[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 14]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 19859]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    HONORING AMERICAN PRISONERS OF WAR FROM THE GREATEST GENERATION

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                          HON. WALTER B. JONES

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 24, 2003

  Mr. JONES of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce 
legislation aimed at honoring American Prisoners of War from the 
Greatest Generation.
  Over two years ago, two of my constituents who were POWs during World 
War II in the Pacific Theatre approached me about awards they felt they 
should have received. The Japanese has imprisoned each of the men, one 
of whom was a survivor of the Bataan Death March. These men were 
beaten, tortured and starved--one weighed 70 pounds when he was 
liberated. After their release, each of them was awarded the Prisoner 
of War Medal because of their internment. However, despite the harsh 
and sometimes violent treatment received at the hands of their captors, 
neither received the Purple Heart.
  Current law for POWs held prior to 1962 requires documentation from 
the camps or detailed statements from former POW commanding officers in 
order to be eligible for the Purple Heart. But the Japanese, and later 
the North Koreans, certainly provided no documentation. Now when World 
War II and Korean war vets are dying by the thousands every day, it is 
becoming even harder to find survivors from specific camps.
  The bill I am introducing recognizes the hardships borne by World War 
II and Korean war POWs by providing additional assistance to those who 
would have earned the award if they had today's record keeping. It 
requires the Department to provide some additional historical 
information from the period and gives them some benefit of the doubt 
with respect to injuries.
  This legislation is not about lowering the standard for a sacred 
award--the Purple Heart. Instead it is about properly recognizing the 
realities of the horrible suffering endured in the Japanese and North 
Korean POW camps for a small number of surviving heroes.

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