PGR_NTX Patriot Guard Final Itinerary - Lost Battalion Reunion

[Mission Information For North Texas PGR]

Final Itinerary

 

Lost Battalion Reunion

 

 Mission Date:  Saturday, August 15, 2009

 

Ride Captains:

 

Dewey "Diehard" Dyer; (214)316-8730 (c); dgd4758 at sbcglobal.net
<http://us.mc823.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=dgd4758@sbcglobal.net> 

Mike "Gunner" Lambert; (817) 368-9076 (c); mikelambert2 at aol.com 

 

 

This is the second reunion of the Lost Battalion from World War II that the
North Texas PGR has had the honor to be invited participate in.  Last year's
event was a huge success and we are told that the survivors of these units
are very much looking forward to seeing us and talking with us again.  David
Hall and the Liberty Bell will be present once again and these true American
heroes will once again have the opportunity to ring the bell and celebrate
their freedom from captivity those many years ago.

 

Here is a great opportunity to celebrate the actual men who most people only
see depicted in movies or read about in books.  As their ranks diminish, and
fewer are able to travel each year, their story and their true impact on
history may also diminish with them.  At last year's event one of our riders
thanked one of the veterans and the veteran responded, "What for?"  Not only
does that show the true mind set of a veteran from that generation, who
thought he was just doing his duty, but our rider also showed a sense of
awareness of the sacrifice of that generation when the reply was words to
the effect of; "Thank you for making the world free.  Thank you for making
sure that I'm speaking English instead of Japanese or German in the greatest
country in the world, and thank you for making sure that I'm free to do what
I want, when I want, where I want, and that I can determine who runs the
government that I live under."

 

These men went through Hell and came out the other side.  They looked evil
right in the eye and we have a chance to thank them.  A brief look at their
story is at the end of the itinerary for your use.

 

 

Part 1 - Reunion Events:  Saturday, August 15, 2009 - 10:00 AM; Omni Hotel

 

Staging - 8:00 AM; Briefing - 8:30 AM

 

Omni Hotel

1590 LBJ Freeway

(Corner of Luna and LBJ)

Dallas, Texas  75234  

(972) 869-4300

 

Map - http://tinyurl.com/5m6xc9

 

We will park in the area South and West of the main hotel entrance.  Please
make as much room for parking as possible as we don't know how many bikes
and cages to allow for.  The flag/water truck will also be in this area.

 

The veterans will be having breakfast between 8:30 and 9:30AM and then they
will be taken to the 12th floor of the hotel.  At that time, we will take
our flags inside and form a corridor of flags from the hotel elevators,
through the lobby, through the front doors and outside to where the Liberty
Bell will be located.  The veterans and their spouses will be brought down
and assembled and will process through the corridor of flags to the bell
where a brief welcoming ceremony will take place and the veterans will be
given the opportunity to ring the bell.  The flag line will follow the
veterans out of the hotel and form a circle around those gathered.
Following that ceremony the veterans will go inside for a memorial service.
This service is scheduled to last about an hour.  Anyone wishing to stand
inside with a flag will be welcome to do so.

 

Following the memorial service will be a hot dog lunch served inside the
hotel where the riders and the veterans can get together, eat lunch with
each other and talk.  Last year there were scrapbooks available provided by
the veterans and many great conversations were held and hugs and handshakes
exchanged.

 

This is an opportunity to see and meet some of the last living Heroes of
World War II.  All were POW incarcerated by the Japanese.  This may be (is)
a once in a lifetime privilege for our North Texas Patriot Guard Riders as
these men are survivors of the harshest form of human abuse ever recorded
and are true living American Heroes.

 

 

Weather:  Mostly clear with a high of 96 degrees.  

With hot weather already here, please remember to properly hydrate
(including the night before) before any outdoor activity and to dress
appropriately.  Do not hesitate to take a break at any time if you feel you
need to get in the shade or get indoors and always ask for help at any time.
Also, please don't forget your sun screen. 

Iron Horses if you can; cages are always welcome and appreciated.  

 

The flag/water truck will be present.  

 

Please remember that Semper Gumby is in full force for this event.  We are
guests at their reunion and we are working on their time/event schedule.
This is designed to be a happy event for all where these folks can get
together and enjoy each other's company again and for us to thank them for
all they've done for us and our country.  If this one is anything like last
year's reunion you'll be very glad you came and you'll have a very positive
effect on a great many people.

 

**************

The following is a brief synopsis of the history of the Lost Battalion and
the men of the USS Houston that we are supporting.  

 

History of the Lost Battalion:

 

2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery, 36th Infantry Division, Texas Army
National Guard

And 

Survivors of the USS Houston, "The Battle of the Java Sea"

 

It is with great pride and historical interest, the 2nd Battalion 131st
Field Artillery, 36th Infantry Division, Texas Army National Guard is the
"Most Decorated Unit" in Texas War History and the Heavy Cruiser USS Houston
is the "Most Decorated Vessel" of its class in the US Fleet.

 

The Lost Battalion Association is composed of the men of the 2nd Battalion,
131st Field Artillery, 36th Infantry Division, Texas Army National Guard
and those men who swam ashore from the Cruiser USS Houston (CA-30)  during
the "Battle of the Java Sea", when she was heavily battle damaged and sank,
and those who survived 42 months of "Hell" as prisoners of the Japanese
during World War II.

 

The Japanese incarcerated all of the American prisoners from the 131st Field
Artillery (less E Battery) and the USS Houston together in the 10th
Battalion Bicycle Camp, a former Dutch installation in Batavia (Jakarta)
Java.  Battery E remained in the Soerabaja area until moved to Nagasaki and
other areas in Japan via Batavia and Singapore in Nov and Dec, 1942.  Thus,
two units (Army and Navy) of the American Armed Forces consisting of 902
men, disappeared from the face of the earth, seemingly sacrificed in
hopeless effort to save the Netherlands East Indies from overwhelming
numbers of the Japanese Army and Navy.

 

What was to become an unbelievable string of events which, for some, would
last for three and a half years and was to mold the Prisoners of War (POW)
of the 2nd Battalion 131st Field Artillery and the USS Houston together in a
bond closer than blood.  This Army and Navy group of POW suffered together
through 42 months of humiliation, degradation. physical and mental torture,
starvation, and horrible tropical diseases with no medications.  Many have
said the hardest part was watching friends die slowly, day by day, with the
survivors often thinking, fleetingly, that maybe they (the dead) were "the
lucky ones".

 

The men were brutally treated and  forced to work in hot steaming jungles
and the monsoon seasons of Burma chopping down trees, hand building road
beds and bridges, laying ties and rails with primitive tools in construction
of the now infamous "Burma-Siam Death Railway"  Some of the men were mining
coal and/or working on the docks in Japan while living in horrible
conditions without heat or sufficient cover during two Japanese winters,
where real starvation was a daily companion. 

 

Of the 902 men taken POW, 668 were sent to Burma and Thailand and worked on
the "Death Railway" (Bridge on River Kwai of historical fame).  Of the total
163 who died in POW camp, 133 died working on the railroad.  After
completion of the railroad, 236 of the men were disbursed to Japan and other
South East Asian countries to work in coal mines, shipyards, docks etc and a
few remained at "Bicycle Camp" in Java.

 

Moving from Java to Singapore by Japanese transport ship and then to Burma,
Thailand or Japan, the men were packed like cattle in the ship lower holds,
taking turns sitting, standing, squatting, or laying down while suffering
from sea sickness, dysentery, malaria and or other tropical diseases.  They
stood in their own or their neighbor's filth, because it was impossible or
not permitted by the Japanese to get to the ship side latrine on the main
deck. 

 

During the Japanese transport of the prisoners of war, many of the men were
killed by American submarines and American bombers attacking the Japanese
transport ships while they were en-route to Singapore and Japan..  When
liberated, the men were found to be scattered throughout many locations in
South East Asia, Java, Singapore, Burma, Thailand, French Indochina, Japan,
China and Manchuria, and other locations.

 

Since the Battalion had disappeared when the island of Java had surrendered,
no one knew where they were, the War Department knew nothing and nothing was
heard from them for 42 months.  

 

So each year since 1945, the survivors of the POW "Hell", along with their
families, meet each August to keep their "Bond of Brotherhood" strong and to
remember and pay honor to those who died in Prison Camps and the 575 who
have died since liberation and the 646 who died in action, in a futile
effort to save Java. 

 

 

Respectfully Submitted,

 

Dewey "Diehard" Dyer

North Texas Senior Ride Captain 

 

Mike "Gunner" Lambert

North Texas Ride Captain

 
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