Kiwanis volunteer says satisfaction is reward enough for his service.
By Edgar Sanchez -- Bee Staff Writer
As a prisoner of war during World War II, John A. Bristow learned the meaning of hunger.
The radioman for the Army Air Forces was captured by Japanese soldiers after the fall of the Bataan Peninsula on April 9, 1942.
After surviving the Bataan Death March, he was held in POW camps in the Philippines and in Japan, where he ate little and fantasized about food.
"When you're hungry, you don't think about anything else except something to eat," the 83-year-old Sacramentan said.
Six decades later, Bristow helps feed the needy, so they won't experience the same hunger he did.
Once a month, he visits local markets to buy nearly a ton of food for the St. Matthew's Food Closet and the food pantry at the Kiwanis Family House.
He shops with a monthly check from the Sacramento Suburban Kiwanis Club, plus cash he often donates himself.
"This is part of my community service," said Bristow, a 39-year Kiwanis member. "I do this voluntarily to help fight hunger. The pay is in satisfaction."
Bristow doesn't remember how long he's been buying the food, but fellow Kiwanians say it's been at least 15 years.
"Mr. Bristow is just a wonderful man - he really is," said Stuart Bradbury, of the St. Matthew's Food Closet on Edison Avenue. "He provides us with 900 pounds of potatoes, apples and other produce a month - and it's much appreciated."
The monthly delivery makes Bristow the top produce supplier for St. Matthew's, which distributes edibles in grocery bags.
And Bristow is the only regular supplier for the food closet at the Kiwanis Family House on 48th Street, director Mauda Butte said.
"He really cares" about people in need, she said. "He's done so much for us, making sure we have plenty of groceries for our guests."
The house provides temporary shelter for out-of-town families while their loved ones are hospitalized at the nearby University of California, Davis, Medical Center.
"Many of the families who stay at the house are under dire circumstances," Bristow said. "They can't afford to eat in restaurants."
Using the home's food closet, families can cook their own meals on site.
Bristow, a native of San Francisco, joined the Army Air Corps at 18, in September 1940. It became the Army Air Forces in 1941. "I was interested in airplanes," he said.
Assigned to the 20th Pursuit Squadron, he was in the Philippines when Pearl Harbor was attacked on Dec. 7, 1941.
The following spring, after his capture, he was in the Bataan Death March, during which more than 10,000 American and Filipino soldiers died.
"I marched 60 miles" under a blazing sun, he said. "I saw many dead bodies."
His only meals during his nine days on the march were a bowl of rice and a bit of condensed milk.
He contracted malaria and his weight plunged from 150 pounds to about 100.
He eventually boarded what Americans called a "hell ship" for transfer to a POW camp in Japan.
"As a POW, there were very few times I got all I could eat," Bristow said. "I was always thinking of food."
The Japanese soldiers abandoned Bristow's final camp about the time that Japan capitulated.
In September 1945, having regained weight, Bristow sailed on an American ship under the Golden Gate.
He was honorably discharged from the Army Air Forces in March 1946.
Four years later, Bristow began a successful career as a building contractor in Sacramento.
It took him 25 years, he said, to publicly talk about life as a POW.
"I'll never forget what happened," Bristow said, "but what's done is done.
"I don't carry a grudge," he said. "The hate will eat you up alive. I don't like prejudice; that's not me."
On a recent day, Bristow began his monthly tour by driving to the Kiwanis Family House, where he was handed a list of needs.
He then drove to a produce store near Broadway, where he bought his usual 900 pounds for St. Matthew's, along with fruits and vegetables for the Kiwanis Family House.
Hours later, Bristow returned to the Kiwanis Family House with a bounty of food.
This summer, the aging Kiwanis Family House will be replaced with a new, $5 million Kiwanis Family House being built on 50th Street. The 19,500-square-foot facility will accommodate up to 32 families at a time, more than double the current site's capacity.
It will also have a larger food closet, which Bristow said he'll stock "as long as I'm able."
Bristow is a distinguished member of the Sacramento Suburban Kiwanis Club, said Nancy Wunschel, its president.
"We're very proud to have him in our club," she said.
About the writer:
The Bee's Edgar Sanchez can be reached at (916) 321-1132 or esanchez@sacbee.com.
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