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Brooke County Museum Collects POW Artifacts

Photo by Alec Berry Display cases from the Museum of the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor hold items related to prisoners of war in the Phillipines during World War II.

WELLSBURG — At the Brooke County Public Library in Wellsburg, James Brockman oversees a large collection of personal artifacts which now tell tales of World War II in the Pacific.

At the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor Museum, located inside the library, display cases present letters, weapons and clothing all linked to the conflict in the Philippines in the early 1940s. They fill in information missed, not necessarily associated with a prime event such as Pearl Harbor, though important still. These items are the result of the attack in Hawaii.

So are the prisoners of war whose lives are now the central focus of the museum. The collection holds about 1,600 diaries from soldiers, many of whom were taken into Japan’s custody during World War II.

They were held in prison camps at Bongabong and Cabanatuan until they were placed on “hell ships” bound for Japan, where they would function as slave labor for corporations in support of the war effort.

The ships earned their nickname. Most were worn out and unseaworthy. Soldiers were crammed into storage holds where they suffered overcrowding, poor ventilation, starvation and miserable sanitary conditions.

According to the museum, 18,901 of these men were killed as ships sunk in battle. The amount who perished because of the conditions is unknown.

Brockman said the camps were “horrific.” Notably, prisoners were starved and underwent severe weight loss on small rations of rice and watery soup. Sleeping accommodations were primitive, and medicine was nonexistent. Despite this, soldiers were allowed brief means of correspondence with their families back home.

On postcards, many of which are kept at the museum, they dictated 20-25 words, informing the recipient of their health and asking specifics of others. Some, such as Capt. William Perilman, managed to document much of their experience in notes, lists and photos.

Perilman represents the museum’s most extensive collection. A native of Wheeling, he joined the service later than most, in his mid-30s. He already had established himself as a doctor prior to enlisting in the Medical Corps of the U.S. Army.

Perilman was liberated in September 1945 and home by Thanksgiving.

The museum tells these individuals stories while it explores the politics of POW repatriation amidst efforts for justice and reconciliation. Brockman said some of the POWs he’s met have buried the hatchet, knowing Japanese soldiers were simply following orders. Others, however, never found peace with the experience or those who created it, he said.

The museum in Wellsburg, the only national repository dedicated to this history, ensures all are spoken for.

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