginning to hot up, senior US military officers were anxious to block the Soviets acquiring Ishii's expertise and records. A secret deal was discussed at the highest levels. Yet, a major obstacle had to be overcome. It was the darkest "secret of secrets." Returning Allied POW's recounted harrowing tales of biological experimentation ruthlessly conducted upon them. If these stories were reported by the press, the public would bray for blood. Despite this a deal was struck. By 1948, immunity was offered to all members of Ishii's Unit in exchange for data and co-operation. Prosecutors at the Tokyo War Crimes trials were warned off. Allied POW's were sworn to secrecy, and cynically forgotten. The biggest cover-up of the war had commenced.

[This message was edited by seneca on Sep 13, 2002 at 09:44 PM.]

[Wise Young]

I normally don't enter into a political discussion of this nature. I am a Chinese who grew up in Japan. I hope that Americans understand that the Japanese are their most important allies in Asia. There are many millions of Japanese who are grateful to America for liberating them. We must stop thinking of people as a monolithic culture responsible for everything that has ever happened in the past. How many people here feel that they were responsible for the slavery that occurred over a century ago in the United States? How many people here feel that they were part of the decision making process that resulted in the incarceration of millions of Japanese Americans, many of of whom fought bravely in the war against Japan? Individuals are responsible for their actions, not the community. Can you imagine what would happen if somebody brought suit one day, for reparations by all the people who opposed spinal cord injury research? A good lawyer can probably make the case.

Wise.

[marmalady]

Thank you for the insight, Wise (didn't know you grew up in Japan!!!). Atrocities perpetrated during wartime - any wartime - should be enough to make pacifists of us all. The horror stories we heard regarding the actions of American soldiers during Viet Nam were just as awful as what happened during WWII. War is awful - for anyone, anytime, anywhere.

My favorite culture is the eastern band of the Cherokee Indian. They are a democratic society, historically run by women. When the young bucks wanted to beat their chests and go off to war, they had to first present their reasons for doing so to the women of the council, who were the ones who made the decision. Would that it were that simple in all societies today!

_____________
Tough times don't last - tough people do.

[antiquity]

Thanks for participating Dr. Young.

Originally posted by Wise Young:

There are many millions of Japanese who are grateful to America for liberating them.

Admittedly, I know very little about WWII history but who did we liberate Japan from, the Japanese government, their German allies?


Posted by Dr. Young:
How many people here feel that they were part of the decision making process that resulted in the incarceration of millions of Japanese Americans, many of of whom fought bravely in the war against Japan?

I don't feel personally responsible but I do think the US government was/is responsible for the way they were treated. A jury apparently agreed also which is why the families and descendents of those incarerated received reparations.

The German Government was responsible for what happened to the Jews. Individuals and the Isreali government continue to receive billions of dollars in reparations for WWII crimes today.

I think the American POW's are asking that the Japanese government acknowledge what was done to them and at the very least apologize for it. They're not blaming private citizens or the entire community. I don't think that's asking too much.

The absolution of government responsibility for human rights atrocities would be dangerous in my opinion.

http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif

[Wise Young]

seneca,

Many Japanese suffered enormously during the war. The victorious U.S. army, led by General MacArthur, was greeted enthusiastically by many Japanese. I think that a vast majority of the people were glad that the war was over and welcomed the Americans. By the way, I am not sure that we should be segregating "government" from the people. If the Japanese government pays reparations, it is the people who pay taxes to the government who actually will pay for the reparations. Most of the people who are currently in the government and who now pay taxes in Japan were not even alive during World War II. It is nearly 60 years after VJ day. Should we be penalizing these people who had no part in the war?

The Jewish concentration camps in Germany and the incarceration of the Japanese Americans during World War II were undeclared acts of war by governments against people in their own country. I am glad that holocaust victims received reparations. Unfortunately, the apology and reparations of the U.S. government to Japanese American families came 50 years too late. Millions of Japanese Americans were not only incarcerated without trial but their properties were taken away and distributed to others.

I agree with you that governments should not be absolved of their actions. On the other hand, what happened in Bataan and other places took place during a war when many countries were engaged in mutual destruction. Atrocities do happen in wars. Wars are atrocities. Should the Japanese be suing the United States for reparations, particularly for killing millions of people in Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and the firebombing of Tokyo? It is a pandora's box that I am not sure we should be opening.


Wise.

[This message was edited by Wise Young on Sep 15, 2002 at 04:14 AM.]

[angel7]

I have to agree with Dr. Young. If we start trying to repay everyone for the atrocities of war and life then we would almost have to repay all nationalities thus in essence just moving money from one group to another. Example: White's pay Blacks, Blacks and Whites pay Indians, Catholic Church pay South American and American and Spainish Indians. Apache pay Cherokee, Germans pay Jews, gyspys , Catholics, etc., Evangelican pay supposed witches and we could go on, and on, and on. Better to call it all even and try not repeat past atrocities.

Deb

[alan]

There are supposedly rules governing the treatment of POWs. Japan broke them. Those who were affected deserve compensation (but not their children or grandchildren - just as neither I nor my mother and father, who left Germany in 1939 as teens deserved compensation from Germany for the property stolen from my grandparents, who did get a little.)

[Max]

I always thought that US-Japan peace treaty prohibits individuals to sue.



This is real pandora box.


Ukrainians can sue Russians for 300 years of genocide & in particular for artifitial famine of 1932

==============================
"It has been said that for the truth to exist, it takes two people - one to speak it...and another to hear it. Mankind will be forever doomed to destruction if we continue to ask for the truth...but then refuse to listen.." Outer Limits( To Tell The Truth )

[antiquity]

Posted by Dr. Young:
If the Japanese government pays reparations, it is the people who pay taxes to the government who actually will pay for the reparations.


Reparations by way of lawsuits aimed at governments and hence taxpayers is not the only option. Taxpayer money isn't always involved. The alternative is to sue the corporations that profitted from the use of slave labor or the data obtained from human medical experimentation. This is the route that the American POW's are taking. They are asking the Japanese government for a formal apology but the targets of their lawsuit are the Japanese corporations (MitsuÃ,bishi International, Nippon Steel, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Showa Denko and Mitsui & Co.) that illegally benefitted from their labor and deaths. Taxpayer money is not what they're seeking.