Growing up, I was always puzzled by how cheerful he was each and every morning.   When I would ask why this was so, he would always say, "Jackson,  (his slang term for me) any day you can get up and see the the sun is a good day!"   Now, to the adolescent and teenage mind this kind of statement makes no sense at all.

It was not until later in my life, when I learned the horrors and the countless indignities he and the other men were made to bear, did I realize the fulness of this and other matter-of-fact coments he made throughout his post war life.   He was grateful for each day of life with his wife and son, and yes, his mother-in-law, whom he invited into our home when her husband, my grandfather died in 1953.   He appreciated and cherished life because he lived next to death daily for three and one half years.

His motto might have been:   "Keep going."   When his father died a few months before his birth in 1917, he "kept going", in spite of never having known his father.   He "kept going" during the Depression days of the 1930's, with odd jobs and efforts to help his family along.   He "kept going" while fighting the Imperial Japanese Army and while being held prisoner in The Philippines, on the Hell Ships, and in Japan as a slave laborer.   After the War, once home, the doctors told my mother in late 1945 that she would be lucky to have him ten years; he "kept going."   In fact, their marriage lasted fifty-six years.

I remember asking him once if he thought that he might not make it out of imprisonment.   Without hesitation, he said that if anyone made it out, he would.   His Catholic faith was very deep and provided the spiritual strength he needed.   Deep devotion to God, Jesus, and The Blessed Mother saw him through.   Even during his last years, after his stroke affected his speech, his prayers before retiring each evening were said with great clarity.   His faith in God and in his fellow man was and is an inspiration.   His anger was never, to my knowledge directed toward the Japanese people, or even the Emperor, for that matter.   He held the War Lords and Tojo responsible, in addition to the army, various officers, and the guards , many of whom were terribly brutal.

He died on August 13, 2001 at the age of 84.   He suffered terribly during those last months of his life as he did during The War.   Even through this, he inspired his family to "keep going."   My grandmother, Carmela Pellegrino, his mother-in-law, whom he loved dearly, and who loved him followed him in death a year later, November 17, 2002 at the age of 101.

My tribute to my dear father is to "keep going" and look to him for prayers on my behalf, and on behalf of my mother, Mary Curley who at this writing, "keeps going" herself.   In fact, at the age of 84, (85 on June 17, 2004) she belongs to two bowling leagues, and travels as much as she can, including the ADBC Conventions and get-togethers.   At 54, I place my trust in God and Our Blessed Mother as he did, and "keep going!"

Respectfully submitted by Kenneth DeBolde Curley's son,
Brother V. Kenneth, F.S.C.
May 1, 2004