Groundbreaking Ceremony for Unique Monument to World War Two POWs.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held at Subic Bay, Philippines for American and Allied Prisoners of War who pershised on the Japanese transports known as Hell Ships.

(PRWEB) February 29, 2004 --We must never forget those who sacrificed so much for us." Those were the words offered by an emotional Duane Heisinger as he delivered the keynote speech at a special groundbreaking ceremony recently at Subic Bay, Philippines.

The event, hosted by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) in cooperation with the Hell Ships Memorial Project, marked the beginning of construction of a monument dedicated to the American and Allied prisoners of war that suffered and died on the Japanese prisoner of war ships that became known as Hell Ships."

Heisinger's father was among those prisoners that died on the ships. The story of these ships is an incredible tale of a descent into Hell that left a trail of dead and dying men from the Philippines to Japan, he said.

As early as August 1942, only three months after the fall of Corregidor, the Japanese began moving Allied POWs out of the Philippines by sea to be used as slave labor in Japan. POWs were crammed with little or no water or food into stinking holds, filthy with coal dust, congealed sugar syrup or horse manure left over from previous voyages.

Many thousands of American, British, Dutch and other Allied military and civilians held as POWs were transported on over 50 Japanese Hell Ships from the Philippines and South East Asia to Japan. Almost 4,000 American POWs and thousands more from other nations perished aboard these unmarked ships from starvation, sickness, cruelty, neglect and when unknowingly attacked by allied submarines and aircraft.

One such ship, the Oryoku Maru, left Manilla in December 1944 with Japanese soldiers, civilians and 1,619 POWs, mostly American. The ship was attacked by American fighter planes who had no idea she was carrying POWs. Heavily damaged, she limped into Subic Bay where the POWs were forced to swim ashore and held for five days with almost no food or water. The survivors were then loaded onto two other Hell Ships to continue their journey. Of the original 1,619 POWs who began the ordeal a month and a half earlier, only 450 made it to Japan. Less than 350 of these men survived until the end of the war.

On a bright January day over one hundred veterans, their families, and those thankful for their service gathered in Subic Bay Philippines just yards away from where the POWs swam ashore as the Oryoku Maru burned behind them.

SBMA Chairman Felecito Payumo along with Hell Ship survivors John Olson and Carlos Montoya shared the ritual honor of turning shovels of earth to mark the tangible beginning of the Monument.

I turn this shovel for all of our veterans -- American and Allied -- with a simple yet heartfelt message: Thank you, all of you, for your service," Montoya said.

Olson, 86, a Bataan Death March and Hell Ships survivor, noted that, some may feel that memorials are necessary to remind people of their patriotic and moral duty to recall those who fought for their country, but they are more vital even than that. The Hell Ships Memorial is not just to validate the memories and sacrifices of our veterans, but to keep alive those memories for future generations so that this horror will never be repeated."

The Memorial is intended to fill the void in the lives of the survivors and families that for six decades have not had a permanent tribute to the many who died and the few who survived the unparalleled suffering on the Hell Ships," according to project leader Randy Anderson. Anderson says that funds for the Hell Ships Memorial come solely from private donations.

More information can be obtained at www.hellships.com.