Freedom Still Isn’t Free
This Veterans Day, let us thank God for all those brave men and women who have fought for our freedom.
When West Texans Scott Downing and Oliver Thomas served their country by joining the Army Air Corps during World War II, neither could imagine what such service would entail. Both were just young men, only years removed from high school, yet both would soon be shot down over Japan and held as prisoners of war (POWs) in what would prove to be the darkest months of their lives.
Downing and Thomas were B-29 crewmen who took part in the firebombing of Japan during the last year of the war. Downing was a bombardier in the 505th Bomb Group’s 313th Wing and Thomas was a flight engineer in the 504th Bomb Group’s 313th Wing.
On March 29, 1945, Thomas began what would be his 17th and final bombing raid on Tokyo. The raid was to be carried out from 20,000 feet. Thomas had a bad feeling about it from the start because he feared the relatively low altitude combined with the high visibility of a daytime run was going to make his B-29 an easy target for anti-aircraft fire.
And Thomas’ fears were not misplaced. Seemingly seconds after his bombardier opened the bomb bay doors to drop the ordnance on Tokyo, the B-29 shuttered badly and the left gunner subsequently reported that the number three engine was on fire. The bomber then went into a twisting, circular dive, and at an altitude of only 4,500 feet over Tokyo Bay Thomas and his crew bailed out.
After bailing Thomas watched and was happy to see that all 11 crewmembers made it out of the plane. Remembering the low altitude from which he jumped, he then looked down and noticed the ground was rushing toward him. But before he could choose where he might land, he came down “on the side of a canyon, sliding down about 20 feet through thick underbrush, [and sitting] in the bottom of a dry creek bed.”
Thomas was captured by Japanese villagers and taken to a military governor who ordered a Japanese Army lieutenant to place Thomas on a train for transport to the POW prison outside of Japanese Western Army Headquarters. Prior to World War II, the prison had been a horse barn. Its stalls had since been “converted” into cells, all six of which had a floor space of approximately eight feet by 12 feet.
The Japanese crammed 19 American servicemen into these cells, making things so tight that at night the prisoners had to sleep on their sides in order for everyone to fit. And if they wished to turn over, they had to stand up, turn in place, and then lie back down.
En route to the prison, Thomas had to change trains in the Japanese town of Chiba. While walking from one train to the next, Thomas and the other POWs with him were blindfolded, made to kneel, and then “beat with what [Thomas believes were] the butt[s] of … rifles or bamboo poles.” Thomas’ hands, which had been bound from the moment he was captured, hung down in front of his waist. Soon, one of the blows he received across his face burst his sinuses, and he felt his own mucus run down the inside of his arms and onto his hands.
Thomas believed that this brutality was “undoubtedly … an effort on the guards’ part to get some revenge for [the flight crew’s] activities over Japan.”
When Thomas finally reached Western Army Headquarters the Japanese removed his blindfold and interrogated him before beating him again “with a bamboo pole, about an inch in diameter and three feet long.” He was then escorted to his cell, where he subsisted on a ball of rice a day for the next four and a half months.
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AWR Hawkins is a conservative writer who holds a Ph.D. in military history from Texas Tech University.
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24 Comments
1. Robert:Thank God for men like those described here. They paid a price for our freedom.
Nov 11, 2009 - 3:54 am 2. William:What a great way to remember these men. I hope they know that the current administration aside, the American people are grateful for their sacrifice.
Nov 11, 2009 - 4:05 am 3. Libertyship46:We should remember them and thank them all, not just today but every day. They keep us safe, they keep us free. For that we owe them a great debt. Semper Fi, Mac.
Nov 11, 2009 - 4:07 am 4. BrianH:Thank God that WWII happened then instead of now.
Nov 11, 2009 - 5:14 am 5. Jeff:I echo BrianH’s sentiment, as I don’t know if we could have won WWII were it to have occurred in the 21st century. It’s not that we don’t have the weaponry to win, it’s that we lack the will to win.
Nov 11, 2009 - 6:28 am 6. bubblehead:To all those who stood in the face of tyranny so I can enjoy the amazing prosperity of my life: I Salute You!
Nov 11, 2009 - 6:36 am 7. Bonner:Thanks to all military vets everywhere in the U.S. today. Thanks for those who were POWs and those who weren’t but still willingly served.
Nov 11, 2009 - 6:41 am 8. Maurice:Unfortunately, our public education system and our culture in general is failing these brave heroes, and all those brilliant and courageous people who fought to build and defend this country. The young people today–hell, even the middle-aged people (with many great exceptions, but not, in my view, enough) not only don’t appreciate the deep sacrifices made to defend and preserve freedom, they openly mock the idea as corny and un-hip. They plod forth zombie-eyed on the ultimate sugar-buzz of political correctness, which teaches them that all ills can be washed away with enough understanding, empathy, and “diversity.” War is always bad, therefore those who wage it are always evil.
You try, but you cannot save these morons from themselves. They will be bent over a barrel getting the Permanent Shaft from the Govt. when they realize they sold out their freedom and country for 30 pieces of gold and the chance to sit at the cool kids table during lunch hour. Let’s finally call Political Correctness what it is: Politically Wrong.
Nov 11, 2009 - 6:46 am 9. Dena:Once again, I’m amazed at the willingness of American parents to sacrifice the lives of their children in the name of Freedom. Buzz words like “they die for freedom” and “protect our country” are used endlessly by the media and politicians to program people into believing all wars are noble. Did the US bother to ask the people of Afghanistan if they want to become a democracy? What give us as Americans, the right to force other countries to accept our way of living? Unfortunately, the truth is our best and brightest are dying so corporate American can squash any country that resists giving up their natural resources to corporate greed. There is an important oil pipe-line running through Afghanistan. Will it be used for US Oil companies or Russian? Time (and war) will tell. Patriotism is a wonderful thing and I have nothing but admiration for the military; however our sons and daughters are dying for greed of corporate America and Wall Street.
Nov 11, 2009 - 7:54 am 10. Russ:My father would have loved this article. He was proud of his service and so am I.
Nov 11, 2009 - 7:58 am 11. Russ:To Maurice – Great post. You are right. Our educators are not teaching our children to honor these heroes but to despise them.
Nov 11, 2009 - 7:59 am 12. Mr. Independant:AWR Hawkins,
Great article. You’re absolutely right, freedom isn’t free. The next time anyone here see’s a homeless person, try and remember that 1/3 of them are veterans. I hope anyone who reads this message will remember the debt they owe to those who purchased their freedom.
Nov 11, 2009 - 8:09 am 13. JED:The cost of freedom, the price of freedom is constant vigilance and a willingness to prepare and defend. The bill and debt can never be repaid. “Perpetual payment on perpetual loan”.
Nov 11, 2009 - 8:21 am 14. Mr. Independant:While the burden of freedom is constant vigilance. The debt owed by the citizens of this country to it’s veterans can and should be repaid.
Nov 11, 2009 - 9:04 am 15. Chris:What great story about the kinds of things our men had to endure to win WWII. I believe we’re so far out of touch now that people have forgotten the struggles of men like those Hawkins’ recounted. I say thanks to every veteran I meet today or on any other day.
Nov 11, 2009 - 10:19 am 16. Chris:Dena – I just read your post and am blown away by the fact that you think the media presents all wars as noble. Since Vietnam, every war we’ve been in has been attacked by the media and those very attacks have put our soldiers at greater risk. As for Afghanistan, they make their own determinations. Did you not see that they had an election last week? They choose what direction they are going to go, not we. And have no doubt but that when our soldiers die for freedom in the Middle East(and elsewhere), Goldman Sachs and “corporate greed” are not the reasons.
Nov 11, 2009 - 10:24 am 17. myth buster:Dena, I don’t honestly care whether or not the people of Afghanistan want freedom. We went into Afghanistan for our sake, not theirs. The fact that the Afghan people now have the opportunity to have freedom is a beneficial side effect, but this war was started to purge Afghanistan of Islamic terrorists who declared war on the United States.
Nov 11, 2009 - 10:34 am 18. viet vet:Thank you for all the great comments.
I am grateful for my mother working 12-16 hour days at Oak Ridge Tennessee for 3 years and later learning that she had helped produce the fission material used in the first atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Her telling me before she died at a young age that her bomb had saved the lives of millions of people.
My father driving a bulldozer for the US Army Corp of engineers covering a few of the bodies of 6,000,000 Jews killed in German concentration camps.
It changed his life forever.
His telling me to go fight the communist bastards in Vietnam or even serve at the Berlin wall to try and kill enough of them that they would never ever attempt to conquer the entire world again.
Everything he predicted has come to past.
Our withdrawal from South East Asia but the communists stopped in Cambodia.
Thailand, Indonesia and hundreds of millions of people are still free.
He thanked me and patted me on the back for going off to a crappy little war and killing communists.
Even my NFL hat was made in Vietnam so I guess they have jobs.
My dad before he died also predicted that some day our government leaders would become rich, fat, and passive appeasers who no longer give a Shiite whether we won or lost our brave troops in battle.
I hope these are not those days.
I pray we will not forget those that have given their blood, lives, health,
and even their own feelings of security.
Sometimes having a dream,
hearing a sound or even a smell can bring back that fear of fear itself.
They can never tell you some of the things we have seen, heard or caused them to cry.
May God preserve our great country and bless its constitution and righteous leaders.
Nov 11, 2009 - 11:34 am 19. john from cinncinatti:i never relinquished control over the education of my sons. My dad a navy veteran USS Lexington CV-2 was really amazed when his grandson called him from Afghanistan. he didn’t realize the technology available to the troops. yeah he was proud of his grandsons. that is our family tradition Grandpa, uncles, dad and grandsons, all veterans. Semper Fi to the USA.
Nov 11, 2009 - 11:49 am 20. 1MPTomb:Thank you Dad, Mom, both Grampies, brother, uncles, cousins and great uncles. I am a proud “Army Brat’. Thank you too, Dad-in-Love even though you served in the Navy!
Nov 11, 2009 - 12:52 pm 21. Bohemond:” Did the US bother to ask the people of Afghanistan if they want to become a democracy? What give us as Americans, the right to force other countries to accept our way of living?”
We have the right to force them not to shelter the savages of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. We have the right to kill our enemies. Got it?
Nov 11, 2009 - 1:22 pm 22. myth buster:Both my grandfathers served during WWII- my father’s father in the US Navy, and my mother’s father in the Polish Resistance. Four years ago, I told my paternal grandfather on his deathbed what an inspiration he’d been to me. I tried to join the Navy myself, but they won’t take me for medical reasons, despite me fighting tooth and nail to try to get in, so I applied for a job refueling nuclear vessels during their midlife maintenance. I haven’t heard a final decision yet on that job, and I wouldn’t be able to start until May anyway. If they won’t let me serve on the front lines, I can at least make sure our ships are ready to fight when it’s time to deploy.
Nov 11, 2009 - 1:43 pm 23. Libertyship46:Hey Dena, #9, I just noticed your post. You know what? You’re a real Marxist a__hole. Was that direct enough? For you to spew your misguided venom on today, of all days, shows just how stupid you are. And what I despise most about lowlifes like you is they always say jackass things like, “I love the military, but…” There’s always a but in a sentence like that so that dolts like you can make some strange political statement that comes right from MoveOn.org or some other dirthole like that. It’s just a pity that our brave men and women in the military have to defend people like you. But, hey, at least you’re enjoying the right to make a jerk of yourself, a right they are defending with their lives. Think about that for a while, you moron, the next time you think this country is so horrible. Hope you choke on those words.
Nov 11, 2009 - 4:05 pm 24. Anti-Federalist:I always love the uninformed “Marxist a-hole” comment. The truth is Marx was nothing more than an economic theorist who’s writings were self-interpreted by early communist leaders like Lenin and Stalin. Everyone seems to forget that before the rise of “Marxist Socialism,” Carl Marx expanded the economic theories of classic economists such as David Ricardo and Adam Smith. Do you recognize these names? You should because they are the ones responsible for establishing America’s first economic epistimological premise. Government shall not intervene in economic affairs they said, only it didn’t work so well. After the great depression a new economic system was instated, one in which the central government had direct control of expanding and contracting the money supply of our nation. If you don’t believe me, look it up. What I find disheartening is that people such as yourself defend something you know little about strictly on the basis of current political brainwashing. We already live in a socialist state, but at least some of us have the balls to disagree with it.
Nov 17, 2009 - 6:28 pm