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“THE BATTLING BASTARDS OF ” “No mama, no papa, no Uncle Sam, And nobody gives a damn”

An Interview with Colonel Melvin Rosen

M. Kleinman February 9, 2004

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Biography Historical Contextualization Interview Transcription Interview Analysis Works Consulted Biography of Colonel Melvin Rosen

Colonel Melvin Herbert Rosen was born on August 2, 1918 in Gloucester,

Massachusetts. After attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for one year, he studied at West Point for four years. Upon graduating from West Point, Colonel

Rosen was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant and was stationed in the . He served as a U.S. Army field artillery officer in World War II. Having surrendered to the

Japanese in April of 1942, Colonel Rosen was taken until peace was declared in August of 1945.

Having served overseas in World War II, Colonel Rosen continued to be an active participant in the Army. He worked for the Research Analysis

Corporation, as well as earned his masters degree at George Washington University.

Colonel Rosen was on duty at the Pentagon during the (1950-1953), and he worked as a part of defense intelligence during the Vietnam War (1957-1975). Having been in active military service for thirty-four years, he retired on December 8, 1970. For his service to the United States, Colonel Rosen was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, two Merit Honors, two Purple Hearts, the Army Consideration Medal, Service

Declaration, and the Saint Olav Medal.

Today, Colonel Rosen remains involved with the Army. He is the class scribe for the West Point Class of 1940 and the class representative for the Internet. He enjoys spending time reading and studying current events. He and his wife have two children, a son who lives in California and a daughter who lives in Virginia. Colonel Rosen and

Mrs. Rosen currently reside in Falls Church, Virginia.

Table of Contents Historical Contextualization: The Battles of Bataan

The events that took place on the Bataan peninsula in the South Pacific during the spring of 1942 mark some of the lowest and most crucial points in American military history. On April 10, 1942, after the American troops stationed in the Philippines surrendered to the Japanese forces following five months of vigorous fighting, over

75,000 American and Filipino men and women were taken prisoners of war. They were then forced to endure the of what came to be known as the Bataan March.

“Of the 75,000 men and women—about 100 nurses—who had startedd the , only about 54,000 finished it” (Thompson 174). While 7,000 died from disease, wounds, and malnutrition (O’Neill 115), the majority of those who died were murdered by the Japanese. Yet, regardless of its significance, the is often overlooked and is a hidden part of what historian Studs Terkel calls “The Good War.”

Too many lives were taken and too much pain inflicted for the story of the Bataan Death

March to be lost. It is a crucial element in the history of America that must be studied, as it represents not only suffering and pain, but also determination and hope.

During the 1920s, the nations that had been involved in (1914-

1918), concentrated on recovering from the devastation and destruction that resulted from the “war to end all wars.” Because of the global magnitude of the war, countries throughout the world had suffered greatly. Most damaging was the overwhelming loss of nearly 10 million soldiers. Not only was a generation of men destroyed, but also much

European land, especially on the Western Front, was ruined. Economic devastation was another consequence of the war. The nations involved in World War I spent $337 billion, leaving many countries with financial problems. Even the victors suffered from this loss as they owed great sums of money to their ally, the United States. The debts that the

Allies were unable to pay were so immense that they contributed to the greatest depression in American history. For the defeated nations, who had also exhausted all of their resources on the war, their economic crises only grew as the Allied forces demanded reparations. Politically, empires that once ruled Europe, such as Russia, -

Hungary, and the , were now shattered. Moreover, the last hope, invested in the treaties concluding the war, proved worthless as the treaties left problems unsolved, nations dissatisfied, and the world far from stable.

Following World War I, countries such as Germany and Japan took advantage of the instability of the post-war world and began to expand their nations. Germany invaded

Poland on September 1, 1939, which officially began World War II. By the following year, Germany had already formed its alliance with Italy and later Japan to create the

Axis forces. Throughout the next few years, the Axis forces successfully furthered their expansion, as they invaded opposing nations, most significantly attacking Great Britain and the Soviet Union.

While Germany and the European nations of the Axis forces attacked in Europe and , Japan targeted opposing countries in Southeastern Asia and in the Pacific.

Having a military government and believing in the power of war, the Japanese saw fighting as the means by which they would take control of the lands they desired. They therefore initiated warfare by invading their target nations and were consequently able to obtain the offensive position. In Asia, having already conquered both northern and southern areas of by late 1941, beginning in 1942 the Japanese attacked nations such as Thailand and Burma. They also had planned to seize control of the islands in the Pacific, specifically those that were American commonwealths, through a series of simultaneous attacks. The day after the invasions occurred, President Roosevelt announced to the United States in his “War Message to Congress” that,

Yesterday the Japanese government…launched an attack against

Malaya. Last night Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong. Last night

Japanese forces attacked Guam. Last night Japanese forces attacked the

Philippine Islands. Last night the Japanese attacked Wake Island. And

this morning the Japanese attacked Midway Island. Japan has therefore

undertaken a surprise offense extending throughout the Pacific area.

(qtd. in Hofstadter 402)

On December 7, 1941, after having attacked American commonwealths and its military base at Pearl Harbor, the Japanese had drastically changed the dynamics of war by pulling the United States into battle.

Having been attacked directly, the United States had no other option but to join the war effort, thus making World War II a global war. Since 1939, as presented by President Roosevelt, America held a position of neutrality in the war.

While, in general, they opposed the Axis forces, Americans, as described by historian John Garraty, wanted to remain as “non-belligerents.” They did not want to invest themselves in war or become involved in what appeared to be a distant conflict. President Roosevelt assured his people of this, as he stated in a speech that, “I have said this before, but I say it again and again and again: Your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars" (qtd. in Hoar). Yet, as Japan not only threatened the security of the United States but destroyed its men and property, the country was forced to engage in the war. Following the , on

December 8 and 9, the United States, Great Britain, China, and Canada declared war on Germany and the Axis forces, thus forming the Allied forces alongside the

Soviet Union. Having forced the United States to commit to war, Japan had begun to execute its plan consisting of, what historian William O’Neill considered to be, a

“complex and far-reaching network of operations designed to win the Pacific in short order” (110).

Only nine hours after the bombardment on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese had attacked the American commonwealth in the Philippines. Lieutenant General Douglas

MacArthur, the commander of the U.S. Army’s forces in the Far East, had been warned that a similar attack to Pearl Harbor would take place on Clarke Field, the United States air base on the Filipino island of . Despite the notification, “MacArthur did little to prevent the attack” (Brinkley 287). Rather than evacuating the base and taking the necessary precautions, he allowed the Japanese to destroy half of his aircraft. Before the fighting had even begun, the troops stationed in the Philippines, including 15,000

Americans composed of Philippine Scouts, men from the United States’ Air Force,

American Marines, and enlisted Filipinos (Hurd), were already at a great disadvantage.

“From the moment Japan achieved air supremacy over the island of Luzon…the die was cast” (“Bataan Falls”).

The Japanese invaded the islands and began to destroy the opposing forces.

Under Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma, the Japanese troops “landed the bulk of their invasion forces on the western coast of Luzon and began driving toward

[Bay]” (Brinkley 287). The strength of the Japanese was so great that within less than three weeks, on December 25, 1941, MacArthur had already put Orange 3, “the long-laid defense plan calling for the withdrawal of all American and Filipino forces onto the

Bataan peninsula” into action (Brinkley 287). By January 2, 1942, the Japanese had conquered Manila and within four days were pursuing the American troops on Bataan.

With the prospect of promised relief on its way, the Americans held their ground for three months. The troops were now suffering greatly and in desperate need of immediate aid.

Yet, despite the promises, the troops on Bataan never received enough assistance to successfully defend themselves and their land.

The United States did attempt to aid the anguished troops. The soldiers receive some shipments which provided them with additional ammunition, artillery, and 21,000 fresh troops (Thompson 168). Yet, despite the efforts of the United States to send help, as Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson reported, “…for every ship that arrived safely, we lost two” (qtd. in Hurd). As the fighting proceeded and the Japanese continued to take over the islands, it became even more difficult for reinforcements to be sent (O’Neill

113). On February 23, President Roosevelt finally announced that “no help was coming”

(O’Neill 113). In mid-March, the situation continued to worsen as MacArthur abandoned his troops. Seeing the danger of the conditions, Roosevelt ordered MacArthur to leave the Philippines and escape to Australia in order to avoid being captured (Brinkley 287).

Although he was reluctant to leave behind his troops, the lieutenant general was convinced to flee from the perilous peninsula (Thompson 162). MacArthur instructed

Lieutenant General Jonathon M. Wainwright to take over for him, saying, “If I get through to Australia, you know I’ll come back as soon as I can with as much as I can. In the meantime you’ve got to hold” (qtd. in Thompson 163-164). Having been completely abandoned by MacArthur, President Roosevelt, and the United States, the troops knew that they could not resist the Japanese forces much longer.

Over the course of the fighting the American forces were able to make some progress. The most significant setback that the Japanese experienced was the number of casualties that they had suffered. 7,000 Japanese soldiers were killed in battle and over

10,000 died from disease (O’Neill 113). The American troops further hindered Japanese plans by sinking five of their vessels in the spring of 1942 (Hurd). Nevertheless, the

American troops were struggling to stay alive. On April 6, Major General Edward King, the replacement for Wainwright, instructed his troops to counterattack, only to discover that the soldiers were too weak to do so (Thompson 169). The following day, US gunboats tried to rescue the troops but were unable because they had been outnumbered by Japanese vessels (Thompson 169). Orders for the American troops to attack once more came through to King on April 8, but “he refused to obey” (Thompson 169).

Finally, two days later, after Homma’s army had broken through their last line of defense, the American troops laid down their weapons.

At this point in the war, the Americans had no other option but to surrender.

From the first moment at Pearl Harbor, the United States was not prepared for what it was going to encounter. The Americans had already lost all air control on the first day of battle, as the Japanese had destroyed their air forces. After having allowed this to occur,

“MacArthur was never able to recover” (Brinkley 287). He failed to plan accurately, as he devised a system consisting of a force three times as large on paper than in reality

(O’Neill 112/115). Also at fault was the American public, “which tolerated a mobilization effort that doomed the men in the Philippines to death or agonizing captivity” (O’Neill 115). Public opinion overestimated the strength of the American troops, allowing for a weaker force to be established, and underestimated the power of the Japanese forces, which would prove to be stronger than the Americans’ (O’Neill

109). The troops were short the amount of resources required to defend the Philippines.

In fact, when the troops receded to Bataan, MacArthur left behind 10 million bushels of food that could have fed the men for up to a year (O’Neill 112). As stated by historian

Douglas Brinkley, “MacArthur’s…failure (in his haste) to bring along adequate supplies of food significantly undermined the fighting ability of his troops” (287). In addition to starving, the troops suffered greatly from disease and exhaustion, leaving them simply too weak to continue fighting. It was then that the War Department Communiqué 183 was issued, stating,

A message from General Wainwright at just received at the War

Department states that the Japanese attack on the Bataan peninsula

succeeded in enveloping the east flank of our lines, in the position held by

the II Corps. An attack by the I Corps, ordered to relieve the situation

failed due to complete physical exhaustion of the troops…This situation

indicated the probability that the defenses at Bataan have been overcome.

(qtd. in Hurd)

Therefore, on April 10, 1942 the American troops at Bataan officially surrendered to the

Japanese.

Despite the failure of MacArthur and his military forces to successfully defend the

Philippines, the American press seemed optimistic about the future and hopeful that the surrender would be recovered. In his speech to the American public regarding the surrender at Bataan, Secretary of War Stimson “paid the highest praise to the spirit of the defenders in a fight recognized as hopeless from the beginning and pledged that the

Philippines would be reconquered” (qtd. in Hurd). MacArthur was even named a national hero for his leadership in the Philippines, despite having abandoned his troops on the peninsula. Biographer William Manchester described MacArthur as being the

“American Caesar” (Readers Digest 147). Because of the praise that he received, he

“never had to account for his Philippine mistakes, flagrant though they were” (O’Neill

111.) The war was displayed even more falsely in the pictures that were printed of the fighting. “Above all, their faces and bearing show here that they were enjoying the war, that the cooperative job of war was simply more fun than any single-handed job of peace they had ever known” (O’Neill 114). To the great disbelief of the American people, the soldiers who had been taken prisoners of war following their surrender were about to endure inhumane torture and abuse from the Japanese.

As prisoners of war, the American and Filipino men and women were forced through the Bataan Death March. The soldiers were driven 65 miles from camp at

Mariveles at the southern tip of the Bataan peninsula to Camp O’Donnell at the middle of the island. Immediately the troops were searched and stripped of everything that they had (Thompson 171). Some of the men completed in six days on only one serving of rice, while others walked for twelve days with no food at all (Dyess 292). As one survivor, Ed Dyess described it, “The very pace of our march itself was torture.

Sometimes we had to go very fast, with the Japanese pacing us on bicycles. At other times, we were forced to shuffle along very slowly” (292). Each day, “through the dust clouds and blistering heat” the soldiers march onward (Dyess 291). The soldiers were treated so badly throughout the Bataan Death March that nearly

20,000 of the POWS died. Each day the men underwent the torture of the “sun treatment,” where the soldiers “were made to sit in the boiling sun all day long without cover” (Dyess 291). The Japanese provided little food, water, or rest for the dying troops. “They allowed just enough water to cool the tongue and bring on real thirst.

Americans and Filipinos alike became delirious. Shouting and thrashing about while still standing, many collapsed, drifted into commas, and died” (Thompson 172).

Men were beaten and killed “for no apparent reason” (Dyess 291). Throughout the entire march, “men who had been recently killed were lying along the roadside; many had been run over or flattened by Japanese trucks” (Dyess 291). The men left standing were forced to bury their comrades, as a “daily procession of death” took place

(Forgotten Heroes). In fact, one survivor remembers three Filipino and three American soldiers being buried alive (Dyess 292). Men were killed for trying to take food from the stores that they passed and for drinking from the nearby wells (Dyess 291). Others were beaten for helping or grieving over their friends who were collapsing before them

(Thompson 173). Even Filipino citizens who attempted to aid the soldiers were killed by the Japanese (Dyess 292). The horror of Japanese captivity was so great that one man described how a Japanese officer treated an American captain:

He quickly pulled his sword out of its scabbard and raised it high over his

head, holding it with both hands. There was a swishing and a kind of

chopping sound. The captain’s head seemed to jump off his shoulders,

hitting the ground in front of him and rolling crazily between lines of

horror-struck prisoners. (Thompson 172). Considering the extremity of the abuse and torture inflicted upon the American and

Filipino troops, it is a miracle that any of these men survived the Bataan Death March.

After having completed the trek through the peninsula, the surviving troops were then forced into slave labor for the Japanese. Many were taken to Camp O’Donnell, “a prison camp under construction surrounded with barred wire and high towers, with separate inner compounds of wire” (Dyess 292). Some of the soldiers were packed into boxcars to be transported to other prison camps. As they entered, they were beaten over the head repeatedly with rifle butts (Thompson 174). The Japanese would lock over one hundred men into the crammed cars. “[Inside the box car] movement was impossible.

Many of the prisoners were suffering from diarrhea and dysentery. The heat and stench were unbearable” (Dyess 292). Dozens of men died inside the death traps, leaving “the air…filled with the stench of corpses” (Thompson 174-175). Others were sent to Japan in “hell ships,” such as the Enoura Maru, the Oryoku Maru, and the Brazil Maru, to work at factories building Japan’s war machine in Manila Harbor (Forgotten Heroes). The

American and Filipino troops were forced to continue suffering for years, even after they had survived the Death March.

Despite the extremity of the performed in the Philippines, the Bataan Death March is often “overlooked by the better known European war”

(Kiernan). Some accredit this to the fact that unlike , which has received tremendous attention, the Bataan Death March consisted of soldiers who had surrendered, rather than innocent civilians (Lewis). In addition, reporter Rob Lewis states that, “Some suspect [that the cause of this was] a rush to normalize relations with Japan to combat the

‘Red Menace’ brewing in the Soviet Union” (Lewis). Either way, as survivor of the Death March Mario Tenelli says, “Maybe we just want stories about heroes. There were no heroes in the Death March or those prison camps. There were only survivors” (qtd. in

Lewis). It is those survivors, as well as those who perished during World War II, who deserve full recognition for all that they endured and were able to overcome.

Even today, over 50 years later, the American men who suffered through the

Bataan Death March are still fighting for justice. Similarly to who want compensation for having been persecuted during the Holocaust, these Americans are suing for reparations the Japanese companies that exploited and abused them. The

United States government, however, has prevented the Bataan survivors from doing this because the treaty that the United States signed with Japan took away the right of the prisoners of war to sue the Japanese (Forgotten Heroes). After being abandoned once by their country, the veterans now still need and deserve America’s support. Yet, “58 years later they are being sacrificed again” (Forgotten Heroes). A survivor of the March describes this, saying, “I have been taken prisoner [again] but by my own country”

(Forgotten Heroes). The United States is standing in the way of its men and is preventing them from receiving “justice that is long overdue” (Forgotten Heroes).

Marking the single lowest point for the Americans during World War II

(Thompson 175), the Bataan Death March was an important event in American history that has significantly affected both World War II and the modern world. Although Pearl

Harbor officially initiated the involvement of the United States in the war, after reports of the occurrences on the Bataan peninsula reached the States, the American public became much more interested in the war effort. In the New York Times, articles such as,

“Revenge! The Nation Demands It,” encouraged Americans to further support their troops abroad. It reported on January 30, 1944 that “Americans, more angry than they have been at any time since Pearl Harbor, turned again last week to study their enemy in the East” (“Revenge!”). The events on Bataan also served as a great warning to the

American troops stationed around the world. As historian Eric Bergerund stated,

“Rumors, later confirmed, about the death march on Bataan were also circulating widely.

The lesson drawn was simple: If you surrender to the Japanese, they will kill or torture you” (407). The American soldiers knew that in order for them to salvage the war effort, the same mistakes that occurred on Bataan could not be repeated elsewhere. In addition, having seen how poorly the internees had been treated, many Americans became determined to fight for the protection of future prisoners of war. The events on Bataan negatively impacted and damaged Japanese-American relations. They created widespread anti-Japanese feelings throughout the United States during World War II and reinforced the justification for the of many Japanese-Americans. The Bataan

Death March left wounds that still today cannot be healed. Even on the day of surrender,

April 10, 1942, as written in the New York Times, Americans knew how important the troops on Bataan were to their country and world.

This delaying action they performed with a gallantry that will take its

place forever in the great traditions of the American people. Bataan is

lost; but generations from now the word will be remembered. It will stand

then, as it stands now, for high courage in the face of hopeless odds. It

will stand for…great resourcefulness and a gay bravery and a deep love of

country…Bataan is lost. But Bataan will live to enrich our life and replenish confidence in our democracy…In gratitude to these gallant men

let us close our ranks and do our duty. (“Bataan Falls”)

In honor of the courageous men and women who suffered and died during the Bataan

Death March, what historian called the “…epic story of World War II’s

Most Dramatic Mission” must never be forgotten.

Table of Contents Interview Transcription Interviewee/Narrator: Colonel Melvin Rosen Interviewer: Madeleine Kleinman Location: Colonel Rosen’s home, Falls Church, VA Date: December 21, 2003 This interview was reviewed and edited by Colonel Rosen

Madeleine Kleinman: What was life like as a child growing up during the 1920s and

1930s?

Colonel Melvin Rosen: Well, I was growing up in a small town with about twenty-four thousand people in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Gloucester is one of the oldest towns in the country and, in fact, the oldest fishing village in the country. My life, I guess, was pretty much centered around school and Hebrew school. A typical day for me was to go to school in the morning, come home for lunch, because they didn’t have any lunches in schools then, and no buses, so we walked everywhere, then have lunch and be back to school by one o’clock. School was out by four or four thirty, and I would walk to the other end of the city to the synagogue where we had Hebrew school. That was four days a week, and Friday night we had Jewish services at the synagogue, Saturday morning services, and Sunday school. That was pretty much a typical week for me. There was little time for sports. Both my older brother and I were avid readers. We were given special permission from the local library to have two library cards each because you were only authorized to take out three books on a card. So we were able to take out more than three because we had two cards. We read voraciously, really. Books, magazines, everything.

MK: That’s wonderful. So was this until you graduated from high school? MR: I graduated from Glouster High School. I was class valedictorian. Also, I was a captain of the Junior R.O.T.C. there, and I got a scholarship to MIT. So I went from there to MIT.

MK: So then what motivated you to attend West Point?

MR: Well, I think I was originally motivated by my Gloucester High School R.O.T.C. experience. I thought that I would want to be in the . MIT had an

R.O.T.C. program. I was excused from the first year of R.O.T.C. because of my four years of R.O.T.C at Gloucester High School. I was going to take Senior R.O.T.C. the following year, but after one year at MIT, I got my appointment to West Point. So I left

MIT and entered West Point on July 1, 1936.

MK: Before and during the first few years of World War II, that is before the United

States became directly involved, what did you know about the war and what were your feelings toward it?

MR: Well, we followed the war closely, the war in Europe, it was all in Europe and

North Africa at the time. We knew that we were neutral on the side of Great Britain at the time. It was about 1939 or ‘40 when we were really convinced also that Japan would attack us. There was only one logical place for Japan to attack us and that was the

Philippines. [Tape recorder turned off: Colonel Rosen determining if topic was previously covered]

MK: How did you become interested in going to the Philippines?

MR: In my day at West Point, as you approached graduation, they would have, for the first class, that is the seniors, in the drawing academy lecture room on the blackboard in the front the list of all the vacancies in the various branches in the United States Army for second lieutenants. There was also on another board the vacancies for the second lieutenants at the various stations in the army. You chose your branch and your station by academic ranking, in other words, number one in the class got his choice of whatever branch he wanted, whatever station he wanted. When it got to me, there were no more vacancies in the engineers, which I didn’t want anyway, but I could have had my choice of any other branch, and pretty much my choice of station. Figuring that the Japanese were going to attack us in the Philippines, I opted for my favorite branch, which was field artillery, and chose Fort Stotsenburg, the Philippines. Since it was so obvious to me that the Japanese would attack us in the Philippines, it must be obvious to everybody else too.

Therefore we must have the most and the best of everything waiting for us in the

Philippines. I was rudely surprised (chuckles) when I got there and found out that, for example, the planes that people were flying were obsolete; no one would fly them back in the States. Equipment was obsolete; ammunition was obsolete. That was what we wound up fighting the war with.

MK: What were your first thoughts upon arriving at the Philippines, other than obviously noticing the lack of supplies?

MR: I was standing on the deck with my best friend and roommate, John Joseph Murphy

Jr., who chose the Philippines for the same reason I did, and we saw the U.S. Army Air

Force in the Far East fly by and welcome us, and we took a look and saw the planes that they were flying. I remember turning to Murph. and saying, “Murph., we’ve been had!”

We did have outdated equipment. The rifles that we had were Model 1903, mind you this is 1940, after I arrived on the Philippines on the U.S. Army Transport U.S. Grant in

January ’41. The rifles, at least that the field artillery and some of the infantry had, were the Model 1903 Springfield rifles. Now the Philippine army wasn’t fortunate enough to even have the 1903 rifles. [Tape recorder is turned off: Colonel Rosen asks for a moment to remember a statistic] The 57th Infantry of Philippine Scouts, which was, I think, the best infantry unit in the Philippines, did get the M-1 rifle and the Garand rifle shortly before the war. While they had that, we, the field artillery, had old weapons, World War

I weapons, actually, that’s what we fought with.

MK: What was the turning point for you in which you realized the great disadvantages that the American troops were going to face?

MR: I think it was about early when it didn’t seem like we could maintain any semblance of a defense line. The Japanese would constantly feel where the

Philippine Army troops were. These were the same Filipinos that we had in the

Philippine Scouts, but the Philippine Scouts were regular United States Army troops, highly trained, much better equipped than the Philippine Army, highly disciplined, and they were people who had served in the Philippine Scouts for decades, and their tradition was to bring their sons into the Philippine Scouts. The Philippine Army were recent inductees, ill-trained, ill-led, and ill-equipped. The Japanese were constantly feeling where the Philippine Army people were and that’s where they broke through the lines.

About the time when the Japanese broke through the Pilar- line, which was the southern most line we had, it had begun to look like things were falling apart, and, of course, this was confirmed by a telephone call from my battalion commander the night of

April 8 that Bataan was being surrendered at zero six-hundred on April 9 and to destroy all of my equipment except for vehicles because we would need the vehicles to ride out of Bataan. MK: What was it like fighting the Japanese?

MR: They were really the only people I fought. I don’t have any basis for comparison.

The Japanese were good soldiers and good fighters. I felt we were good soldiers and good fighters, but we ran out of ammunition and food and medicine and people. We got no help from anybody, but the Japanese had an open supply line.

MK: So this was your first engagement in combat?

MR: Oh yes, yes.

MK: What were your feelings about surrendering to the Japanese?

MR: Any soldier hates to surrender to anybody. It was a sick, sad day.

MK: And as a commander and leader of the troops, how did you face the surrender?

MR: The only way you could. You just did it. Everybody was sad and everybody was wondering what was going to come of them. We had no idea what was coming next.

MK: What do you think were the causes for the ultimate failure at Bataan?

MR: I think that General MacArthur has to bear some responsibility because he did not implement war plan Orange 3 in time, which would have meant stocking the peninsula with ammunition, food, medicine, so forth. But also one of the reasons was the fact that

Pearl Harbor happened. We were supposed to hold out for thirty days and then the fleet was going to come to our rescue with ammunition, weapons, medicine, food, people. The fleet was at the bottom of Pearl Harbor. Those were the main reasons why Bataan was forced to surrender. General King commanded the Luzon forces under General

Wainwright after MacArthur left the Philippines and he was faced with a real tough decision: Do I let all of these troops get slaughtered or do I surrender, which would be a direct violation of my orders from General Wainwright? He chose to surrender. MK: My research has led me to believe that one of the major causes for the surrender was the United States abandoning the troops. Do you feel that you were deserted by your president and country?

MR: While fighting on Bataan, yes. When the reinforcements and the fleet didn’t show up after thirty days and we got no help, nothing, and we were running out of everything, we felt we were being abandoned. That’s not all bad. I’m sure some of us realized we weren’t the first troops who had surrendered or given up for the overall sake of the war.

Sometimes you had to sacrifice some men to save the whole army.

MK: What was the transition into captivity like following the surrender?

MR: My introduction to being a prisoner of the Japanese was the Bataan Death March and seeing a lot of my friends and other Americans and a lot of Filipinos beheaded, shot, bayoneted, clubbed to death, starved, lost from disease. The road of the Bataan Death

March was littered with hundreds of American bodies and thousands of Filipino bodies.

Even Filipino civilians who tried to give you food or water were immediately beheaded.

MK: What was a typical day like during the Bataan Death March?

MR: You marched. You wished you had water. You wished you had some food. And you knew you had to keep going because if you gave up you didn’t make it. Nobody could help you because they would be immediately shot or beheaded or bayoneted or clubbed to death.

MK: In my research I have read about the torture inflicted upon many of the American soldiers from the Japanese. Did you experience this abuse first hand or witness any of it?

MR: I witnessed people getting killed and beaten. I experienced no torture myself other than being starved, made to go without water, made to march. I had gotten down to 88 pounds. I guess that’s a form of torture, but as far as what a lot of people would term torture, I suffered none myself. I saw people with their hands bound behind them, forced to kneel in a place where they couldn’t stand up or lie down or anything, just kneeling, that’s all the room they had. That was torture.

MK: Did you ever experience the “Sun Treatment?”

MR: Oh, well, (chuckles) we were in the Philippines, which is in the tropics. When I was in , we were six degrees above the equator, and that’s hot. When I swam ashore off the first ship that was sunk we were kept on tennis courts, concrete tennis courts, for five days. When I swam off the Oryoku Maru, the first ship that was sunk from under me, I swam ashore at Olongopo naval base, and I was wearing a pair of bloody shorts, that’s all, underwear shorts. And here I was forced to sit on a hot, concrete tennis court for five days. The first two days we got no food. The third day we got one and a half spoons of raw rice. And that happened the next day and the next day. That’s all we got per day: one and a half spoons of raw rice. You could call that sun treatment

(chuckles). I don’t know what else you would call it, we were out there in the blazing sun, and there was nothing you could do about it.

MK: What would you attribute or what do you think you did that enabled you to escape some of the torture that the other soldiers did have to endure?

MR: For one thing, where you went and what happened to you depended on where you stood in line at roll call. The Japanese called “Tinro,” fall out, then “Bango,” count off, and if you didn’t count off in Japanese loud enough or fast enough or didn’t get the numbers right you got a rifle butt in your face. So you quickly learned how to count in

Japanese. The Japanese would go down and say, okay, these people over here, these people over here, and that’s how you wound up, how I wound up going down to the

Davao Penal Colony for two years and then back there at and then on the

Oryoku Maru which was sunk from under us, then the Enoura Maru, which was sunk from under us, and then the Brazil Maru.

MK: After having completed the march, what happened next?

MR: The marching ended at San Fernando, Pamanga which was a railhead and those who survived thus far were packed into narrow gauge railroad cars, metal, with the sun beating down. Packed in like sardines. People died and couldn’t fall down. Fortunately, that trip was only 28 miles, but it took a couple of hours. And we debarked at a place called Capas, and we marched 6 miles to Camp O’Donnell. Camp O’Donnell was a temporary camp which was constructed by the Filipinos and the Americans to temporarily house a Philippine army division of ten to twelve thousand people. It was not completed. There were few sanitary facilities and not very much water available.

Then, all of a sudden, some fifty-five thousand people arrived at this camp. And it was chaotic; completely overwhelmed what sanitary facilities there were. And not only were there fifty-five thousand people but fifty-five thousand people in real bad shape, with dysentery, malaria, starving, dehydrated. People would make slit trenches for sanitary facilities and people would have to sleep right beside the slit trench to make sure that they made it in time if the diarrhea hit or dysentery. Camp O’Donnell was a nightmare. The

Japanese kept the Americans there for two months and moved the surviving Americans to

Camp Cabanatuan the first week in June. So we were there somewhat less than two months and during that time we buried at Camp O’Donnell fifteen hundred Americans.

They kept the Filipinos there three more months and then left them out on their parole with word that they wouldn’t fight against the Japanese. The Filipinos were there at

Camp O’Donnell somewhat less than five months. During that period, there were buried at Camp O’Donnell twenty-six thousand Filipinos.

MK: Was your experience at Camp O’Donnell the worst experience that you had during this time period?

MR: No, (chuckles) the hell ships were much worse. The Oryoku Maru and the Enoura

Maru were beyond imagination. When American soldiers slit throats to drink blood and go berserk and drink urine it is hard to imagine things getting much worse.

MK: How did you escape captivity and become free from the Japanese?

MR: I did not escape. I was a prisoner of war until we dropped the A-bomb on

Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Japanese finally surrendered.

MK: What was it like to come back to the United States and see your home and family after having gone through all that you had?

MR: You know the Jewish Torah, the Bible, doesn’t make much mention of Heaven. It talks about a life hereafter, but we don’t have anything that really talks about Heaven or

Hell for that matter, but if they did that would be Heaven.

MK: And Hell being the Death March?

MR: Right.

MK: And how did living through the Bataan Death March and being a POW affect your life after you returned from the war?

MR: It was both plus and minus. Plus because you appreciated everything that happened, everything you did. I am 85 years old now and every single day I think of how lucky I am. If I’m thirsty, I get some water or anything else I want to drink. If I’m hungry I go the refrigerator or closet and get something to eat. I’ve got clothes to wear, it’s cold outside, but I’ve got clothes. I’ve got heat in the house. Now how many people think those things?

MK: Not enough.

MR: I do everyday. But you have to be careful too because after what you’ve been through if your wife has a problem, I don’t know what I’m going to wear tonight, you can’t just say, “My God, after what I’ve been through is that going to really be a problem? You don’t know what a problem is!” You can’t do that. You have to say

“Thank God that’s the biggest problem she has.”

MK: Do you think that it still affects you even today?

MR: Oh yes. I am amazed everyday at what I have and how I live and the fact that I am living. I have a lot of close friends who are not that fortunate. They died during the

Death March and on the Hell Ships and all through prison camps.

MK: What has driven you to be such an active participant in the military forces even today?

MR: I went to West Point to be a soldier. And the government paid a lot of money to get me a West Point education, to train me as a soldier. I can’t imagine not being willing to pay back the government for being a soldier. I put in thirty-four and a half years in the

United States Army, retired by law, and then spent another fifteen years in industry doing studies for the Army and the Department of Defense.

MK: What is the role that you are playing currently in the lawsuits that are being filed by the veterans? MR: I joined a group called Center for Internee Rights in about 1994. I am a vice president. This is a group that, in conjunction with several groups from other countries, has been suing the Japanese in the Japanese courts: my group in the United States both military and civilian who were internees in the Philippines, a group from New Zealand, a group from Australia, a group from Canada, a group from the Netherlands, two groups from Great Britain. We have a British lawyer and a Japanese law-firm, and we are suing the Japanese in the Japanese courts for essentially three things, (A) a sincere apology about the way they treated us. You know in the Japanese language there are several ways to say you’re sorry without meaning you’re sorry, and we wanted a sincere apology. We wanted $22,000 for each POW or next of kin, and for that next of kin or POW, $2,000 going to court costs and lawyers. Number three, a declassification of Japanese classified documents pertaining to the Japanese unit 731 which did very, very cruel and inhuman experiments on live POWs and other people and children. So that was the one lawsuit.

That was filed in the Tokyo District court. My wife and I went over there and testified.

They threw it out based on the San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1951. Well they didn’t throw it out, they ruled against us. That took a couple of years. The next day we filed in the Japanese appellate court and they had it for a few years and then they ruled against us, again using the San Francisco Treaty of 1951 as their excuse. The next day we filed in the Japanese Supreme Court and today it is in the Japanese Supreme Court. And we expect that they will come out against us also. The other suit which is being filed in our federal courts is here in the States, and its title is Rosen v. Japan; I’m Rosen. It is a class action suit on behalf of some 350,000 Americans, any American that got wounded or killed fighting the Japanese in World War II. You say why do that if the Japanese hang their hat on the peace treaty? There’s a clause in the peace treaty that the Japanese keep throwing at us that says, “Recognizing the dire financial situation of Japan in 1951, we, hereby, give up all rights to any reparations for us or for our citizens.” Professor

Anthony D’Amato, who’s a world renowned professor of international law at

Northwestern University, is the driving force behind Rosen v. Japan. He is taking the tack that the San Francisco Treaty of 1951 is unconstitutional. Our fifth amendment, has what the lawyers always refer to as the “taking clause,” that says that no one in the government may take from any US citizen something of value without fair compensation.

The something of value that the government took from us in the 1951 treaty was the right to sue Japan for what they had done to us. So that is the tack that he’s taking. The

Japanese went for many months without accepting service of the papers and the judge was getting mad. So they decided that they better accept the papers, which they have done now, and the next thing they did was sue for transfer of venue from the courts in

Chicago to Washington D.C., and we agreed to that. So that’s where it is today.

MK: Considering that this is a crucial but overlooked event that is not included in many textbooks including my own, if you were to write a textbook, what would you want it to say about the Bataan Death March?

MR: (A), in fairness to the Japanese, I think that they were caught by surprise at so many people being surrendered, they really didn’t know what to do with us. (B), they were absolutely racist in their treatment of us on the Bataan Death March. They paraded us proudly to show the Filipinos and they did this later in Japan, trooping American POWs, cowed and beaten, through the streets so that everybody could see that the Japanese were the superior race. They did this to the Chinese, as well, to show not only that they were the same race but the Japanese were still superior to everybody. They did that [to the

Japanese] and they could show a cruelty to the Occidentals. [END OF SIDE ONE]

[BEGIN SIDE TWO] Some of the beatings that we took were typical of the Japanese because the Japanese officer would slap and hit the Japanese non-com, the non- commissioner officer, who then would go to a private and beat him. So it’s obvious that if they do that to their own people they are not going to treat us any better. A lot of what happened on the Death March was just unfathomable to Western people, how anybody could be that cruel. Filipino civilians would be beheaded if they tried to pass you some water. That is hard to believe, but that is what was done.

MK: Is there anything that we have not discussed that you think is important for me to know about the Death March or that I may have missed?

MR: Oh, I don’t think so, not about the Death March. One thing is that it is amazing what the human body can stand. I think I may have mentioned you can go without food for several days more than you think you can. Not so with water. But nevertheless the human body can stand a lot more than a lot of people think. I think that my days and experiences on the three hell ships that I was on were much more horrible than the Death

March. It would be hard to convince someone who died on the Death March that there was anything more horrible.

MK: Well, thank you very much and may I call you at some point during the transcribing or analysis process to get any further information?

MR: Oh yes. Sure, anytime.

MK: Well, thank you very much. MR: Oh, you’re welcome. Table of Contents Interview Analysis

Oral history is a historical process that creates irreplaceable accounts of human lives. It is “a collection of spoken memories and personal commentaries of historical significance through recorded interviews” (Ritchie 19). Like all sources of historical information, oral history has strengths and weaknesses that must be addressed. The accuracy and validity of accounts of oral history should always be questioned. Since oral history depends on the human mind and its memories, it often provides erroneous and unclear information. In addition, it is a subjective narration, as it is limited to one person’s interpretation and memory. Despite these weaknesses, each oral history that is produced is of significant value, especially those of the common man from whom so much can be learned. These accounts provide people living today with the unique opportunity to relive past events through the eyes of witnesses to those events. One such witness is Colonel Melvin Rosen whose oral history opens the doors to the often overlooked events of the Bataan Death March. By interviewing Colonel Rosen and documenting his story, it was possible “to collect the reminiscences that otherwise would have been forgotten” (Ritchie 37). Despite the weaknesses that are inevitable when recording oral history, this interview with Colonel Rosen is a valuable source that provides an accurate understanding of the Bataan Death March.

Due to its many weaknesses, oral history is not an objective means by which the past is documented. Because it is told from the limited perspective of a single individual, it is expected that parts of the story will be omitted when retold by the speaker. Yet, as historian Collingwood stated, “There is no point in asking which was the right point of view. Each was the only one possible for the man who adapted it” (qtd. in Carr 931). As stated by historian Arthur Schlesinger, the “unconscious preconceptions” and biases of the speaker must always be considered, as they shape the opinions of that person (52).

The background of the narrator dictates how he will see the situation and, therefore, affects how he will recount the event. Furthermore, oral history is subjective as it relies on the memory of the narrator, which is completely undependable and untrustworthy. In recording the life of Abraham Lincoln, author John Hay commented, “we ascertained after a very short experience that no confidence whatever could be placed in the memories of even the most intelligent and most honorable men…” (qtd. in Ritchie 27).

Yet, despite its subjectivity, oral history is of no less importance than any other source of information. It is just as reliable as all sources are for capturing what Sir

George Clark deemed the unattainable “objective historical truth” (qtd. in Schlesinger

931). Every historical resource contains biases put forth by the author. In the words of historian Donald Ritchie, “No single piece of data of any sort should be trusted completely, and all sources need to be tested against other evidence” (26). Regardless of the type of record, the purpose, motives, and background of the author will significantly influence the account. Yet, as long as the sources, including those of oral histories, are made as objectively as possible, through a process of intertwining the facts and interpretations of history, they will always be of great value and importance. In addition, oral history is even more vital to the study of the past because, when it is combined with the more traditional sources, it helps to complete the historical record.

In telling his oral history, Colonel Rosen may not have been perfectly objective, but he did create an irreplaceable account of the Bataan Death March of World War II.

During the interview, Colonel Rosen recounted the events that occurred on Bataan beginning in the winter of 1944. He spoke of his first thoughts and feelings upon arriving in the Philippines. From the beginning he and his comrades knew that they were going to encounter great disadvantages (Rosen 4). “I remember turning to Murph. and saying,

‘Murph., we’ve been had!’” (3). After having described the unbearable conditions that had only worsened by the spring of 1945, Colonel Rosen addressed the reasons behind the ultimate failure at Bataan. He attributed this to the lack of supplies on the peninsula, which resulted from the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December of 1944 and the mistakes of General MacArthur (Rosen 5). Colonel Rosen then focused on the surrender of the peninsula on April 9, 1945, saying, “Any soldier hates to surrender to anybody. It was a sick, sad day” (5). He continued by recounting his experience on the Death March. He described what it was like to endure the torture of walking the sixty five miles without food or sufficient water. He shared what it was like to see his close comrades tortured right before his eyes. “I witnessed people getting killed and beaten…I saw people with their hands bound behind them, forced to kneel in a place where they couldn’t stand up or lie down or anything, just kneeling, that’s all the room they had” (6). Colonel Rosen also reflected upon being a prisoner on the Japanese “hell ships.” He stated that he believes that the torture and pain he endured on the “hell ships” were even worse than that of the

Death March (Rosen 13). Colonel Rosen concluded the interview by describing how his experiences affect him and his outlook today. “I am amazed everyday at what I have, and how I live, and the fact that I am living” (10). A day does not go by in which he does not think about how lucky he truly is (Rosen 10). He spoke of his current involvement in the military and active participation in the lawsuits that are being filed against the Japanese.

He shared how the time he spent in the Philippines shaped who he is and what he does now (Rosen 10). Through recounting the events in which he took part, Colonel Rosen provides insight into the emotions, feelings, and thoughts of the people who lived through the Bataan Death March and the events in the Philippines.

Although it does contain crucial historical information, there are weaknesses in this oral history of Colonel Rosen. This record is lacking some of the elements that make for the most successful oral histories. Most significantly it is missing the informality that is reflected through dialogue and the true essence of verbal documentation. It does not include many anecdotes or natural tangents. It is also does not provide great detail about particular experiences or emotions. For example, when Colonel Rosen described his feelings about the surrender at Bataan, he just stated that, “Any soldier hates to surrender to anybody. It was a sick, sad day” (5). Rather, the oral history is very formal and straight forward, presenting mostly facts about World War II and the Death March. In addition, due to the techniques of the interviewer, the oral history is rather choppy and does not flow perfectly. One example of this is, following Colonel Rosen’s response about the length of his captivity, the interview jumped straight to Colonel Rosen’s reactions upon arriving at home (Rosen 9). It was at times like this when the transitions between questions were not smooth enough. The other major weaknesses are the biases of the account that must be taken into consideration with every oral history. Because this story was told by Colonel Rosen, it is limited by his specific memories, thoughts, and opinions, which were influenced by his background. Therefore, this interview is not perfect in its content or objectivity.

Yet, despite these weaknesses, this interview is an overall reliable and accurate source that fits well into the whole history of the Bataan Death March and World War II. Colonel Rosen’s account is accurate in comparison to historians’ research on the Bataan

Death March. For example, Colonel Rosen’s response about the causes of the ultimate failure at Bataan (5) parallels the opinions of historian Douglas Brinkley (287).

Colonel Rosen Douglas Brinkley

“I think that General MacArthur has to “…MacArthur’s inability to protect his bear some of the responsibility [for the air support and his failure (in his haste) failure at Bataan] because he did not to bring along adequate supplies of implement war plan Orange 3 in time, food significantly undermined the fight which would have meant stocking the ability of the troops.” peninsula with ammunition, food, medicine, so forth.”

This interview also provides accurate information particularly about the situation before the surrender, the treatment of the soldiers during the Death March, the conditions in the

Japanese boxcars, and the lawsuits that are being filed today against the Japanese. In addition, Colonel Rosen’s account specifically corresponds to those of other witnesses.

His description of the torture of the “sun treatment,” which states that “we were out there in the blazing sun, and there was nothing we could do about it,” (7) is very similar to that of another Death March survivor, Ed Dyess, which states that, “we were made to sit in the boiling sun all day long without cover” (291). While it is lacking some of the elements found in most oral histories, this interview accurately portrays the events that took place in the Philippines during World War II.

This oral history is of great value because it has created a precise and effective history of the Bataan Death March. It provides information that can not be found in any other record. It offers a unique personal account of firsthand thoughts, feelings, and emotions of a man who lived through the event. A more in depth analysis is presented in this account than in the one sentence of the history textbook that is dedicated to explaining the Death March in its entirety, which states that, “The battered remnants of his [MacArthur’s] army were treated with vicious cruelty in the infamous eighty-mile

Bataan death march to prisoner-of-war camps” (Kennedy 505). Through his piercing descriptions, Colonel Rosen is able to convey a message that is more than just a number representing the death toll. Unlike any other source, as described by historians William

Wheeler and Susan Becker, this oral history “helps to re-create a sense of the past” (qtd. in “The American Century Project”). In doing this, it forms the story behind the statistical data.

This project has provided me with a more solid understanding of oral history and an opportunity to experience creating history myself. It taught me the importance of oral history in piecing together the whole history of a significant event. This project provided, in the words of historian Robert Cole, “a chance for us to look at this hugely eventful century of our national life through the memories of those who lived in it and made it, in their respective ways, what it has turned out to be” (qtd. in Terkel xxiii). In addition, it introduced the entire interviewing process and allowed me to preserve the oral history of

Colonel Rosen. In doing this, it not only made me aware of the difficulty of creating an oral history but also of the importance of preserving the memories and emotions of the past.

Table of Contents Works Consulted

“Bataan Falls.” The New York Times 10 Apr. 1942, Late City Ed.: 16. Proquest Historical Newspapers. 14 December 2003 http://www.umi.com/pqdweb.

Bergerud, Eric. Touched with Fire: The Land War in the South Pacific. New York: Viking, 1996.

Brinkley, Douglas. World War II: The Axis Assault, 1939-1942. New York: Times Books, 2003.

Carr, Edward H. What is History? New York: Vintage Books, 1961.

Dunnigan, James F., and Albert A. Nofi. Victory at Sea. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1995.

Dyess, Ed. “Through the Dust Clouds and Blistering Heat, We Marched.” World War II: The Axis Assualt. Douglas Brinkley. New York: Times Books, 2003. 291-292.

Forgotten Heroes. An interview with Barry Peterson. The Evening News with Dan Rather. CBS.

Hoar, William P. “The FDR Legacy: Least we Forget.” The New American 23 June 1997. American Opinion Incorporated. 25 January 2004. http://www.thenewamerican.com.

Hofstadter, Richard, and Beatrice K. Hofstadter. Great Issues in American History. New York: Vintage Books, 1958.

Hurd, Charles. “Japanese Capture Bataan and 36,000 Troops.” The New York Times 10 Apr. 1942, Late City Ed.: A1+. Rpt. in World War II: The Axis Assault. Douglas Brinkley. New York: Times Books. 288-290.

Kennedy, David M. The Brief American Pageant. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004.

Kiernan, Matthew J. “The Bataan Death March.” 2002. Asia-Pacific Seminar Project. Wake Forest U. 25 January 2004.

Lewis, Rob. “Nightmare of Bataan.” DAV Magazine Jan 2003. Disabled American Veterans. 25 January 2004. http://www.dav.org/magazine/magazine_archives/2003- 1/Nightmare_of_Bat2191.html.

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O’Neill, William. A Democracy at War. New York: The Free Press, 1993.

Oral History Workshop on the Web. Institute for Oral History. Baylor University. http://www3.baylor.edu/Oral_History/Workshop.html. “Revenge!” The New York Times 30 Jan. 1944: E1. Proquest Historical Newspapers. 25 January 2004 http://www.umi.com/pqdweb.

Ritchie, Donald A. Doing Oral History: A Practical Guide 2nd Edition. London: , 2003.

Rosen, Melvin. Interviewed by Madeleine Kleinman. 21 December 2003.

Schlesinger Jr., Arthur. The Disuniting of America: Reflections on a Multicultural Society. New York: Norton, W.W. & Company, Inc., 1998.

Shopes, Linda. “What Is Oral History?” History Matters: The U.S. Survey on the Web. Located at http://historymatters.gmu.edu.mse.oral/.

Sides, Hampton. Soldiers. New York: Random House, 2001.

Tanaka, Yuki. Hidden Horrors: Japanese War Crimes in World War II. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1996.

Tenney, Lester I. My Hitch in Hell: The Bataan Death March. Washington: Brassey’s, 1995.

Terkel, Studs. My American Century. New York: The New Press, 1997.

The Reader’s Digest Association. The World At Arms. London: Reader’s Digest, 1989.

--- . Reader’s Digest Illustrated Story of World War II. London: Reader’s Digest, 1989.

Thompson, Robert Smith. Emipres on the Pacific: World War II and the Struggle for the Mastery of Asia. New York: Basic Books, 2001.

“The American Century Project.” The American Century Project http://www.doingoralhistory.org.

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