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12. Texan Prisoners of the Japanese: A Study in Survival
- Texas A&M University Press
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12 Texan Prisoners of the Japanese A Study in Survival Kelly E. Crager AS HE LOOKED BACK on his experiences as a prisoner of the Japanese in the Second World War, Texas native Clyde Shelton explained his survival: “I never did give up. I never heard an American that was in the service say, ‘I’m not going home.’ He’d say, ‘When I’m going home. When I go home.’ You never heard one say, ‘I don’t think I’ll ever make it.’ You never heard one say that—never.”1 During World War II, Shelton served in the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery Regiment, 36th “Texas” Division. Better known as Texas’s “Lost Battalion,” the entire unit capitulated to the Imperial Japanese Army on the island of Java in the Dutch East Indies in March 1942. This group of prisoners of war (POWs), most of whom were Texans, spent the remainder of World War II in various prison camps in Southeast Asia and in the Japanese home islands. These men labored for the duration of the war, enduring extreme overwork, malnourishment , and torture while receiving almost no medical care. Despite the deplorable and dangerous conditions they faced, 84 percent of them survived to return home at war’s end, a number much higher than that of the vast majority of other groups of Allied POWs.2 Although known for their brutal treatment of prisoners throughout the war, the Japanese were unable to break the collective spirit of this small group of Texans. The question to be asked, then, is: What explains the high survival rate of these men when compared to other prisoners of the Japanese? Evidence gathered in the years following the war—especially oral-history interviews conducted with over one hundred survivors—suggests that, among other things, a common Texas heritage and identity helped these men bond very closely during the trying times of captivity. This shared heritage helped create a unique environment of coopera- TEXAN PRISONERS OF THE JAPANESE 249 tion among these men, aiding their survival. When other POW communities were breaking down internally due to individual interest and selfishness—brought on by the miserable conditions imposed by their captors—these men banded together in a collective effort to promote each others’ survival and, therefore, the survival of their unit. But these men were not able to endure captivity solely because they were Texans. Although Lone Star natives have cultivated a reputation for toughness through generations, and although there is much to support this reputation, one is not predestined to survive Japanese POW camps simply because of one’s place of birth. Instead various factors aided the Texans in their survival. The story of the “Lost Battalion” begins in Depression-era Texas. A National Guard outfit prior to being mobilized in late 1940, the 2nd Battalion was made up of young men in search of income and who yearned for a break from the daily routine of rural life. This small artillery unit consisted of three firing batteries—D, E, and F from Wichita Falls, Abilene, and Jacksboro, respectively—the Headquarters Battery from Decatur, and service and medical detachments from Lubbock and Plainview. Farm foreclosures and Dustbowl conditions provided the backdrop for the times and eroded the economic future for a generation of young men. Rather than patriotism, hunger and privation proved to be the primary motivating factors for joining the National Guard. Pete Evans of Hamby, Texas, explained his decision to enlist: “Times was pretty rough. . . . I quit school [to join the National Guard]. . . . Well, we drew maybe a dollar-and-a-half a drill, I believe it was, and, of course, back in those days a dollar-and-a-half was as big as a wagon wheel. . . . It would supplement our sort of meager existence. You know, there’s a lot of difference between ‘poor’ and ‘poor,’ but we were poor.”3 Peacetime service in the guard was a leisurely duty. One weekend each month, the Texans would report to the local armory for drilling and classes, only occasionally participating in field exercises. To many, these weekends were a social getaway. Kelly Bob Bramlett of Decatur compared his guard weekends to summer camp.4 Jacksboro’s Luther Prunty remembered that “it was like a vacation to go into National Guard camp.”5 Even when Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the mobilization of the 36th Division in November 1940, few of the men believed it would seriously disrupt their lives. From November...