[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 61 (Tuesday, April 9, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E429-E430]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 IN HONOR OF NATIONAL FORMER POW RECOGNITION DAY AND THE JANESVILLE 99

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BRYAN STEIL

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 9, 2019

  Mr. STEIL. Madam Speaker, today I rise in honor of National Former 
POW Recognition Day and the 77th anniversary of capture of U.S. 
soldiers on the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines to the Imperial 
Japanese Army and the beginning of the Bataan Death March.
   In November 1941, 99 soldiers from my hometown of Janesville, 
Wisconsin arrived on the Bataan Peninsula. These soldiers were known as 
the ``Janesville 99'' and composed Company A of the U.S. Army 192nd GHQ 
Light Tank Battalion. Less than three weeks after arriving to the 
Philippines, on December 8, 1941, Imperial Japan attacked.
   For the next four months, out-gunned and under-supplied, sick and 
starving, these brave Wisconsinites fought the Battle of Bataan against 
a substantial Japanese invasion force. On April 9th, they were 
captured, tortured, and subjected to the Bataan Death March.
   Only 35 of the original Janesville 99 returned after the War. This 
is a solemn reminder of the bravery and selfless sacrifices our service 
members make for our freedom. In Downtown Janesville, there is memorial 
to

[[Page E430]]

honor the Janesville 99. We must never forget our local heroes.
   When President Ronald Reagan created the permanent National Former 
Prisoners of War Recognition Day on April 9, he said: ``. . . It is 
truly fitting that America observe April 9 in recognition of our former 
prisoners of war; that date is the 46th anniversary of the day in 1942 
when U.S. forces holding out on the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines 
were captured. Later, as prisoners of war, these gallant Americans were 
subjected to the infamous Bataan Death March and to other inhumane 
treatment that killed thousands of them before they could be liberated. 
In every conflict, brutality has invariably been meted out to American 
prisoners of war; on April 9 and every day, we must remember with 
solemn pride and gratitude that valor and tenacity have ever been our 
prisoners' response.''
   Today, we recognize those who the fought the impossible and endured 
the unimaginable for freedom from tyranny and oppression. I thank all 
our POWs for their sacrifice. May the Janesville 99 rest in peace.

                          ____________________