105 years old from Pinckneyville, Illinois
Oct. 26, 1905 - Aug. 14, 2011
At 105 years old, Albert Brown was the oldest living living survivor of the Bataan Death March.
In April of 1942, then Capt. Brown and 70,000+ American and Filipinos were marched 66 miles to POW camps on the Bataan peninsula in the Philippines with little food or water. Many were beaten and killed along the way and left where they fell. “One 18-year-old I knew, he fell down,” Mr. Brown said. “A guard came along and put a gun to his head, pulled the trigger and walked away.”
Capt. Brown spent 3 years as a POW where he was beaten; thrown down stairs, seriously injuring his back; and struck in the neck by a rifle butt, causing a fracture. When he was finally freed he weighed just 90 pounds. “We were listed in groups of 10. If one escaped out of the 10, they eliminated the rest of them, killed them. So, at night, just before roll call, you tried to find out if your 10 were still there.”
You can read more about Maj. Albert Brown here
These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives just so others may get to enjoy freedom. For that I am proud to call them Hero.
Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don't Know Where To Look
This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.
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Thank you, Christopher Lee for acknowledgement of our Heroes.
Thank you, Mike for another excellent suggestion.
3 comments:
Good choice for Wed's hero. I remember watching a movie about the Bataan Death March back when I was a kid with my dad - very serious and somber.
watching CNBC when plane #1 hit, call out to miss bee to turn on the tv. with great anger and sadness i watched for days.
to remember those that died i will pray that Americans can find their way back to were we were on 9/12/01, that was my America.
AirmanMom,when I ran across this fine gentileman I just had to suggest him. every single man that survived the death march is a hero in my book.
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