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By RICHARD DIAZ Herald Staff Writer Refugio Medina sits on his soft old couch in his modest Brownsville home which sits in the shadow of a lofty church. An ironic residence for a man who has been to hell. Medina, 76, is one of few surviving prisoners of war who was forced along with his com rades in the 131st Field Artil lery — referred to as “The Lost Batallion” — to build a 263- mile railroad in Burma during World War II. “The Death Railway”— as it has come to be known— stretched from Moulmein, Burma to Kashanaburi, Thai land. “They (Japanese soldiers) told us, ‘We want it done in a year — we'll use your bodies for (railroad) ties if we have to,” says Medina. “The ship I was on — The Republic — left Pearl Harbor five days before they bombed it. We were headed to the Phil ippines for training but then we stopped at Fiji to refuel, then we were in Australia for a week, then we ended up in Java (an Indonesian island),” says Medina, whose task once via Java was to load 25-pound shells into the mobile cannons which provided support for the allied B-17’s. Java was surrendered in March of 1942 to the Japanese and the outnumbered Ameri can troops were taken to Burma where the nightmarish ordeal of malnutrition, back breaking work and torture would begin. Along with surviving Ameri can soldiers from the sunken U.S.S. Houston as well as cap tured British, Australian and Dutch soldiers, Medina and his batallion were forced to con struct the railway which was needed by the Japanese mili tary as a shortcut from Thai land to Burma that would avoid the traditional ocean route which would put them in peril of Allied submarines. “ They beat us all the time; they wanted us to tell every thing we knew about the mili tary. There was this North Ko rean guard who used to hit me all the time — he didn’t like me because I was dark and they asked why I was fighting with the Americans if I wasn’t one. I told them, ‘I was born in America and I am an Ameri can’ and that made them real mad.” Medina says. “There was about 14 Mexi can guys — there were no blacks but it didn’t matter your color when you were in war we fought all together — like brothers.” For Medina, the Bronze Star, three Purple Hearts and numerous combat medals he received will never replace what was brutally taken from him. “I have arthrritis in most of my bones the doctors say is from the war— sometimes I can’t walk. When I wake up at night I remember the friends I had in the camp. I can see their faces clearly — many of them died.” Ear AC eras Medina bears scars on his ankles, back and shoulders reminders of the beatings at the hands of the Japanese. “The worst beating I got was one time when I had to have a drink of water and I tried to sneak to the bucket. I got there and drank a cup when I felt a hit on the back of the (See HORRORS, Page 6) Herald photo by Anthony Padilla Refugio Medina
Newspaper Details
Brownsville Herald
Brownsville, Texas, US
Wed, Jan 25, 1995
Page 23
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
TX, USA 19 Jun 2026
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