Cpl. Elmer J. Bensing, Jr.

    On January 22, 1941, Elmer was inducted into the army at Fort Knox, Kentucky.  He did his basic training and was assigned to D Company, 192nd Tank Battalion. 

    In September of 1941, Elmer took part in the Louisiana maneuvers.  After the maneuvers ended, Elmer and the rest of the battalion learned they were being sent overseas.

    From Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, the battalion sailed for the Philippine Islands.  They arrived in Manila and were sent to Fort Stotsenburg.  They spent the next two weeks readying their equipment for use.

    On December 8, 1941, just ten hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese bombed Clark Field.  The tankers fought back the best that they could, but their weapons weren't of much use against planes.

    During the Battle of the Philippines, Elmer fought to slow the Japanese advance as long as possible.  Since no help was coming, it was just a matter of time before the battle would be lost.

    The Japanese liked to use snipers.  The snipers would climb high into the tree.  They then would tie themselves onto a large branch of the tree with a vine.  On one occasion, being in an area where several soldiers had been shot, Elmer took his submachine gun and began shooting at a vine running up a tree.  He followed the vine up the tree until he cut it with his fire.  The Japanese sniper fell from the tree.

    On April 9, 1942, Elmer became a Prisoner Of War.  At Mariveles, Elmer started what became known as the death march.  The lack of food and water made the much unbearable.

    As a POW, Elmer was held at Camp O'Donnell and then Cabanatuan #1 and #3.  While he was a prisoner, he contracted malaria, berberi and dysentery. 

    Elmer was later sent to the Port Area of Manila for shipment to Japan.  He and the other POWs were put into the holds of a ship and spent 12 days in the holds on the trip to Japan.  The only washroom were buckets that were lowered down by ropes.  During the trip, many of the prisoners died.  The bodies were pulled from the hold on ropes and thrown overboard.

    In Japan, the ship docked at Moji.  From there, Elmer was taken to Fukuoka Camp #3-B.  There he worked in a Yawata Steel Mills which were 75 miles from Nagasaki.  The POWs did manual labor.  They shoveled coal and cleaned the blast furnaces.  Being that the Japanese placed little value on the lives of the prisoners, they were expected to clean the furnaces while they still hot.

    When the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, the prisoners were returned to the camp early.  They did not return to work for days.  When they did go back to the mills, they again came back to the camp early.

    As they returned, they saw Japanese facing speakers and listening.  An American who could speak Japanese told them that the war was over.  When a Japanese officer repeated this, the prisoners knew that it was true.

    On September 20, 1945, the former POWs were rescued by American troops.  Elmer was returned to the Philippines.  On November 11, 1945, Elmer returned to the United States.  He journey back to the U. S. had ended where it began for years earlier.

    Elmer was discharged in March of 1946.  He married and with his wife raised a son and daughter.  Elmer was awarded a number of medals.  Among them were the purple heart and bronze star.

    Elmer J. Bensing passed away on December 23, 1998 in Louisville, Kentucky.

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