Came here to comment with these thoughts, and I don't have better words than this. It's all of our jobs to make sure these things never happen again, and the only way to ensure that is to make sure everyone knows the history. Thank you, Set and Captain Bill!
Lol no one is censoring them. Plenty to be frustrated with about youtube but its pretty rich to complain you are being silenced when youtube is literally publishing their content for the world to see. Age guards are not the same as censorship. I wouldn't age gate this video and I would love it if youtube actually paid staff review content but they don't.
As a 10year old in a boarding school on the Southern Highlands of NSW Aust. we were taught no-frills history. One nun told us about Kokoda and the Burma-Thai railway and Changi. I later found out a relative a doctor was in Changi/ later I worked with officers and men who worked on the Burma-Thai railway. Their stories were horrific but they were exceptional men in all respects. Their stories had a positive effect on my life. To be censored by You Tube is an outrage. The truth might bruise but never hurt. Keep up the fight.
UA-cam "flagging" content?? WTF...any form of censorship is repugnant to a free society. I'm sorry and vexed at where our country is heading. Thanks Seth, Captain Toti, you're appreciated.
I follow another YT channel that chronicles the Second World War and they've had some of their videos flagged bc of content. Never mind the pictures, videos and content is historical in nature. YT, leave this channel alone.
Playing Devil's advocate, would *you* want a UA-cam that was drowning in "graphic adult material?" Would *you* want a UA-cam that was drowning in material created by radical extremists (of *all* types)? I guarantee that number of people trying radicalize viewers outnumber the ones trying to post good, scholarly, historical content. And the number of people wishing to post/repost "extremely adult material" is far higher. UA-cam's staff is far too small to view all the material posted and determine whether it needs to be flagged as adult material or banned outright. They are highly dependent upon their algorithms to do this, and even at the most charitable, the algorithms are very, very dumb. While I applaud UA-cam's *intent* to moderate their content, their *results* justifiably deserve criticism. Legally speaking, the First Amendment of the U.S. Bill of Rights gives UA-cam the *right* to publish whatever material they choose, and also the right to *not publish* whatever material they choose. They have the same rights that the founding fathers intended to grant circa 1792 newspapers.
You pretty much described the circumstances of my Great Uncle Stewart' demise in Japanese POW camp. My beloved Grandpa' brother was an artilleryman with the AIF. They were captured in the Fall of Singapore. He, like countless others, was systematicly starved beaten and worked mercillessly.. eventually succomming in mid 1945, scant months before Wars end, to untreated tropical disease, starvation, and brutality. He and thousands of Australian, British and other comrades now lies in Amberly War Cemetary. I indeed to visit at the earliest opportunity. Lest We Forget.
The garbage that is on u tube is endless ....and yet they penalize legit and incredibly useful/ needed / historic/ and needed. You guys and your guests do a incredible job putting out history...that must be remembered...( And I personally have learnt many things off your shows ) . U tube has censored WW2 and History Underground, just to name a couple ...Your in good company!!!!! .please don't ever stop ...thank you !
My uncle (Italian soldier) was captured in Egypt and held as a POW in Cowra Australia. He was allowed out during the day unsupervised to assist local Aussies in farm work. He didn’t want to go back to Italy after the war.
Thank you for this episode. My grandfather was a gunner’s mate on the USS Houston and became a prisoner of the Japanese after it sank. He worked on the death railway and survived the war, despite being starved (he weighed 90 lbs when liberated) having his nose broken 4 times, being stabbed through the shoulder with a bayonet, contracting malaria and later tuberculosis. He was the toughest man I have ever known. We must never forget the story of these men.
Hard to imagine what they went through. I think of it every time we see the emaciated Ukrainians returned from Muscowyte captivity. Those atrocities still happen. Your grandfather was doubtlessly a good man and would be disappointed at the state of the world now. We owe it to him and to our children to do better.
Gentlemen, you are doing a great job of presenting real history in a true and straight-forward manner. Not all history or people in history are all sweet-tarts and proper language. The world is a rough and violent place especially during a time war. And, it is much better for our children, who are at least 12y.o., to to learn the unfettered truth about history as it really was, rather than a watered down version expressed in the manner actually used by historical person's rather than super polite phony language? For all you moms and dads of teenagers out there I can almost assure you that by the time your kids get to 6th grade your sweet, 'innocent' little boy or girl already knows, has heard, and possibly used any of the words you want to protect them from knowing. (Where do they learn such things? At school, on the playground by overhearing other kids, trying to sound like grown ups, from whom they pick-up most of it).
Gentlemen, you deserve praise for tackling an extremely difficult subject. Among all the horrors and tragedy, I was struck and saddened yet again at how poor our education of history to our children is so lacking on this and other worthy topics ( insert your favorite) that are important to remember and still affect there world today. Keep up the good fight.
This episode was very much needed. As a kid I quickly understood any POW of the Japanese may not want to talk about it. More than a few did, including my math teacher in HS. Baton death March and Hell ship survivor, he did share details as stated in this episode. Part of keeping his sanity was remembering kindness along side the atrocities. He extended forgiveness but clearly wanted to share events he knew fellow POWs could not or would not. One POW veteran was a friends father and he cautioned me his Dad harboured great hatred for the Japanese and keep off the subject. Enough said for me.
Thank you both for tackling this subject. That last quote about the behavior of the Imperial Japanese Military brought back a memory. In college, I took a WW2 class, and had a classmate who only had a little knowledge on the subject matter. She kept talking about how the U.S. and Japanese militaries committed atrocities against each other, and that the American forces hands weren't clean. It took a long time in class to tell her and others that, while the Allies weren't totally clean in terms of their behavior, the IJN and IJA treatment of prisoners and civilians were in a whole other dark world during the Pacific War.
for the most part and from what I know, the conduct and behavior of American and other allied forces during the Pacific war was largely in accordance with the Geneva convention, especially the treatment of Japanese POWs. this is true even if it wasn't the case 100% of the time. in many cases actually, they were treated better than even their own fellow soldiers, superiors, or government would ever treat them. the most significant American war crime I know of that occurred during the Pacific war was probably the mass rape of Okinawan women. to add context, other war crimes committed by Americans were unfortunate manifestations of the experiences they underwent, their trauma gradually turning them into monsters like their adversaries and arguably most other people who participated in the war. retaliatory responses like mutilating dead Japanese soldiers, collecting human trophies, shooting unarmed POWs were and are war crimes. it is also important to note that aside from receiving word of how the Japanese treated Allied POWs, or witnessing their friends suffer death or other forms of cruelty at Japanese soldiers, some other reasons for committing such atrocities also included systematic racism and ignorance. but, on a relative scale if we were to measure the morality of the 2 sides or to prioritize severities, the general behavior of Allied soldiers never came as close to that of the IJA. brutality was not only common and widespread, but was actively encouraged and drilled into everyday Japanese citizens, soldiers, officers, and other members of the army. while every Japanese soldier and person is different to varying extents, the large-scale damage, both physical and mental, caused and inflicted by the IJA still greatly outweighs that of Allied forces. in-effect and in examining the outcomes and consequences, the Japanese were the most in-debt and were absolutely the worst of both worlds.
It is sad how civilized society drifts towards forgetting and watering down important history like this. Thanks guys for helping to remind the world how a society can, and does spiral towards barbarity.
My dad had told me the story of an Australian POW who was a chemist. The Japanese found out about it and pressed him to work to look after their troops. Through a combination of dwindling supplies and partly to screw with them. He put a variety of “different ingredients” into the medicine. Also when you do get around to general war crimes. My grandma on my mum’s side lived through the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong. Because of the darwanistic treatment of women. She had to cover herself in coal to disguise herself. So the soldiers don’t press her into service as a comfort woman.
Look at Pattsy Darling's documented commentary for ABC Australia about her time as a nurse prisoner of the Japanese in Changi, and how the older women guarded the younger girls... Horrific
@@ph89787 A distant and removed relo. Gives it a different resonance. Equally gobsmacked even if she were not, when I listened to her female descendant tell me the story.
My great uncle was captured on Bataan. The local paper featured an article about his experience and I remember it being really good. I wish I had the foresight to make a copy of it, I still regret not doing so. He was forced to work in a coal mine and it really messed him up. He suffered health problems for the rest of his life. Ironically he didn’t seem to bear a grudge against the Japanese but he hated MacArthur. I guess he was really lucky to have survived
We visited uncle Johnny every year when I was a kid. I knew that he was a pow but I never heard anything more about it. The paper gave him like four full pages his story was pretty amazing. My great aunt had a copy of it.
Seth and Captain Toti has talked about "Dugout Doug" several times in the earlier episodes about how MacArthur handled the Bataan situation and it was horrible. A lot of Bataan vets despised Mac.
It was one of their episodes that made me realize how untenable the Philippine situation was and that there was no way that the US could resupply or even evacuate our people there. Not a freaking chance, not happening, no way. I find it interesting that despite all the horrible treatment he suffered at the hands of the Japanese his resentment was strictly focused on his sense of betrayal by MacArther. This is an incredible channel and I have been a huge fan ever since I first discovered it
This was an exceedingly difficult episode to watch. I was already having difficulty sleeping, seriously. My dad was a B-29 flight engineer, and he was one of the men who was not shot down. How can someone watch this and not consider the atomic bomb question? If those two bombs hastened the end of the war by just one day, then it was a good decision in my opinion. My father's brother was in the European war against Hitler, and my mom had three of her brothers fight in the war, one of them killed liberating Luzon. I have been to Japan many times during my 30 + year career as an airline pilot. The people of Japan today are not the same people who waged war against the world. Today's Japanese people don't deserve the history that their forefathers saddled them with. Thank you for this episode. Good luck dealing with the UA-cam police.
@xflyingtiger Until such time as they repent and teach their people the TRUTH about their actions In the Second War, they will forever be a rogue, outcast nation.
God has set the rules: REPENTANCE MUST precede forgiveness. Which is what you wrote. Japan's population demographics have them disappearing as a people and nation in the foreseeable future.
The novel, "A Town Like Alice" (Alice refers to Alice Springs in Australia) describes an English woman and Australian meeting in this scenario. Its an Australian classic.
By Nevil Shute (who also wrote "On the Beach") and made into a movie twice.1st with Peter Finch/Virginia Mckenna in 1956 and the 2nd with Brian Bown/Helen Morse 1981.
The church I attend sadly no longer has any WWII vets still living. It took years of getting to know them before they opened up about their experiences in the war and even then, it came in small tidbits. One, Brice Lilly, was a survivor of the Batan death march. He was one of those loaded on a freighter to Japan. He had two ships sunk by allied planes on the way and ended up working out the war in a munitions factory. If I remember correctly, after the surrender, they managed to paint POW on the roof and that led to their rescue. He said the guards had orders to execute them all but didn't carry them out for fear of retribution. One thing he told me multiple times was that he could tell who was near death by looking in their eyes. The light would go out in their eyes and a day or two later, they would die. Your description of Richard O'Kane really brought that home to me. The story about the comfort women is very troubling to me. With the tension in the far east such as it is, it would be a big help for Japan and South Korea to stand together, but with Japan's reticence to do the right thing toward South Korea and the few surviving women, there is still a chill in that relationship.
I don't remember very much being taught about this when I was a kid, however I had an excellent library of books available and I read them all. When I attended OCS we were required to read and do a report on three books from a long list. There were two on the list I had not read, Sun Tsu and one that had just been released about desert storm. This is a refresher on WW2 and I very much appreciate the effort you are putting into each episode. History needs to be remembered or else we WILL repeat it.
As an ethnic Korean and natural born American, thank you for doing this. We, especially the Japanese, cannot forget. Shame prevents humans from doing horrible things again. I think the Germans understand this, but I'm not convinced the Japanese do.
Excellent episode as always. I had the chance to visit the death railroad when I went to Thailand. The museum there is worth the visit and the smaller ones near Kwai are eye opening. Unfortunately only some of the roadroad is accessible and those that are physically fit can go off the easy part of the museum trail for a few mile hike on the hard part; highly recommend that. The whole place is simultaneously sobering and infuriating. Recommend you take a poppy and place it at hellfire pass if you go. GM2 (SW) USN.
Hey you guys, I just got out of the hospital and was in there for 3 weeks so I missed your program for 3 weeks. I'm feeling better, feeling stronger and I'm excited that I can binge-watch 3 episode! It's good to be back and I really missed my torpedo tuesdays! Love you guys!🙏🇺🇲⚓️💯☕️🚬
My uncle was captured at Normandy on the 7th of june,44.He was taken to a P.O.W. camp just outside dresden Germany. He to had to drag out people and bury them when the city was attacked by Allied bombers during the winter of 44 and 45.He was liberated by the russians,but they had to walk to friendly lines, during which a lot of them were to weak,and had to stay behind,while others passed during the walk.Cpl. Jessie Clyde Stover.A story about a man who refused to die.He was at the notorious slaughter house P.O.W. camp,which used to be just that before the war.
Thank you so much for addressing this dark reality of ww2. Ever since I learned my great uncle was a Bataan, Cabatuan, Hell Ship and Nagoya, Japan then killed after the war in a plane crash on Formosa. I feel far too often we overlook these darker events in history and so many suffered. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Im sure this was UHOPW's toughest episode to produce. Thank you for toughing it out, telling the horrible, ugly truth. Keep it up, Seth and Captain Bill!
Huzzah for 'Salty Coffee'! In Melbourne we have 'Veterans Coffee'. Good causes all. And, though these items of history are sometimes difficult to deal with, it is important historiography to tell the tale. Thanks again gentlemen.
Your entire series has been stellar in content and you have told the unvarnished truth in such a manner that even a casual listener would have to work to be offended / upset or “triggered.” This somewhat aged Marine says Semper Fi…..continue the mission, gentlemen!! 🦅🌎⚓️
When I was stationed at the American Embassy in Singapore, I remember a local man, who was from a prominent family, who had served in the Singapore Army during WWII. He had been taken prisoner by the Japanese and held until Singapore was liberated. Needless to say, he was in pitiful shape for the remainder of his life. He was physically handicapped and his mind was gone. He wandered around Singapore panhandling. He was a national hero and the police were taught about him in the academy. They always watched over him.
Gentlemen, may I congratulate you on a video on “yukky” topic which covered the topic in an appropriate level of detail. I had the privilege of interviewing my Uncle Pat on several occasions for psychology units in tertiary studies. He had been a Gunner in the 8th Australian division, captured when Singapore capitulated. He was brutally honest about what he got up to (me remaining silent but thinking “you did WHAT??), we assessed treatment & support programmes, and ongoing issues (this was the late 1990s and believe me, did these people need support). He had actually been back a few times with mental health programmes. Did it help? “Not me, not really, but I think it helped your Aunty Doris understand what I was talking about when I talked about Hellfire pass” (that was the point in time I learned he’d been at Hellfire pass). At the conclusion of one session the survivor guilt had broken out - no one had a good answer as to why he got to come home alive & so many mates didn’t. And the $64 thousand dollar question was “what would help to make things better”? He genuinely considered this but was brutal in his pragmatism: he said “me dying…mate I still hate those (non UA-cam approved phrase)”. RIP Uncle Pat & Aunty Doris
17:45 - Of those prisoners, included almost all my male relatives on both sides of my family. They include all but a couple uncles, who served the rest of the war in British units. I lost an uncle, on my father's side. My maternal grandfather died in prison camp, too. He was a retired Dutch regular, and not from the KNIL, as most of his sons. He came to the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) in the late1890s, and retired in the 1920s, but stayed, to raise a family. This war, was the common topic, in family gatherings, from a personal level. All of those family members, including my parents, have since passed.
This was very difficult for me to watch. About a third of the way through I seriously considered stopping but I felt it was my obligation to continue. I've known about the mistreatment of American and other Allied prisoners of the Japanese for decades, but only in a general way. You two have provided a valuable service in presenting this much more detailed account. Hard as it was to watch, thank you for bringing this aspect of the war into clearer focus.
Laura Hildebrand 's book on Louis Zamperini's life and especially his oddessey "Unbroken" through PTSD, alcoholism, to Christianity and Salvation, and his remarkable forgiveness of his POW tormentor, which is not understood by the majority of people, and most especially that individual most guilty.
My father-in-law, Robert Fedor was aboard the USS Queenfish when they rescued some Australian prisoners that had survived the sinking of their ship. He was greatly affected by their plight. One of the rescued prisoners died after being brought aboard, and this death greatly affected the entire crew. They rescued as many as they could, but has to cut things short do to a typhoon.
37:15 , The Railway Man starring Colin Firth is a good movie depicting the torture of allied POWs on the Burma Railway. A great drama based on a true story.
A disturbing but important episode that needed to be discussed. Trying to wrap my head around what these men had to endure and what it must have been like of which no one could possibly know unless experiencing the atrocities put upon them is humbling to say the least. As has been said "War is Hell". Never more so then what these solders were forced to endured .God Bless them all.
Episode 403 of this podcast has as the guest, John Bruning, author of Race of Aces, and most recently Fifty Three Days on Starvation Island. He discusses as part of his epilogue the massive disconnect between combat veterans and HEROES from the general population of service connected civilians which continues today to even greater degrees. The suicide rates among combat veterans far exceed the civilian population, in spite of better awareness and treatment for the post traumatic stress combat veterans endure.
Seth to meet some of the most unlucky men, of the World War II Japanese prisoners camps would be totally humbling. But yet make you, a very lucky person to record there darkest days for history. Bill and Seth, once again Tank You!
38:40 In regards to the “hell ships” I think my great uncle was initially transported to Korea and to work as slave labor and then later transported back to Japan. At some point the transport ships were attacked by allied aircraft and many of them were sunk but my uncle’s survived
It certainly is tough sledding but keeping these type of episodes alive is vital to understanding and (maybe naively spoken) improving human relations as a whole. You handled this topic professionally and respectfully - excellent work.
“Tough sledding” triggered a Bob Hope memory. He and his small group of entertainers were traveling around the central pacific giving shows to GI’s, and one of their stops was on Pavuvu in the Solomon Islands. Hope’s sidekick takes the stage and Hope asked him how the travel experience was getting there (they had to fly in small, single engine planes). He said “tough sledding”. Hope then asked “ why is that?”. Answer…”no snow”. I read the crowd loved it.
I’m a long time listener. I tried out Old Salt Coffee (Silent Service) after the very first time you guys mentioned it in your podcast. I’ve been purchasing it regularly ever since then. In my opinion it is the best tasting coffee I’ve ever drank, period. I’m 73 and a Vietnam Veteran so over 5 decades I’ve had many different brands and blends, but Old Salt is the best; in my opinion and using what brain cells I didn’t kill off in SE Asia drinking who knows what many moons ago. Seriously gents; outstanding Java…
Many people do not realise how bad ulcers can be, neither did I until last year when I got a venous ulcer on my foot. Took 6 months for the thing to heal, and was incredibly painful. And this is in a modern Western European Nation with good medical access. Even then though it spread horrifyingly quickly in the first month, and became infected three times over that six month period. And that's WITH good medical access, adequate diet and access to good sanitation! Intellectually I knew ulcers could be bad before that, but suffering from one really brought home how bad! Now I can imagine to some degree what it would have meant for guys in those camps who developed a serious ulcer, while malnourished, without access to adequate medical facilities or sanitation, and with no access to any real medical equipment or treatments.... Had I been in that position last year I suspect I would have lost the foot, and that's a best case scenario! Sorry to hear You Tube is giving you guys issues....
I read a book quite a few years ago about O’Kane and his time at that “special” POW camp. I can’t recall the book’s name, but they spend a lot of time describing a particular young Japanese medic assigned to the prison camp infirmary. The book talks about the absolute unbridled cruelty this medic foisted upon the “special” prisoners up until they were liberated in august of 1945. This Japanese petty officer medic had never personally seen a day of actual combat in his life. The book goes into graphic detail describing this sadistic Japanese naval medic’s methods of extreme torture, brutal treatment, and intentional medical neglect of a select group of prisoners. The book details his subsequent disappearance the day the Emperor announced the succession of any armed or physical resistance to allied forces. He is eventually captured and placed on trial before an allied military tribunal. He is convicted of several war crimes and sentenced to death. His sentence is subsequently reduced to a term in prison by the intervention of his influential mother who appeals directly to Governor General Douglas MacArthur. MacArthur is the person who commutes the convicted petty officer medic’s death sentence. He is later given early release along with many other convicted Japanese war criminals because of political Cold War reasons as the U.S. builds an Asian goodwill democratic alliance that must include a free Japan against a communist Russian and Chinese Cold War threat.
That’s awesome with the coffee guys. Been watching you guys since you started or close to it I think. Can’t wait for your logistics episode when you do it. If you can do it, get Sal from “What’s going on with shipping “ he has tremendous knowledge of the history of naval logistics. He did an episode about six oilers in ww2
So is it just me or does Captain Toti look like Fred Armisen? Love the show! As a high school history teacher I really appreciate this show. I may not be able to teach most of what you guys discuss as I only have so much time in a school year. But I always find excellent bits to share with my students. Thank you again and keep the episodes coming!! PS: I teach 1890- present. It’s a lot. But I do teach a lot more than Pearl Harbor, D-Day and the Tuskegee Airmen when we discuss WW II. A lot more. But the time restraints as well as the subject matter of 1890-present does turn my US History class into more of a survey course than a real deep dive into the individual parts of US History.
You can treat people with contempt without attempting to kill a person. All brutal tactics and treatment do is steel the resolve of the opposing force.
Thank you for talking about this. I had a friend that was captured by the Japanese on the philopenas and endured the Bataan death march. He was a fine man.
Another excellent episode. A very difficult subject. It seems to be pretty hard to avoid some kind of censure on UA-cam given some classes of material, shooting firearms in any context. Which makes tackling history of some periods pretty difficult. So keep going guys. Do what you do best and keep spreading the word
My relative, PFC Roy E. Maghan, 194th Tank Battalion, Minnesota National Guard, was captured by the Japanese on April 9; 1942. He survived the Bataan death march. He was killed on September 7, 1944 onboard the Shinyo Maru when it was torpedoed by the USS Paddle.
I had read of the exact incidents Seth mentioned about the nightmarish hellships. These stories are the most disturbing account of inhumanity I have ever heard.
Thank you for addressing this topic. It's important to remember what happened to these servicemen and women. A difficult topic to cover, for sure, you've done a great job presenting the facts of their horrible treatment with honesty and compassion.
Repulsive. Disturbing. Unacceptable. Inexcusable. The content of the episode on the treatment of POW’s was horrific as well. I was surprised that you didn’t mention Bruno Gaido and his pilot Frank O’Flaherty. The stories you relayed were disgusting-but had to be told and ALL of us should never forget what these men and women went through for us. As for UA-cam, get over it! History matters and it should not be suppressed to advance an agenda. Keep up the great work Seth & Bill
A number of points Bill: Frequently, the Korean troops employed by the Japanese were harsher... Read some of the cruisers Perth and Houston survivors in prison camps. Any conquered people's guerilla forces are treated by ANY troops in the same way. Post-war justice was severely mitigated by MacArthur in Japan for a raft of reasons, unlike Nuremberg.
Heartbreaking segment, but I am glad you did it. People need to learn what happened here; schools need to teach more about World War 2. A great bookend to this segment would be one on the War Crimes Trials for the Japanese. Many seemed to have escaped justice, at least here. Thanks!!!
On your education lapse rant,I'm just 6 years younger than bill ,I remember coming home from school and watching the series Victory at Sea and World at War
My uncle’s brother in law was on hell ship that was bombed on the way to Japan. The other 3 ships sank killing many POWs. He found out after the war his brother was one of the bomber pilots who attacked the convoy. He often said it would have been better to have shot himself at Bataan instead enduring the years of suffering.
One notable exception was Sergeant Major Saito of Tamarkan POW camp (aka the Bridge on the River Kwai camp). Lt Col Toosey, senior POW officer, spoke up on his behalf post war and, as a result, he neither underwent trial nor judicial punishment.
There are Australian movies and TV shows that pull no punches on the POW's. There were attempts to censor them in the 70's and 80's but politicians in parliament shut it down because they had been POW's in those camps. When one photo was debated a politician said that's me on the left. That shut the censor down solidly. Some actors went onto starvation diets to appear starved but were still twice the weight of the actual POW's.
I just want to say thank you. I have listened to all your episodes and I'm glad you tell the truth of this time period. It needs to be remembered that men are not always good regardless of any other factors.
I've gone far too long without an Unauthorized History episode. I'm also 67 Capt Bill, and some of us boomers have/had relatives that were prisoners of the Japanese (Bougainville). To be honest though Americans did do this to fellow Americans in the Civil War.
Capt. Toti is always a class act. When this season is over I’m really going to miss hearing both of you and your special guests in my ears at work on Tuesday mornings. I know I can just listen to the episodes starting from the beginning and probably will at some point.
The IJA treated prisoners well/ok in Russo- Japanese war (1905ish), and WW I. Then things changed as you guys indicated in 1930’s. In my readings on WW II I viewed the Japanese as the worst. After considerable reading on German treatment of Russian prisoners I would rate the German behavior as a 9 or 10 on the prisoner abuse scale (1 to 10), and the Japanese overall as a 3 or 4. Great show guys , don’t forget to discuss the Japanese behavior towards the Chinese military. When I say 3 -4 for the Japanese I mean against western pow’s.
Alex Vraciu's last hurrah in WWII was flying off the Cowpins (the Mighty Moo) during the battle for the Phillipenes. He was shot down during a straffing run and spent months with Filipino guerrilas. His story was eye openning. You might want to do a episode on guerrillas.
Serh and Bill, this was by far the hardest of your episodes, but most definitely stories that have to be told. If these stories are lost, we will forget how bad some people can be treated by others. We see echoes of this occurring in some conflicts today. We must learn that these atrocities can not be tolerated, and must be stopped. Thank you gentlemen for all you do with this podcast.
Re Capt. Toti's story about his great uncle (removed) wanting to stay in the US after his POW experience here, this was a fairly common thing. There are several good documentaries here on UA-cam about Axis POWs in the US. A pretty representative one is about the camp in Concordia, KS, highly recommend watching it ("Camp Concordia World War II German POW Camp"). Common themes in the history of Axis POWs in the USA: agricultural work for the POWs, close association between the prisoners and the farm families, many of these prisoners becoming like members of the family, and many returning to the US after the war, some marrying local women. Did I hear Seth hint at an episode about how Japan ended up at war with the Allies? Would be good to have one. As I have noted before, consideration should be given to having Eri Hotta, a Japanese historian, as a guest. Her book "Japan 1941" should be read by every Pacific War aficionado. Illuminating, and sort of shocking.
Love the channel and the work that you guys do but no need to stir people up complaining of being censored when youtube is literally putting your content out there for the world to see. Yes we need better education and yes youtube should actually be responsive to complaints about how they moderate content (they don't want to spend money to review individual videos) but an age limit is not the same as censorship
You do a great job. From my perspective it is clearly censoring was is happening here. To exclude specific words or meanings does not make the world better. Who decides this? Democracy? Society forms language Not Language changes society We need, nowadays even more than before, the memory and knowledge about the wars. Especially as the veterans of those wars, people that have witnessed it are fewer and fewer. My mother, she is German, is 90 years old. Very clear she can report how she felt as young girl of 5-6 years flying with uncle Max to Berlin and stand in the line to shake the Führers Hand. The more when she report from Winter 44/45 when she feld with her aunt from west Prussia under terrible conditions. We need do embrace this knowledge it is a treasure that helps us to prevent the same happening again. Thank you for all the above and beyond content you make!!!
I agree completely. Japan avoided, and continues to avoid, accountability for their actions in pre-WW2 China and the Asia Pacific Theater. The Japanese enslaved civilians from every country they conquered. Brutal treatment, torture, and murder of allied POWs was sanctioned up and down the COC and ubiquitous in every setting. Interestingly, I have read that even today Japan has few civil rights laws prohibiting social, religious, ethnic, or racial discrimination. Japan's constitution states that all people are equal under the law but some translations suggest that it refers to "citizens" and not "people." Today, about 98% of Japan's population are ethnic Japanese. They accept very few refugees or immigrants. The Yamato race must be kept pure as it remains superior to all other races.
Note that these policies are having consequences. The population demographics show that Japan will disappear as a nation in the next century if the current birth rate does not increase RADICALLY. I think God has made his judgment.
Just to add....I have an Ex-RAN workmate who lives in Thailand and frequently visits the cemetery in Kanchanarburi on the River Kwai, to pay his respects....
Do not stop telling the truth, no matter how unpleasant. Do not let those who wish to whitewash history prevail! Love to both Seth and Captain Bill.
Came here to comment with these thoughts, and I don't have better words than this. It's all of our jobs to make sure these things never happen again, and the only way to ensure that is to make sure everyone knows the history. Thank you, Set and Captain Bill!
Lol no one is censoring them. Plenty to be frustrated with about youtube but its pretty rich to complain you are being silenced when youtube is literally publishing their content for the world to see. Age guards are not the same as censorship.
I wouldn't age gate this video and I would love it if youtube actually paid staff review content but they don't.
As a 10year old in a boarding school on the Southern Highlands of NSW Aust. we were taught no-frills history. One nun told us about Kokoda and the Burma-Thai railway and Changi. I later found out a relative a doctor was in Changi/ later I worked with officers and men who worked on the Burma-Thai railway. Their stories were horrific but they were exceptional men in all respects. Their stories had a positive effect on my life.
To be censored by You Tube is an outrage. The truth might bruise but never hurt. Keep up the fight.
To be a POW of the AXIS, especially the Japanese, was literally a fate worse than death.
We need an alternate website.
UA-cam "flagging" content?? WTF...any form of censorship is repugnant to a free society. I'm sorry and vexed at where our country is heading. Thanks Seth, Captain Toti, you're appreciated.
@@jammininthepast I agree. Thank you for speaking up. Censorship is tyranny.
Especially deleting comments.
I follow another YT channel that chronicles the Second World War and they've had some of their videos flagged bc of content. Never mind the pictures, videos and content is historical in nature.
YT, leave this channel alone.
They're trying to scrub war of it's terrible nature. War is a dirty, nasty horrible thing. We should always remember these facts.
Playing Devil's advocate, would *you* want a UA-cam that was drowning in "graphic adult material?" Would *you* want a UA-cam that was drowning in material created by radical extremists (of *all* types)?
I guarantee that number of people trying radicalize viewers outnumber the ones trying to post good, scholarly, historical content. And the number of people wishing to post/repost "extremely adult material" is far higher.
UA-cam's staff is far too small to view all the material posted and determine whether it needs to be flagged as adult material or banned outright. They are highly dependent upon their algorithms to do this, and even at the most charitable, the algorithms are very, very dumb.
While I applaud UA-cam's *intent* to moderate their content, their *results* justifiably deserve criticism.
Legally speaking, the First Amendment of the U.S. Bill of Rights gives UA-cam the *right* to publish whatever material they choose, and also the right to *not publish* whatever material they choose. They have the same rights that the founding fathers intended to grant circa 1792 newspapers.
You pretty much described the circumstances of my Great Uncle Stewart' demise in Japanese POW camp. My beloved Grandpa' brother was an artilleryman with the AIF. They were captured in the Fall of Singapore. He, like countless others, was systematicly starved beaten and worked mercillessly.. eventually succomming in mid 1945, scant months before Wars end, to untreated tropical disease, starvation, and brutality. He and thousands of Australian, British and other comrades now lies in Amberly War Cemetary. I indeed to visit at the earliest opportunity. Lest We Forget.
And Weary Dunlop. Like so many others who looked after their mates.
Lest we forget.
By the way, he wasn’t 2/15th Field Regiment, was he?
Never forget
how awful, He made it so far,
The garbage that is on u tube is endless ....and yet they penalize legit and incredibly useful/ needed / historic/ and needed. You guys and your guests do a incredible job putting out history...that must be remembered...( And I personally have learnt many things off your shows ) . U tube has censored WW2 and History Underground, just to name a couple ...Your in good company!!!!!
.please don't ever stop ...thank you !
My uncle (Italian soldier) was captured in Egypt and held as a POW in Cowra Australia. He was allowed out during the day unsupervised to assist local Aussies in farm work. He didn’t want to go back to Italy after the war.
Thank you for this episode. My grandfather was a gunner’s mate on the USS Houston and became a prisoner of the Japanese after it sank.
He worked on the death railway and survived the war, despite being starved (he weighed 90 lbs when liberated) having his nose broken 4 times, being stabbed through the shoulder with a bayonet, contracting malaria and later tuberculosis. He was the toughest man I have ever known. We must never forget the story of these men.
Hard to imagine what they went through. I think of it every time we see the emaciated Ukrainians returned from Muscowyte captivity. Those atrocities still happen. Your grandfather was doubtlessly a good man and would be disappointed at the state of the world now. We owe it to him and to our children to do better.
Dude seriously, just stop it
Agree
"Ship of Ghosts" by James Hornfischer, first hand accounts of USS Houston POWs
Gentlemen, you are doing a great job of presenting real history in a true and straight-forward manner. Not all history or people in history are all sweet-tarts and proper language. The world is a rough and violent place especially during a time war. And, it is much better for our children, who are at least 12y.o., to to learn the unfettered truth about history as it really was, rather than a watered down version expressed in the manner actually used by historical person's rather than super polite phony language?
For all you moms and dads of teenagers out there I can almost assure you that by the time your kids get to 6th grade your sweet, 'innocent' little boy or girl already knows, has heard, and possibly used any of the words you want to protect them from knowing. (Where do they learn such things? At school, on the playground by overhearing other kids, trying to sound like grown ups, from whom they pick-up most of it).
Gentlemen, you deserve praise for tackling an extremely difficult subject. Among all the horrors and tragedy, I was struck and saddened yet again at how poor our education of history to our children is so lacking on this and other worthy topics ( insert your favorite) that are important to remember and still affect there world today. Keep up the good fight.
This episode was very much needed. As a kid I quickly understood any POW of the Japanese may not want to talk about it. More than a few did, including my math teacher in HS. Baton death March and Hell ship survivor, he did share details as stated in this episode. Part of keeping his sanity was remembering kindness along side the atrocities. He extended forgiveness but clearly wanted to share events he knew fellow POWs could not or would not. One POW veteran was a friends father and he cautioned me his Dad harboured great hatred for the Japanese and keep off the subject. Enough said for me.
Thank you both for tackling this subject. That last quote about the behavior of the Imperial Japanese Military brought back a memory. In college, I took a WW2 class, and had a classmate who only had a little knowledge on the subject matter. She kept talking about how the U.S. and Japanese militaries committed atrocities against each other, and that the American forces hands weren't clean. It took a long time in class to tell her and others that, while the Allies weren't totally clean in terms of their behavior, the IJN and IJA treatment of prisoners and civilians were in a whole other dark world during the Pacific War.
for the most part and from what I know, the conduct and behavior of American and other allied forces during the Pacific war was largely in accordance with the Geneva convention, especially the treatment of Japanese POWs. this is true even if it wasn't the case 100% of the time. in many cases actually, they were treated better than even their own fellow soldiers, superiors, or government would ever treat them.
the most significant American war crime I know of that occurred during the Pacific war was probably the mass rape of Okinawan women. to add context, other war crimes committed by Americans were unfortunate manifestations of the experiences they underwent, their trauma gradually turning them into monsters like their adversaries and arguably most other people who participated in the war. retaliatory responses like mutilating dead Japanese soldiers, collecting human trophies, shooting unarmed POWs were and are war crimes. it is also important to note that aside from receiving word of how the Japanese treated Allied POWs, or witnessing their friends suffer death or other forms of cruelty at Japanese soldiers, some other reasons for committing such atrocities also included systematic racism and ignorance.
but, on a relative scale if we were to measure the morality of the 2 sides or to prioritize severities, the general behavior of Allied soldiers never came as close to that of the IJA. brutality was not only common and widespread, but was actively encouraged and drilled into everyday Japanese citizens, soldiers, officers, and other members of the army. while every Japanese soldier and person is different to varying extents, the large-scale damage, both physical and mental, caused and inflicted by the IJA still greatly outweighs that of Allied forces. in-effect and in examining the outcomes and consequences, the Japanese were the most in-debt and were absolutely the worst of both worlds.
It is sad how civilized society drifts towards forgetting and watering down important history like this. Thanks guys for helping to remind the world how a society can, and does spiral towards barbarity.
These stories DO need to be told. Yes, crazy, mind-blowingly evil. Great show. Great series. Thank you for telling it like it was.
My wife's father was captured in Singapore and was amongst those who were forced to work on the Burma railway ... thank you for this episode
My dad had told me the story of an Australian POW who was a chemist. The Japanese found out about it and pressed him to work to look after their troops. Through a combination of dwindling supplies and partly to screw with them. He put a variety of “different ingredients” into the medicine.
Also when you do get around to general war crimes. My grandma on my mum’s side lived through the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong. Because of the darwanistic treatment of women. She had to cover herself in coal to disguise herself. So the soldiers don’t press her into service as a comfort woman.
Look at Pattsy Darling's documented commentary for ABC Australia about her time as a nurse prisoner of the Japanese in Changi, and how the older women guarded the younger girls... Horrific
@@michaelcoe9824 I think I saw that one ages ago.
@@ph89787 A distant and removed relo.
Gives it a different resonance.
Equally gobsmacked even if she were not, when I listened to her female descendant tell me the story.
My great uncle was captured on Bataan. The local paper featured an article about his experience and I remember it being really good. I wish I had the foresight to make a copy of it, I still regret not doing so. He was forced to work in a coal mine and it really messed him up. He suffered health problems for the rest of his life. Ironically he didn’t seem to bear a grudge against the Japanese but he hated MacArthur. I guess he was really lucky to have survived
I suspect you may find an archived copy. Thank you for your family 's service.
We visited uncle Johnny every year when I was a kid. I knew that he was a pow but I never heard anything more about it. The paper gave him like four full pages his story was pretty amazing. My great aunt had a copy of it.
Seth and Captain Toti has talked about "Dugout Doug" several times in the earlier episodes about how MacArthur handled the Bataan situation and it was horrible. A lot of Bataan vets despised Mac.
It was one of their episodes that made me realize how untenable the Philippine situation was and that there was no way that the US could resupply or even evacuate our people there. Not a freaking chance, not happening, no way. I find it interesting that despite all the horrible treatment he suffered at the hands of the Japanese his resentment was strictly focused on his sense of betrayal by MacArther. This is an incredible channel and I have been a huge fan ever since I first discovered it
This was an exceedingly difficult episode to watch. I was already having difficulty sleeping, seriously. My dad was a B-29 flight engineer, and he was one of the men who was not shot down. How can someone watch this and not consider the atomic bomb question? If those two bombs hastened the end of the war by just one day, then it was a good decision in my opinion. My father's brother was in the European war against Hitler, and my mom had three of her brothers fight in the war, one of them killed liberating Luzon. I have been to Japan many times during my 30 + year career as an airline pilot. The people of Japan today are not the same people who waged war against the world. Today's Japanese people don't deserve the history that their forefathers saddled them with. Thank you for this episode. Good luck dealing with the UA-cam police.
@xflyingtiger Until such time as they repent and teach their people the TRUTH about their actions In the Second War, they will forever be a rogue, outcast nation.
God has set the rules: REPENTANCE MUST precede forgiveness. Which is what you wrote. Japan's population demographics have them disappearing as a people and nation in the foreseeable future.
My grandpa was at Luzon! Greatest man I ever knew.. 🇺🇸
This Arizona boy, says, “May God damn our leaders that degrade our POWs!
…and our Gold Star families!”
Dude I concur
I'm with you guys... The best WWII podcast on the tubes.
The novel, "A Town Like Alice" (Alice refers to Alice Springs in Australia) describes an English woman and Australian meeting in this scenario. Its an Australian classic.
By Nevil Shute (who also wrote "On the Beach") and made into a movie twice.1st with Peter Finch/Virginia Mckenna in 1956 and the 2nd with Brian Bown/Helen Morse 1981.
Thank you for doing these episodes. They are tough to listen too, and they are probably tough to make
The church I attend sadly no longer has any WWII vets still living. It took years of getting to know them before they opened up about their experiences in the war and even then, it came in small tidbits. One, Brice Lilly, was a survivor of the Batan death march. He was one of those loaded on a freighter to Japan. He had two ships sunk by allied planes on the way and ended up working out the war in a munitions factory. If I remember correctly, after the surrender, they managed to paint POW on the roof and that led to their rescue. He said the guards had orders to execute them all but didn't carry them out for fear of retribution. One thing he told me multiple times was that he could tell who was near death by looking in their eyes. The light would go out in their eyes and a day or two later, they would die. Your description of Richard O'Kane really brought that home to me.
The story about the comfort women is very troubling to me. With the tension in the far east such as it is, it would be a big help for Japan and South Korea to stand together, but with Japan's reticence to do the right thing toward South Korea and the few surviving women, there is still a chill in that relationship.
guys, screw UA-cam, tell it like it was. As Seth mentioned on what his kids are taught, we CANNOT forget this. Keep up the good work
I don't remember very much being taught about this when I was a kid, however I had an excellent library of books available and I read them all.
When I attended OCS we were required to read and do a report on three books from a long list. There were two on the list I had not read, Sun Tsu and one that had just been released about desert storm.
This is a refresher on WW2 and I very much appreciate the effort you are putting into each episode.
History needs to be remembered or else we WILL repeat it.
As an ethnic Korean and natural born American, thank you for doing this. We, especially the Japanese, cannot forget. Shame prevents humans from doing horrible things again. I think the Germans understand this, but I'm not convinced the Japanese do.
I’ve listened to all your episodes, this one and the Philippine liberation were tough to get through. Thanks, sadly it needs to be remembered.
As a kid, I visited the Bataan Death March- made it a point to enlighten my civilian school friends about the suffering, when I got back stateside.
Excellent episode as always. I had the chance to visit the death railroad when I went to Thailand. The museum there is worth the visit and the smaller ones near Kwai are eye opening. Unfortunately only some of the roadroad is accessible and those that are physically fit can go off the easy part of the museum trail for a few mile hike on the hard part; highly recommend that. The whole place is simultaneously sobering and infuriating. Recommend you take a poppy and place it at hellfire pass if you go. GM2 (SW) USN.
Visited the museum and adjoining cemetery in Kanchanaburi in June. It was an eye opener for me.
Hey you guys, I just got out of the hospital and was in there for 3 weeks so I missed your program for 3 weeks. I'm feeling better, feeling stronger and I'm excited that I can binge-watch 3 episode! It's good to be back and I really missed my torpedo tuesdays! Love you guys!🙏🇺🇲⚓️💯☕️🚬
My uncle was captured at Normandy on the 7th of june,44.He was taken to a P.O.W. camp just outside dresden Germany. He to had to drag out people and bury them when the city was attacked by Allied bombers during the winter of 44 and 45.He was liberated by the russians,but they had to walk to friendly lines, during which a lot of them were to weak,and had to stay behind,while others passed during the walk.Cpl. Jessie Clyde Stover.A story about a man who refused to die.He was at the notorious slaughter house P.O.W. camp,which used to be just that before the war.
Thank you so much for addressing this dark reality of ww2. Ever since I learned my great uncle was a Bataan, Cabatuan, Hell Ship and Nagoya, Japan then killed after the war in a plane crash on Formosa. I feel far too often we overlook these darker events in history and so many suffered. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Once again you guys took on a terrible topic and covered it with dignity and seriousness. Thank you.
Im sure this was UHOPW's toughest episode to produce.
Thank you for toughing it out, telling the horrible, ugly truth.
Keep it up, Seth and Captain Bill!
Huzzah for 'Salty Coffee'! In Melbourne we have 'Veterans Coffee'. Good causes all.
And, though these items of history are sometimes difficult to deal with, it is important historiography to tell the tale.
Thanks again gentlemen.
Your entire series has been stellar in content and you have told the unvarnished truth in such a manner that even a casual listener would have to work to be offended / upset or “triggered.” This somewhat aged Marine says Semper Fi…..continue the mission, gentlemen!!
🦅🌎⚓️
This episode needed to happen. Thanks guys. Lou Zamperini and Pappy Boyington were in Ofuma
They were in both Omori and Ofuna.
When I was stationed at the American Embassy in Singapore, I remember a local man, who was from a prominent family, who had served in the Singapore Army during WWII. He had been taken prisoner by the Japanese and held until Singapore was liberated. Needless to say, he was in pitiful shape for the remainder of his life. He was physically handicapped and his mind was gone. He wandered around Singapore panhandling. He was a national hero and the police were taught about him in the academy. They always watched over him.
Gentlemen, may I congratulate you on a video on “yukky” topic which covered the topic in an appropriate level of detail.
I had the privilege of interviewing my Uncle Pat on several occasions for psychology units in tertiary studies. He had been a Gunner in the 8th Australian division, captured when Singapore capitulated. He was brutally honest about what he got up to (me remaining silent but thinking “you did WHAT??), we assessed treatment & support programmes, and ongoing issues (this was the late 1990s and believe me, did these people need support). He had actually been back a few times with mental health programmes. Did it help? “Not me, not really, but I think it helped your Aunty Doris understand what I was talking about when I talked about Hellfire pass” (that was the point in time I learned he’d been at Hellfire pass). At the conclusion of one session the survivor guilt had broken out - no one had a good answer as to why he got to come home alive & so many mates didn’t. And the $64 thousand dollar question was “what would help to make things better”? He genuinely considered this but was brutal in his pragmatism: he said “me dying…mate I still hate those (non UA-cam approved phrase)”.
RIP Uncle Pat & Aunty Doris
17:45 - Of those prisoners, included almost all my male relatives on both sides of my family. They include all but a couple uncles, who served the rest of the war in British units. I lost an uncle, on my father's side. My maternal grandfather died in prison camp, too. He was a retired Dutch regular, and not from the KNIL, as most of his sons. He came to the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) in the late1890s, and retired in the 1920s, but stayed, to raise a family. This war, was the common topic, in family gatherings, from a personal level. All of those family members, including my parents, have since passed.
This was very difficult for me to watch. About a third of the way through I seriously considered stopping but I felt it was my obligation to continue. I've known about the mistreatment of American and other Allied prisoners of the Japanese for decades, but only in a general way. You two have provided a valuable service in presenting this much more detailed account. Hard as it was to watch, thank you for bringing this aspect of the war into clearer focus.
Laura Hildebrand 's book on Louis Zamperini's life and especially his oddessey "Unbroken" through PTSD, alcoholism, to Christianity and Salvation, and his remarkable forgiveness of his POW tormentor, which is not understood by the majority of people, and most especially that individual most guilty.
I, too, was tempted, but compelled to finish.
My father-in-law, Robert Fedor was aboard the USS Queenfish when they rescued some Australian prisoners that had survived the sinking of their ship. He was greatly affected by their plight. One of the rescued prisoners died after being brought aboard, and this death greatly affected the entire crew. They rescued as many as they could, but has to cut things short do to a typhoon.
37:15 , The Railway Man starring Colin Firth is a good movie depicting the torture of allied POWs on the Burma Railway. A great drama based on a true story.
A disturbing but important episode that needed to be discussed. Trying to wrap my head around what these men had to endure and what it must have been like of which no one could possibly know unless experiencing the atrocities put upon them is humbling to say the least. As has been said "War is Hell". Never more so then what these solders were forced to endured .God Bless them all.
Episode 403 of this podcast has as the guest, John Bruning, author of Race of Aces, and most recently Fifty Three Days on Starvation Island. He discusses as part of his epilogue the massive disconnect between combat veterans and HEROES from the general population of service connected civilians which continues today to even greater degrees. The suicide rates among combat veterans far exceed the civilian population, in spite of better awareness and treatment for the post traumatic stress combat veterans endure.
Seth to meet some of the most unlucky men, of the World War II Japanese prisoners camps would be totally humbling. But yet make you, a very lucky person to record there darkest days for history.
Bill and Seth, once again
Tank You!
Thank You!
Dang “ I phone”
FYI
(You Tube) are throwing in more commercials now, for the Detroit market on the this pod cast.🥴😡
38:40 In regards to the “hell ships” I think my great uncle was initially transported to Korea and to work as slave labor and then later transported back to Japan. At some point the transport ships were attacked by allied aircraft and many of them were sunk but my uncle’s survived
It certainly is tough sledding but keeping these type of episodes alive is vital to understanding and (maybe naively spoken) improving human relations as a whole. You handled this topic professionally and respectfully - excellent work.
“Tough sledding” triggered a Bob Hope memory. He and his small group of entertainers were traveling around the central pacific giving shows to GI’s, and one of their stops was on Pavuvu in the Solomon Islands. Hope’s sidekick takes the stage and Hope asked him how the travel experience was getting there (they had to fly in small, single engine planes). He said “tough sledding”. Hope then asked “ why is that?”. Answer…”no snow”. I read the crowd loved it.
I’m a long time listener. I tried out Old Salt Coffee (Silent Service) after the very first time you guys mentioned it in your podcast.
I’ve been purchasing it regularly ever since then.
In my opinion it is the best tasting coffee I’ve ever drank, period. I’m 73 and a Vietnam Veteran so over 5 decades I’ve had many different brands and blends, but Old Salt is the best; in my opinion and using what brain cells I didn’t kill off in SE Asia drinking who knows what many moons ago.
Seriously gents; outstanding Java…
Many people do not realise how bad ulcers can be, neither did I until last year when I got a venous ulcer on my foot. Took 6 months for the thing to heal, and was incredibly painful. And this is in a modern Western European Nation with good medical access. Even then though it spread horrifyingly quickly in the first month, and became infected three times over that six month period. And that's WITH good medical access, adequate diet and access to good sanitation!
Intellectually I knew ulcers could be bad before that, but suffering from one really brought home how bad!
Now I can imagine to some degree what it would have meant for guys in those camps who developed a serious ulcer, while malnourished, without access to adequate medical facilities or sanitation, and with no access to any real medical equipment or treatments.... Had I been in that position last year I suspect I would have lost the foot, and that's a best case scenario!
Sorry to hear You Tube is giving you guys issues....
Thank you Bill and Seth.
I read a book quite a few years ago about O’Kane and his time at that “special” POW camp. I can’t recall the book’s name, but they spend a lot of time describing a particular young Japanese medic assigned to the prison camp infirmary. The book talks about the absolute unbridled cruelty this medic foisted upon the “special” prisoners up until they were liberated in august of 1945. This Japanese petty officer medic had never personally seen a day of actual combat in his life.
The book goes into graphic detail describing this sadistic Japanese naval medic’s methods of extreme torture, brutal treatment, and intentional medical neglect of a select group of prisoners.
The book details his subsequent disappearance the day the Emperor announced the succession of any armed or physical resistance to allied forces.
He is eventually captured and placed on trial before an allied military tribunal. He is convicted of several war crimes and sentenced to death. His sentence is subsequently reduced to a term in prison by the intervention of his influential mother who appeals directly to Governor General Douglas MacArthur. MacArthur is the person who commutes the convicted petty officer medic’s death sentence. He is later given early release along with many other convicted Japanese war criminals because of political Cold War reasons as the U.S. builds an Asian goodwill democratic alliance that must include a free Japan against a communist Russian and Chinese Cold War threat.
Thank you for doing this episode. These things need to be remembered.
That’s awesome with the coffee guys. Been watching you guys since you started or close to it I think.
Can’t wait for your logistics episode when you do it. If you can do it, get Sal from “What’s going on with shipping “ he has tremendous knowledge of the history of naval logistics. He did an episode about six oilers in ww2
One question that always intrigues me is why japan never had to pay reparations to their victims as the German’s had to pay to Israel
So is it just me or does Captain Toti look like Fred Armisen?
Love the show! As a high school history teacher I really appreciate this show. I may not be able to teach most of what you guys discuss as I only have so much time in a school year. But I always find excellent bits to share with my students.
Thank you again and keep the episodes coming!!
PS: I teach 1890- present. It’s a lot. But I do teach a lot more than Pearl Harbor, D-Day and the Tuskegee Airmen when we discuss WW II. A lot more. But the time restraints as well as the subject matter of 1890-present does turn my US History class into more of a survey course than a real deep dive into the individual parts of US History.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." No truer words to describe these past few episodes. Never Forget 💝🎗️
You can treat people with contempt without attempting to kill a person. All brutal tactics and treatment do is steel the resolve of the opposing force.
Thank you for talking about this. I had a friend that was captured by the Japanese on the philopenas and endured the Bataan death march. He was a fine man.
Another excellent episode. A very difficult subject. It seems to be pretty hard to avoid some kind of censure on UA-cam given some classes of material, shooting firearms in any context. Which makes tackling history of some periods pretty difficult.
So keep going guys. Do what you do best and keep spreading the word
Thanks for this episode
My relative, PFC Roy E. Maghan, 194th Tank Battalion, Minnesota National Guard, was captured by the Japanese on April 9; 1942. He survived the Bataan death march. He was killed on September 7, 1944 onboard the Shinyo Maru when it was torpedoed by the USS Paddle.
I had read of the exact incidents Seth mentioned about the nightmarish hellships. These stories are the most disturbing account of inhumanity I have ever heard.
Thank you for addressing this topic. It's important to remember what happened to these servicemen and women. A difficult topic to cover, for sure, you've done a great job presenting the facts of their horrible treatment with honesty and compassion.
Friend of mine was posted on board a Turkish Ship as part of a NATO job in the 1980's. They still did floggings!!
Repulsive. Disturbing. Unacceptable. Inexcusable. The content of the episode on the treatment of POW’s was horrific as well. I was surprised that you didn’t mention Bruno Gaido and his pilot Frank O’Flaherty. The stories you relayed were disgusting-but had to be told and ALL of us should never forget what these men and women went through for us. As for UA-cam, get over it! History matters and it should not be suppressed to advance an agenda.
Keep up the great work Seth & Bill
Great show gentlemen.
If it’s not dancing cats UA-cam is going to flag it.
Thank you for this report. It needs to be common knowledge. Also, I like the dancing cats videos,too😀
A number of points Bill:
Frequently, the Korean troops employed by the Japanese were harsher... Read some of the cruisers Perth and Houston survivors in prison camps.
Any conquered people's guerilla forces are treated by ANY troops in the same way.
Post-war justice was severely mitigated by MacArthur in Japan for a raft of reasons, unlike Nuremberg.
Thank you! Thank you!
Yes we need to know this!
Great points Bill! Yes we are seeing it now!
Heartbreaking segment, but I am glad you did it. People need to learn what happened here; schools need to teach more about World War 2. A great bookend to this segment would be one on the War Crimes Trials for the Japanese. Many seemed to have escaped justice, at least here. Thanks!!!
Brutal episode. But very necessary for people to know this. Excellent coverage by both of you as always
On your education lapse rant,I'm just 6 years younger than bill ,I remember coming home from school and watching the series Victory at Sea and World at War
My uncle’s brother in law was on hell ship that was bombed on the way to Japan. The other 3 ships sank killing many POWs. He found out after the war his brother was one of the bomber pilots who attacked the convoy. He often said it would have been better to have shot himself at Bataan instead enduring the years of suffering.
One notable exception was Sergeant Major Saito of Tamarkan POW camp (aka the Bridge on the River Kwai camp). Lt Col Toosey, senior POW officer, spoke up on his behalf post war and, as a result, he neither underwent trial nor judicial punishment.
Australia also had many POW's who elected to stay... To Bill's point...
There are Australian movies and TV shows that pull no punches on the POW's. There were attempts to censor them in the 70's and 80's but politicians in parliament shut it down because they had been POW's in those camps. When one photo was debated a politician said that's me on the left. That shut the censor down solidly.
Some actors went onto starvation diets to appear starved but were still twice the weight of the actual POW's.
Thank you Seth and Bill, please take care of yourselves gentlemen.
I just want to say thank you. I have listened to all your episodes and I'm glad you tell the truth of this time period. It needs to be remembered that men are not always good regardless of any other factors.
Great episode.
Thank you for the truth we must never forget these atrocities and sacrifices these prisoners endured. I grew up knowing these brave men
I've gone far too long without an Unauthorized History episode. I'm also 67 Capt Bill, and some of us boomers have/had relatives that were prisoners of the Japanese (Bougainville). To be honest though Americans did do this to fellow Americans in the Civil War.
Great courage in discussing this topic Guys. Very difficult to hear but we must remember History.
A good movie about the Burma Railway is called I think “To End All Wars “.Has Kiefer Sutherland in it.
Capt. Toti is always a class act. When this season is over I’m really going to miss hearing both of you and your special guests in my ears at work on Tuesday mornings. I know I can just listen to the episodes starting from the beginning and probably will at some point.
Thank you
A great uncle, in a Rhodesian infantry unit, met a ragged column of men in Burma in 1945. He recognized his brother bill, captured at Singapore
The IJA treated prisoners well/ok in Russo- Japanese war (1905ish), and WW I. Then things changed as you guys indicated in 1930’s.
In my readings on WW II I viewed the Japanese as the worst. After considerable reading on German treatment of Russian prisoners I would rate the German behavior as a 9 or 10 on the prisoner abuse scale (1 to 10), and the Japanese overall as a 3 or 4.
Great show guys , don’t forget to discuss the Japanese behavior towards the Chinese military.
When I say 3 -4 for the Japanese I mean against western pow’s.
Great episode! Thank you
Alex Vraciu's last hurrah in WWII was flying off the Cowpins (the Mighty Moo) during the battle for the Phillipenes. He was shot down during a straffing run and spent months with Filipino guerrilas. His story was eye openning. You might want to do a episode on guerrillas.
Wonderful, clarifying episode. Only in a democracy can we deal with such brutal truths. Our own failures, our enemies gross failures.
Serh and Bill, this was by far the hardest of your episodes, but most definitely stories that have to be told.
If these stories are lost, we will forget how bad some people can be treated by others. We see echoes of this occurring in some conflicts today.
We must learn that these atrocities can not be tolerated, and must be stopped.
Thank you gentlemen for all you do with this podcast.
The movie Railway Man covers this subject very well, staring Colin Firth
A bleak but necessary episode. Just heartbreaking.
Re Capt. Toti's story about his great uncle (removed) wanting to stay in the US after his POW experience here, this was a fairly common thing. There are several good documentaries here on UA-cam about Axis POWs in the US. A pretty representative one is about the camp in Concordia, KS, highly recommend watching it ("Camp Concordia World War II German POW Camp").
Common themes in the history of Axis POWs in the USA: agricultural work for the POWs, close association between the prisoners and the farm families, many of these prisoners becoming like members of the family, and many returning to the US after the war, some marrying local women.
Did I hear Seth hint at an episode about how Japan ended up at war with the Allies? Would be good to have one. As I have noted before, consideration should be given to having Eri Hotta, a Japanese historian, as a guest. Her book "Japan 1941" should be read by every Pacific War aficionado. Illuminating, and sort of shocking.
Superb report. It’s astonishing how the Japan I visit now had anything to do with the WW2 cruelty. Same with Germany. Thanks.
Love the channel and the work that you guys do but no need to stir people up complaining of being censored when youtube is literally putting your content out there for the world to see. Yes we need better education and yes youtube should actually be responsive to complaints about how they moderate content (they don't want to spend money to review individual videos) but an age limit is not the same as censorship
You do a great job. From my perspective it is clearly censoring was is happening here. To exclude specific words or meanings does not make the world better. Who decides this? Democracy?
Society forms language
Not
Language changes society
We need, nowadays even more than before, the memory and knowledge about the wars. Especially as the veterans of those wars, people that have witnessed it are fewer and fewer.
My mother, she is German, is 90 years old. Very clear she can report how she felt as young girl of 5-6 years flying with uncle Max to Berlin and stand in the line to shake the Führers Hand.
The more when she report from Winter 44/45 when she feld with her aunt from west Prussia under terrible conditions. We need do embrace this knowledge it is a treasure that helps us to prevent the same happening again.
Thank you for all the above and beyond content you make!!!
One of the best movies made so far about the experience of Allied P.O.W.'s in Japanese hands is the movie King Rat, starring Frank Sinatra.
A good movie but I believe it was George Segal. Segal was a good actor (the Bridge at Remagen)
I watched this movie and it is very good. Segal as “King Rat” did a great job.
this was tough but required to get through.
I agree completely. Japan avoided, and continues to avoid, accountability for their actions in pre-WW2 China and the Asia Pacific Theater. The Japanese enslaved civilians from every country they conquered. Brutal treatment, torture, and murder of allied POWs was sanctioned up and down the COC and ubiquitous in every setting. Interestingly, I have read that even today Japan has few civil rights laws prohibiting social, religious, ethnic, or racial discrimination. Japan's constitution states that all people are equal under the law but some translations suggest that it refers to "citizens" and not "people." Today, about 98% of Japan's population are ethnic Japanese. They accept very few refugees or immigrants. The Yamato race must be kept pure as it remains superior to all other races.
Note that these policies are having consequences. The population demographics show that Japan will disappear as a nation in the next century if the current birth rate does not increase RADICALLY. I think God has made his judgment.
The Japanese government refuses to admit that any of this happened.
BTW , been watching a few of your videos recently . Thank you
Just to add....I have an Ex-RAN workmate who lives in Thailand and frequently visits the cemetery in Kanchanarburi on the River Kwai, to pay his respects....