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Precious memories often light the corners of your mind. Dark memories
sometimes creep in unwanted to haunt your thoughts. But all experiences
determine who and what we become.
"The experience was wonderful, if you didn't have to go through the
hell," said ret. U.S. Army Sgt. Major Melvin Hamlin, 90, who resides at
Cumbernauld Village.
The experience Hamlin recalled is the fall of Bataan and Corregidor in
the Philippines during World War II and the events that followed.
Bataan
fell to Japanese forces after an intense three-month long battle.
On
April 9, 1942, Major Gen. Edward P. King Jr. surrendered his more than
75,000 Filipino and American troops to Col. Motoo Nakayama. It was the
largest American army in history to lay down their arms. The surrender
came in direct defiance of orders given by Generals Douglas MacArthur
and Jonathan Wainwright.
However, King's troops had only two days of rations remaining. They were
weak, malaria-ridden, starving and almost out of ammunition. King felt
the ordered counterattack would result in their ultimate slaughter.
The surrender was followed by the relocation of the soldiers as they
became prisoners of war. The forcible transfer of these troops to
Japanese prison camps on the islands was known as the Bataan Death
March. The soldiers were deprived of food and water as they marched
almost 90 miles in the stifling tropical heat to the prison at Camp
O'Donnell. Along the way, they were stripped of their personal
belongings and subjected to many atrocities including random shooting,
guttings, beheadings and rifle butt beatings. Between 5,000 and 11,000
soldiers never made it to Camp O'Donnell.
King later gathered his troops in the prisoner of war camp and said to
them, "You did not surrender. I did. That responsibility is mine and
mine alone."
Meanwhile, Hamlin was stationed with 15,000 other American and Filipino
troops on Corregidor. The defenders of Corregidor held out against
continuous Japanese bombardment from both land and sea until finally
surrendering on May 6, 1942.
"We still didn't want to surrender. No way," said Hamlin, who had
dropped down to 80 pounds from malnutrition and dysentery, "but we
didn't have any choice."
The captured soldiers and nurses from Corregidor were taken by ship to
Manila where they were forced to march through the streets to impress
the Filipinos with the strength of the Japanese military.
Hamlin had been awarded an insignia for being wounded in previous
action. "They tried to take all our things, so I hid my medal in my
shoe." he said. He walked many miles with his insignia undetected.
Hamlin was held captive at Bilibid and Cabanatuan POW camps in Manila
under deplorable conditions. "We thanked God for the nurses (who had
been captured with them); they were our angels," said Hamlin.
Back in Winfield, Hamlin's loved ones heard about the fall of
Corregidor.
Carlene (Hamlin) Brown, Winfield, is Hamlin's niece. Because
of family circumstances, Hamlin was more like a big brother, as he was
raised by Brown's parents.
"We knew when Corregidor was captured, Melvin was either dead or a
prisoner of war," said Brown. She wasn't sure if they first heard about
it on the radio, saw it in the paper or learned of it from someone else.
"We just knew," she said.
In those pre-television days, she and other family members went to the
movies where reels featuring the prisoners were often shown. "We always
searched those films to see if we could get a glimpse of him."
Brown said her mother received notification either by telegram or mail
that Hamlin was missing in action; if they did not find his name on a
prisoner of war list, after one year, he would be declared dead.
Hamlin, however, had been transported to Osaka, Japan, on a "hell ship"
- a former animal ship. Hamlin and other prisoners were forced to
provide slave labor in a steel mill and on shipping docks at Yodogawa
andOeyma POW camps. He acted as first sergeant of American Command of
the POW camp, which held 400 men.
"We lost count of the days there," said Hamlin. "We were treated very
rough, and each day was just like every other one. You got up, you
worked, you slept, you got up, you worked, you slept."
Hamlin said that the prisoners frequently worked together to sabotage
the factories. "Those POWs were smart guys. We figured out lots of ways
to wreck the things we were working on," Hamlin said with a grin. "One
time we did so much damage, they couldn't use the factory and just shut
it down."
Brown recalled when the family found out Melvin as alive. "I can still
remember my mother going out to the mailbox and there was a letter from
Melvin," said Brown. "She ran back across the road screaming and crying,
telling everyone the good news."
At the end of the war, the men liberated their camp and reported to
General Douglas MacArthur at Yokajama, Japan, on Sept. 14, 1945, after
three years as POWs.
Melvin was transported to Manila on a Navy hospital ship to regain his
health. He was shocked when his younger brother, Ralph, who had also
joined the Army, showed up in Manila as he was recuperating.
Finally, Melvin was shipped back to San Francisco, where he was sent to
Letterman General
Hospital.
In late October 1945, he was sent to O'Riley General Hospital in
Springfield, Mo.
Even before Hamlin enlisted in the Army, he had a pilot's license. "I
kept telling myself this is the stupidest thing I ever did," said
Hamlin. "Why did I enlist in the Army when I could have been flying?"
So once Hamlin was sufficiently recovered from his POW experiences, he
reenlisted in the United States Army Air Force in January 1946. He
worked as a recruiter for over five years, then requested a transfer to
regular duty at Vance Air Force Base in Enid, Okla.
In October 1953, Hamlin entered Brooks Army Hospital in San Antonio,
Texas, for treatment of injuries he received during combat and as a POW.
After seven months of treatment, he was retired - under protest - with
70 percent combat incurred disability on May 31, 1957. He then took the
Civil Service exam and served at the Headquarters 89th Infantry Division
Reserve in Wichita. He also served as real estate officer and industrial
engineer at McConnell Air Force Base and was involved in the Titan II
Missile Systems. He retired again on Aug. 1, 1970, and was granted 100
percent Combat Incurred Disability by the Veterans Administration in
February 1971.
Hamlin retired as a very well decorated veteran. His honors and
decorations include the Bronze Star, three Purple Hearts for combat
injuries, a Purple Heart for injuries incurred as a POW, United States
Air Force Good Conduct Medal; Prisoner of War Medal; American Defense
Service Medal with Bronze Star and Foreign Service Clasp; an Asiatic
Pacific Campaign Medal with two Service Bronze Stars; World War II
Victory Medal; National Defense Service Medal; Presidential Unit
Citation; Overseas Service Ribbon; Philippine Defense Medal with Bronze
Star; and Philippine Republic Citation Badge.
"It was quite an experience, but I wouldn't change a bit of it," said
Hamlin. He said he had tried several times to write a book of his
experiences, but he "always just kind of hit a block."
"I think maybe that's when the memories just become too much," Brown
said.
The Bataan Death March and other mistreatments of POWs during World War
II were later considered Japanese war crimes. Only about 1,200 survivors
of Bataan, Corregidor and other Philippine Island campaigns are alive
today. In another decade, probably they will all be gone.
Some memories must never be forgotten.
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