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Unit 7—Handout 4
Survivor Testimony of Lester Tenney, POW and Survivor of the
Bataan Death March, 2005
Dr. Lester Tenney survived the Bataan Death March (April 1942, Philippines). After arriving at Camp
O’Donnell he escaped into the jungles of the Philippines. He was recaptured days later. He survived the “hell
ships” when he endured a month long voyage in the hold of a ship from the Philippines to Omuta in Japan.
There, he was a slave laborer in a coal mine. He witnessed the atomic bomb blast at Nagasaki from the prison
camp across the bay from the city. The war ended for him a day later when Japan surrendered.
Article:
“15 August 2005 – Sixty Years Ago Today the POWs in Japan Were Freed
War Has Ended But Not the Memories” by Lester Tenney
(op-ed piece published in the San Diego Union Tribune)
Sixty years ago today, World War II came to an abrupt end, similar in many respects to the abrupt
beginning on that fateful day in December, 1941. Between the beginning of this war and its formal ending on
Sept. 2, 1945, there were many events that have remained in our memory, events of horror and deprivation,
events of death and dying, events of pain and suffering, events of happiness and humility.
During the period between the fall of the Philippines and the end of hostilities there was the Bataan
Death March, where thousands more who were healthy enough to become slave laborers were forced to
travel to Japan on Hell Ships on which the Japanese forbade Red Cross markings to identify them as carrying
American POWs. American planes and warships, not knowing that Americans were on board these freighters,
bombed and torpedoed them, turning them into sailing coffi ns, putting thousands of Americans into a watery
grave. Those of us who survived this ordeal ended up in Japan, forced to shovel coal in dangerous coal mines,
or working untold hours in zinc mines or on loading docks, or forced to manufacture war supplies for the
enemy. These tragic events took the lives of hundreds more Americans who waited patiently for the war to
end. It was these tragic events that caused us to bring a lawsuit against the Japanese companies that enslaved
and abused us. Yet we were turned back, turned back by our own State Department, which chose to defend
the Japanese actions.
You see, the war has ended, but the memory lingers on.
Let me explain. My fi ght against the Japanese company that abused and tortured me is not about money.
It has never been about money. It has been about honor, dignity and responsibility. Like the great country
of Japan, we too take pride in our honor and dignity, but it was taken from us, and now we want it restored,
restored by those who violated our rights as human beings. We want those who abused us and stole our
honor to accept their responsibility, which would be the honorable thing to do. And as we all know, Japan
sees itself as the epitome and creator of the meaning of honor. The Supreme Court, after hearing from our
State Department, recently decided not to allow our case to be heard in a court of law. I would hope that in
spite of the court’s decision, Japan will want to solve the problem of responsibility, which will then restore its
noble place among nations and show the world that honor and responsibility are the ingredients necessary to
entitle it to a seat on the United Nations Security Council.
If Japan, and the companies that abused American POWs, do not accept responsibility, they should never
be allowed a seat and a vote on the Security Council. Without an offer of remorse, without a meaningful
apology, giving Japan a seat on the council would be a travesty of injustice. Japan could never undo the wrong
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