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Ceremony planned for Corregidor, Bataan vetsJACKSONVILLE 1AP1 Mailing mcdab lo aging here*-- of Corregidor and Radian was an impersonal undignified thing to do. says a Navy officer »tio plana a real ceremony here to honor those who luntvcd the I9U hattles and years of Japanese prisonsCap! Sam Houston, commanding officer of Cecil Field Naval Air Station. i« searching tor gallon and Marine* in Northeast Honda and Southeast tieorgia who were part of the World War II campaign* in the Philippines They were recently awarded Bronte Stare, and most sunply got them in the mad Houston said Ihe men oil be honored In a formal ceremony at Cecil Field later this springlti- a doggone shame (or them to go through what they went through and get a Bron/e Star in the mad.* said Bert Byers, a Cecil spokesman Two of the men are retired Navy Commissioned Warrant Officer 4 (tordon C Windon and retired Rear Adm Fred V Beriey. a medical officer, both of Jacksonvtle•We deserve It. We played soldier on Cor-regdoe. digging foxhole*, getting ready tor the invasion and shooting Japanese.* Windon said.Eventually, they were overpowered by the Japanese and spent more than three years in Japanese POW camps after an infamous -Death March* up the Bataan PeninsulaWindon. a young radioman during the war. said be is doubly honored that Beriey will be with him in the Cecil Field ceremony Beriey saved hts life in a Japanese pnson hospital, he said.For Windon. the road to Corregidor began on Christmas Day 1W1 when he and others were ordered to evacuate Manila, the Philippine capital They were told lo leave on the patrol aircraft, but they couldn't get outThe sariora headed for the island of Corregidor. an island, where WindO| worked with a radio unit in a tunnel•The Japanese bombed us every day until May 5 U9Ui They invaded May 5. and »e fought all night The next morning, the Japa nose landed tanks, and we didn't have any anti-tank weapons The sailors and Marines burned then records and threw their guns and ammunition into the sea and waited to surrenderWhen Wmdun arrived al Beriey's camp in November IW2. he had dropped from iso to 100 pound* and was suffering from beriberi and pellagra and comeal ulcere in both eyesBeriey. a captive doctor, treated Windon and other prisoner* Windon said he had recovered by February I9U€0.10.. Not*: Micot Mnnora can contact Coot FioU at 1904) 7786055
Newspaper Details
Northwest Florida Daily News
Fort Walton Beach, Florida, US
Thu, Mar 11, 1993
Page 13
Full Page
Clipped by
Library O.
USA 30 Jan 2017
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