[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 128 (Tuesday, November 14, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2018]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   RECOGNIZING WWII VETERAN AND POW STEVE RAYMOND OF LECANTO, FLORIDA

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                         HON. GINNY BROWN-WAITE

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 14, 2006

  Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor a 
Prisoner of War from World War II, Steve Raymond of Lecanto, Florida. 
While serving as a volunteer in the Army Air Corps in the Philippines, 
Mr. Raymond was among 78,000 American and Filipino soldiers captured by 
the enemy and forced to participate in what became known as the Bataan 
Death March.
  Mr. Raymond has written a book, ``Too Dead to Die: A Memoir of Bataan 
and Beyond,'' about his experience as a POW. This first-hand account 
recreates his experiences from daily journals that he kept while 
imprisoned by the Japanese. It also details his memories of the sixty 
mile force-march along the Bataan Peninsula to a prison camp known as 
Camp O'Donnell.
  During the Bataan Death March, many of the prisoners were beaten, 
beheaded, tortured and left to die along the side of the path. For 
those not executed along the way, the entire group went without food, 
and many contracted malaria and dysentery.
  Once at Camp O'Donnell, the 9,000 remaining prisoners were forced to 
drink from one water fountain, tortured and beaten, and were kept from 
learning anything about the outside world or how the war was 
progressing.
  Mr. Raymond was kept prisoner in the Philippines for a year and a 
half, and then moved to Japan. While a prisoner in Japan, he was forced 
to work in a steel mill. Other POWs took were put to work as 
stevedores, coal and copper and bauxite miners, and in aircraft 
manufacturing plants and shipyards.
  Following the surrender of the Japanese in 1945, Mr. Raymond was 
hospitalized for nearly a year to recover from his malnutrition and 
disease. After his recovery, Mr. Raymond enrolled at the University of 
Missouri and graduated with Bachelor of Journalism and Master of Arts 
degrees. He then entered into a long and successful career as a 
newspaperman, eventually retiring from the Tampa Tribune in 1978.
  Mr. Speaker, veterans of the Bataan Death March like Steve Raymond 
should be recognized for their service to our nation and for their 
commitment and sacrifices in battle. With fewer than a hundred or so of 
these brave prisoners of war still alive, it is incumbent on all 
Americans to hear their stories and preserve their memories. Steve 
Raymond should know that we truly consider him one of America's heroes.

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