Reason for being / THE ADBC

2008 is a memorable year for the ADBC (American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor). Being the largest POW organization in the U.S. representing former prisoners of the Japanese, it is a year of change, a year of rebirth and rediscovery and a changing of the guard. The new guardians are the descendents of the pillars on which rests our freedom. These pillars are the men who followed the tortuous course laid out for them in battle, in defeat, and in survival during the epic battle of the Philippines. With luck, with will and with courage, they came home to their families. The ADBC's primary mission was to tell the world the story of their struggle for survival as well as the stories of the men who still lay beneath those sacred grounds where they fell in defense of their country and in defense of their lives as prisoners of war. Over the years they have been active in the redress of their grievances toward the Japanese. Their goal has been to persuade the Japanese government to admit to the atrocities perpetrated against them as POW's and to appologize for the actions of their soldiers during the second world war, and to provide a means for citizens of this country and relatives of allied combatants to discover information about those engaged in this battle.

The numbers of surviving POW's have dwindled over the years and administrative duties are necessarily being passed on to descendents who have been active in their behalf over the years. As time wears on and over our remaining POW's, it becomes incumbent on we descendents to carry their torch into the future. In essence, time has done what the Japanese could not do. For those taking over the reigns of the organization it is a privlege rather than a burden.

The public at large knows little of the early battle for control of the Pacific arena except for the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Pearl Harbor attack at the onset of the war and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the culmination of the war are well known. Everything between is merely text.

We decendents represent a father, mother or close relative who endured the unendurable. We are rich in love, admiration, respect and rich in memories left to us by our loved ones. Their struggles are carved into our minds and hearts and we shall never rest in keeping their memories alive in the public perception until the events of time take us to our fate as well.

Best of Luck to you, ADBC!

Robert Hudson