FULLERTON, Calif: Greeting each other with bear hugs and whispering memories of horror, more than 200 civilian prisoners of War today are celebrating their first national reunion.
‘Many consider themselves early day hostages, subjected to the same torture, stravation and psychological stress suffered by soldiers in prison camps in World War land the Korean and Vietnam wars.
But unlike their fellow exprsoners from the military, few ci Tian survivors have taken advantage of the medical benefits offered by the Department of Labor or have developed a buddy system with others, convention organizer Henry Souix Johnson said,
“We hope this conference will get us organized, so we can help each other,” Johnson said. “Some of us have been living dead for too long.”
‘Most of those attending the First National Former Civilian Internee Conference Friday were among the 7,300 American civilians held prisoners by the Japanese during World War Il in the Philippines. They also were among the more than 2,000 prisoners at the camp in the Philippines in Los Banos.
Since the conference was sponsored by the Southern California Chapter No. 1 of the American ExPrisoners of War, dozens of military, POWs also attended the reunion.
‘The theme of the three day conference at the Holiday Inn in Fullerton was “Memories Together,” with talks by a representative of the Department of Labor explaining medical benefits and compensation available to civilian exeprisoners of war.
Article extracted from this publication >> February 21, 1986
