News-Info-Alerts

Re: Recognized 61 Years Later

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: February 20, 2003

"WWII casualty gets due 61 years later

By Michael Baker
The Facts

FREEPORT — More than 60 years after enduring a grueling death march at the hands of the Japanese, Air Force Staff Sgt. David Biediger is finally getting his due recognition.

Congressman Ron Paul, R-Surfside Beach, presented to Biediger’s nephew, Claude, on Wednesday five medals and a ribbon honoring Biediger’s service during World War II. Though Biediger knew his uncle only through photographs and letters, he always had a great respect for him.

“As a child, I would stand in front of his picture, and I would salute the picture,” said Biediger, a Lake Jackson resident. “He’s always been a hero in my mind.”

David Biediger died July 4, 1942 — the same year his nephew was born — in a prisoner-of-war camp in the Philippines. He was taken prisoner as a part of the Bataan Death March, when about 12,000 American soldiers surrendered to the Japanese near Manila Bay after a struggle of nearly five months.

He is mentioned by name in Abie Abraham’s book, “Oh, God, Where Are You?” Abraham wrote the first-person account of the atrocities at the POW camps on can labels, and smuggled his writings out of the camp to create the book, Biediger said.

Abraham was with David Biediger the night he died, Biediger said.
“I loved him like a brother, one I admired,” Abraham wrote of David Biediger. “He was a gay, carefree, laughing fellow. He was steady, not wild.”

As a child, Biediger said he never knew what his uncle had endured. Now, he realizes his uncle likely died of malnutrition.

“We always heard he died of sleeping sickness,” Biediger said. “As I got older, I learned what happened.”

Most of David Biediger’s records were destroyed in a fire in St. Louis, Biediger said. Lynette Biediger, Claude Biediger’s wife, said she had unsuccessfully tried to trace the records for some time.

The Biedigers enlisted Paul’s help in their search as Paul presented their 18-year-old son, Joey, with a flag as a part of his becoming an Eagle Scout. Paul’s office staff used its Washington clout to uncover the records and honor David Biediger.

“I think it’s pretty cool,” Joey Biediger said. “It’s interesting, and a great honor to our family.”

Paul presented David Biediger with the POW Medal, the American Defense Service Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal and the Philippine Liberation Ribbon.

In light of a possible war with Iraq, Paul said, Biediger’s posthumous honors provide a reminder of the consequences and gravity of war.

“Some of the more hawkish members of Congress are the ones who were not there when they were called,” Paul said. “It’s serious stuff, losing relatives. You fight when you have to, but you have to be careful.”

Contact our news staff at (979) 265-7411.

© 2003 The Facts"