My father was a courageous man.   He grew up on a ranch in Montana where he rode horses as a trick rider.   At the tender age of 15, he left the ranch to seek adventure.   He traveled the west and worked on the Grand Cooley dam for a year.   Still seeking adventure, he enlisted in the service, the Army Air Corp, on September 15, 1939 at March Field, CA.   After training, he was shipped off to Clark Field, the Philippines, in the first part of November 1941.   He was assigned to the 30th Bomb Squadron, 19th Bombardment Group. His plane, a B-17 bomber, was named the "Old 88".   He was present at Clark Field on December 8, 1941 (Dec 7th at Pearl Harbor) when the Japanese started their sneak attacks.   As he helped wounded soldiers on the field during the bombing, he was wounded by shrapnel and received a Purple Heart.

On December 23, 1941, he was evacuated from Clark Field at night and arrived at Marvels Naval Station, Bataan the next day.   He ate his last American meal on December 25, 1941.   During the defense of Bataan, much of it ill hand-to-hand combat, a Japanese soldier wounded him in the side with a bayonet.

He was forced to surrender, the first time, to the Japanese when Bataan fell.   However, he escaped during the infamous Bataan Death March when he and others were sent back to collect American equipment.   He found a loaded machine gun, shot his guards and escaped with the other men on his detail.   He swam across the bay to Corregidor Island and landed at Monkey Point.   Shortly after this, he was sent to Cagayan on the Island of Mindanao.   He was assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron "S".   His skipper was named Kelly and the exec was Richardson.   He was on board when they torpedoed and sank a Japanese Cruiser.

Following the orders of General MacArthur, he and his shipmates landed at Cebu City where they helped to destroy the city and it's supplies just before the Japanese landed.

With their PT boat destroyed, he and his shipmates fled to the hills and joined the Filipino guerrilla fighters.   He served with a Captain Nortz, Sgt. McGuire and Sgt. Garity (from South Carolina) during this time.   He was captured and taken to a prison camp (unknown) for questioning.   He was given a tribunal and sentenced to death.   However, the night before he was to be executed, he escaped and returned to his guerrilla group in the hills and continued the fight.   They finally ran out of food and men.   They were so sick that they couldn't fight anymore so they surrendered to the Japanese.   Lowell was taken to Santiago and then to Bilibid prison camp.

At Bilibid prison, he was served Vi cup of watery rice twice a day.   Afterwards, he was taken to Japanese headquarters in Manila for questioning.   From Manila, he was put on board one of the "hell" ships and sent to Japan. The voyage, which normally took 7 days, lasted 47 days. While at sea, 19 Americans died and they were almost torpedoed by an American sub.   Lowell arrived in Japan at Osaka.   He was put on a train and taken to Ofuma Questioning Camp.   About twenty of the men on his train were sent to Ofuma also.   The rest were scattered around to other camps.   Upon arriving at Ofuma blindfolded, be was struck in the face hard enough that "it almost knocked my head off".   The Japanese guard continued to beat him until his face was bleeding and his eyes were swollen shut.   He would knock Lowell down and then make him get up.   This continued for 4-5 hours. Lowell was then put in solitary confinement.   When they tried to feed him, he could not eat because he was so weak from malnutrition and had beriberi.

During the next six weeks, he was subjected to daily beatings.   They would have him stand at attention as they asked him questions.   If he lied or didn't answer their questions, they would hit him and knock him down.   During these sessions, the Japanese soldiers broke his nose and jaw. They knocked out two teeth.   They pulled out all his toenails and burned the tops and bottoms of his feet with cigarettes.   They made him hold out his hands in front of him palms down.   They would then strike his hands with sticks and clubs until they broke the bones in his left hand.   When he had been brought to Ofuma Camp, he had weighed 150 pounds.   When he left, six weeks later, he weighed only 90 pounds.

Finally, he was moved from Ofuma to Tokyo Camp 2B.   He was moved by streetcar to the Genza.   Here the prisoners were marched, blindfolded, through the streets.   The Japanese citizens were allowed to strike and hit the prisoners as they were marched to the train.   They were then loaded in boxcars and taken to the Kawasaki station.   From there, he was marched to the Kawasaki Brank prison camp, later named Tokyo Camp 2B, a former penitentiary for Japanese criminals.   He was incarcerated here for the next three years.

Lowell discovered that Sgt. Garity had made the trip with him and was in about the same beaten condition he was.   He also remembered seeing S. Sgt. Meek of Idaho and Sgt. Armstrong of the Marines, this first day.   They met Dr. Curtin, of the British Navy at the camp.   The doctor told him that he had "escaped serious infection, especially on his head and where his toenails had been pulled out and the cigarette burns were, only because they were so covered with maggots."   Dr. Curtin was a savior to most of the men at Camp 2B.   After Lowell had recovered some strength, he was put to work at the Nippon Steel mills booking steel to the cranes.   However, this did not last long.   He was then put to work on a ship unloading coal from the hold for the Nippon steel mill.   If a prisoner faltered or stopped to wipe his brow, a guard would beat him with a stick and the other guards on deck would spit down on him.   Because the prisoners had no hygiene items like soap, they got dirtier and dirtier as they unloaded the coal.   When this job ended, Lowell was transferred to the MBK warehouses.

At the MBK (Mitsu-bishi Company) warehouses, he was required to unload trainloads of rice.   The bags were 120 to 200 pounds in weight.   They were forced to stack the bags all the way up to the ceiling of the warehouse.   This required the use of scaffolds and planks.   It was an extraordinary feat for men in such poor physical condition.

Lowell was returned to American control on September 15, 1945.   He only weighed about 90 pounds.   His health, like so many other survivors was never very good after his treatment in the prison camps.

Lowell continued in service to his country, remaining in the Air Force, working first as a maintenance chief, then being promoted to up to Captain.   He was stationed at the Chicago Recruiting Depot and then went to Germany.

He retired from the Air Force in 1960.   He eventually moved to Denver, CO where he established an independent light fixture and lighting company.   He traveled the western U.S., many times with his daughter, selling lights.   He was awarded salesman of the year several times and enjoyed many travel trips as rewards for his sales abilities.   He eventually ended up at the Ft. Lyons VA facility in southern Colorado.   He received excellent care from a very caring and dedicated staff of doctors and nurses.   Unfortunately, this facility was closed down recently to save money.   Lowell passed away on May 27, 2001.   He was 81 years old.

We would like to hear from anyone who knew or remembers Lowell E. Pursell.   You can write, e-mail or call us at the numbers listed below.

Virginia A. Pursell-Meyer
P.O. Box 27298   -   Denver, CO 80227
Phone: 303-798-0146
E-mail: JAPM2@AOL.com

Posted October 18, 2001