John L. Mims - Bataan Death March Survivor
In 1938 at the age of 15, Mims enlisted into the U. S. Army. This was due to the lack of food or jobs from the Great Depression. He was stationed at Fort McPherson, Ga for his training and then sent to Oregon where he spent 11 months on active duty. He was discharged in 1939 after the Army found out he was under age.
Two years later, still hungry and jobless he re-enlisted where he was assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment. In 1941 he was sent to the Philippines where he met Juanita, his wife of 58 years prior to her death in 2003, at a skating rink. The Japanese began their advance into the Philippines simultaneously with the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, and continued their assault into early 1942.
On April 9, 1942 Army Maj. Gen. Edward King surrendered his Filipino and American forces during a meeting with Imperial Japanese Army Col. Motoo Nakayama. When King asked if his troops would be well-treated, Nakayama replied, “We are not barbarians.” After the surrender by U.S. forces at Bataan in April 1942, the march, known as “The Bataan Death March” began through the jungles of the Philippines with 76,000 soldiers. Mims was just one of the Prisoners of War. Under a scorching sun and with little food or water, thousands of troops succumbed to heat prostration or were murdered by the Japanese when they fell out of ranks. Mr. Mims observed a Japanese sergeant accidently drop a bottle of Coca Cola. “I picked it up and handed it back. The NCO then smashed the bottle into my lower jaw, shattering my bottom row of teeth because I didn’t bow.” “I tried to escape and was free for 7 days when they recaptured me and broke both my legs with the blade of a Bulldozer.” “They took my left hand and soaked it in Lye for stealing an onion.”
After he survived the initial march, Mims endured torture in Japanese POW camps for more than three years before Japan surrendered in August 1945. Beatings and abuse at the hands of Japanese prison guards resulted in Mims suffering a broken neck, back injuries, and the need for artificial reconstruction of his left arm after the war. Mims lost over 120lbs as a POW going from 190 lbs to 67 lbs.
Mims said that he owed his survival to Juanita who was ½ American and ½ Filipino. During the Japanese occupation she was held as a POW for 7 days and later released but made to work as a bookkeeper. She would sneak messages to Mims and to the American military throughout the war. Mims was sent away on a Hell Ship where he was forced to work in a coal yard till the surrender of Japan. He married Juanita on October 14th, 1945.
Mims’ experiences at Bataan and the prison camps didn’t deter him from returning to Japan after the war. He went back in 1952 and worked at the Tokyo Quartermaster’s Depot for two years, he said. Mims retired from the Army with 27 years of service as a master sergeant at Fort Bragg, N.C., in 1963.
John L. Mims - Bataan Death March Survivor
In 1938 at the age of 15, Mims enlisted into the U. S. Army. This was due to the lack of food or jobs from the Great Depression. He was stationed at Fort McPherson, Ga for his training and then sent to Oregon where he spent 11 months on active duty. He was discharged in 1939 after the Army found out he was under age.
Two years later, still hungry and jobless he re-enlisted where he was assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment. In 1941 he was sent to the Philippines where he met Juanita, his wife of 58 years prior to her death in 2003, at a skating rink. The Japanese began their advance into the Philippines simultaneously with the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, and continued their assault into early 1942.
On April 9, 1942 Army Maj. Gen. Edward King surrendered his Filipino and American forces during a meeting with Imperial Japanese Army Col. Motoo Nakayama. When King asked if his troops would be well-treated, Nakayama replied, “We are not barbarians.” After the surrender by U.S. forces at Bataan in April 1942, the march, known as “The Bataan Death March” began through the jungles of the Philippines with 76,000 soldiers. Mims was just one of the Prisoners of War. Under a scorching sun and with little food or water, thousands of troops succumbed to heat prostration or were murdered by the Japanese when they fell out of ranks. Mr. Mims observed a Japanese sergeant accidently drop a bottle of Coca Cola. “I picked it up and handed it back. The NCO then smashed the bottle into my lower jaw, shattering my bottom row of teeth because I didn’t bow.” “I tried to escape and was free for 7 days when they recaptured me and broke both my legs with the blade of a Bulldozer.” “They took my left hand and soaked it in Lye for stealing an onion.”
After he survived the initial march, Mims endured torture in Japanese POW camps for more than three years before Japan surrendered in August 1945. Beatings and abuse at the hands of Japanese prison guards resulted in Mims suffering a broken neck, back injuries, and the need for artificial reconstruction of his left arm after the war. Mims lost over 120lbs as a POW going from 190 lbs to 67 lbs.
Mims said that he owed his survival to Juanita who was ½ American and ½ Filipino. During the Japanese occupation she was held as a POW for 7 days and later released but made to work as a bookkeeper. She would sneak messages to Mims and to the American military throughout the war. Mims was sent away on a Hell Ship where he was forced to work in a coal yard till the surrender of Japan. He married Juanita on October 14th, 1945.
Mims’ experiences at Bataan and the prison camps didn’t deter him from returning to Japan after the war. He went back in 1952 and worked at the Tokyo Quartermaster’s Depot for two years, he said. Mims retired from the Army with 27 years of service as a master sergeant at Fort Bragg, N.C., in 1963.