Former prisoners of war form bonds through common experiences
M.B. Pell
The Arizona Republic
SURPRISE - For three years and nine months during World War II, Richard Cooksley worked in Japanese prisoner-of-war labor camps from the South Pacific to northern Japan.
He survived the Bataan Death March, the miserable trek across Luzon Island that killed hundreds of American and thousands of Filipino prisoners in 1942. He lost more than half of his body weight, weighing a skeletal 80 pounds when he was released from the copper mine he worked in. And while coping with his own ordeals, he buried his friends.
Cooksley tells an incredible tale of survival. But for the veterans who gathered last weekend in Surprise, it was a familiar story. Former POWs from across Arizona assembled for the 25th-annual Department of Arizona Convention to socialize and discuss the unique issues that former POWs and their families face.
"The main thing is, we as a group look after each other," Cooksley said. "Our motto is: To help those who can't help themselves."
John Cooper, commander of the American Ex-Prisoners of War Agua Fria Chapter, which hosted the event, said many veterans still have health problems related to their captivity. Cooper, a former B-17 pilot, suffers from arthritis in both hands stemming from frostbite he endured while imprisoned in a German POW camp. He said ex-prisoners commonly experience ailments caused by months or years of starvation.
But along with ensuring that veterans receive appropriate medical care, these men also gather to support each other emotionally.
"It's because of the common bond we have," Cooper said. "For the most part, when we first got out, we didn't want to talk about it, but this organization helped bring things out because we could talk to each other. And we discovered if we talk it, we felt better."
Eve Moore said her deceased husband, Milton, who was held in a German POW camp for two years, bottled up the horrors he suffered through for decades until he finally learned about the group.
"They can look in each other's eyes, and they know where they've been," she said. "If it was not for this organization, my husband would not have lasted as long as he did."
To help people outside the organization appreciate prisoner-of-war experiences, Dan Vining drove from Los Angeles to distribute copies of Guest of an Emperor, a book written by his now deceased father, Virgil about his 3? years as a POW in Japan.
"Part of it was not that he wanted to say horrible things happened, but to say that a lot of people made sacrifices so other people could live in innocence," Vining said.
"Americans have been blessed to be allowed to be naive because we haven't had to fight on our soil. But there are bad people out there who organize themselves to do bad things."
© 2007 Arizona Republic