Japanese Pow Friendship Program

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. President, I would like to take a moment to call attention to a group of our Nation's veterans who participated in a reconciliation program with the Japanese Government.

From October 11 to October 19, nine veterans of the U.S. Army, U.S. Army Air Corps, and the U.S. Marines who fought bravely in the Pacific theater of World War II and were taken prisoner by Japanese forces traveled to Japan. They were guests of the Japanese Government on a trip of reconciliation and remembrance.

Established in 2010, this was the sixth Japanese POW Friendship Program delegation. This program is sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs for World War II POWs from the United States, with Japan running similar friendship programs with Australia and Britain.

More than 30,000 Allied troops were taken prisoner in Japan, many of them Americans who faced horrific ordeals. Today, 70 years following the end of World War II, this program reflects the journey of forgiveness and resolution between the United States and Japan, as our relationship has developed into one of the most critical in the region.

I would like to take a moment to acknowledge the veterans who were members of this year's delegation: Joseph DeMott, a U.S. Army Air Corps veteran from Litiz, PA; Arthur Gruenberg, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran from Camano Island, WA; George Hirschkamp, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran from Sandpoint, ID; George Rodgers, a U.S. Army veteran from Lynchburg, VA; Jack Warner, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran from Elk City, OK; and Clifford Warren, a U.S. Army veteran from Shepherd, TX.

I would also like to recognize three members of the delegation who are my constituents: Leland Chandler, a U.S. Army veteran from Galesburg, IL; William Chittenden, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran from Wheaton, IL; and Carl Dyer, a U.S. Army veteran from Oglesby, IL.

I am so grateful to all of these participants for their years of service to our Nation.

The delegation was accompanied by Jan Thompson, another Illinois constituent and a documentary filmmaker and daughter of a World War II veteran who was himself a POW in Japan. Thompson also heads the nonprofit veterans organization American Defenders of Bataan & Corregidor Memorial Society.

The Japanese POW Friendship Program and the American veterans who participate in it represent the transformation and strength of the U.S.-Japan relationship. I hope this program continues to bring together our two nations in remembrance and reconciliation.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source