Displays

Joe Hill Bataan Death March Survivor

Joe Hill was a member of the Army Air Corps and stationed in the Philippines when Japanese forces took the islands at the beginning of World War 2. He survived the Bataan Death March and was interned in a POW camp.

In October 1943 he was transferred to the Japanese mainland to Camp 5B located at Niigata, about 160 miles NW of Tokyo. As a POW he worked in the coal mines until the camp was liberated by US soldiers on 5 September 1945. He and his fellow POW's were sent to hospitals in Manila to begin the recovery process. Joe said he was there for about 12 weeks before returning to the US. This is the uniform he wore home.