ARTICLES & STORIES

SPEECH BY LAURENCE MITCHELL III, CHIEF, LIAISON AFFAIRS SECTION, A.I.T. JUNE 19, 2005 TAIPEI, TAIWAN

FRIENDS,

     WE ARE GATHERED TOGETHER AT THIS SPOT TO REMEMBER AND TO REFLECT UPON THE LIVES OF FOURTEEN AMERICANS WHO PERISHED HERE SIXTY YEARS AGO—SIXTY YEARS AGO ON THIS DAY.

     IT IS NOT OUR PURPOSE TO DEMEAN THIS OCCASION BY CONDEMNING THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ACTIONS THAT RESULTED IN THE UNLAWFUL EXECUTION OF THESE MEN. RATHER, WE ARE HERE TO CELEBRATE THE LIVES OF THE FOURTEEN AND TO HONOR THE ROLES THEY PLAYED IN DEFENDING OUR NATION AND IN SPREADING THE CAUSE OF FREEDOM. IN HONORING THESE FOURTEEN, WE ALSO HONOR ALL...

"FAMILY MEMBERS HONOUR DEAD AIRMEN" - TAIWAN NEWS - 2005-06-20 / Associated Press

Friends and relatives of 14 American airmen captured and executed by Japanese forces in Taiwan near the end of World War II gathered to honor them yesterday at the site of a notorious Japanese prison where they spent the final months of their lives.

Retiree Charles Parker of Gainesville, Florida, came to the event to commemorate his brother John and 13 other airmen who were executed by a firing squad on June 19, 1945, when the island was a Japanese colony. "It's a very tough thing for me to do but it's necessary," Parker said.

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DEDICATION OF THE AMERICAN AIRMEN’S MEMORIAL - JUNE 20th 2009

     On Saturday June 20th 2009, a memorial dedication service was held    at the site of the former Taipei Prison to honour and remember the 25 American airmen who were captured by the Japanese when their aircraft crashed or were shot down over Taiwan in the fall of 1944 and the spring of 1945.

     These men were not considered to be POWs but rather 'war criminals' and as such were held in the old Taihoku (Taipei) Prison, often in solitary confinement. They were starved and beaten and suffered great hardships. On May...

COMMEMORATING THE 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MURDER OF THE AMERICAN AIRMEN AT THE TAIHOKU PRISON - 2015

     Early on the morning of June 19th 1945 – 14 young American airmen were led out of their cells in the infamous Taihoku Prison and ushered into a small courtyard. There, they were lined up against a wall and shot to death by a Japanese Army firing squad. Their crime - doing their duty for their country and freedom!

Taihoku Prison - scene of the POW murders

     These young men - ranging in ages from 19 – 24, were US Army Air Force and US Navy fighter pilots and bomber...

MEMORIAL SERVICE AT THE OLD TAIPEI PRISON WALL - JUNE 13th 2020

     2020 was the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II and also that of the needless murder by the Japanese of 14 American airmen who were being held inside the walls of the Taihoku (Taipei) Prison. In all 25 airmen who had been shot down or crashed during allied air attacks on the island from October 1944 to May 1945 were held in the infamous jail.

     On May 29th 1945, 14 of them were taken before a Japanese War Tribunal, accused of 'indescriminate bombing' and with no defense, were...

TAIWAN POW CAMPS MEMORIAL SOCIETY COMMEMORATES POW EVACUATION

     During World War II, more than 4,350 British Commonwealth, American, and Dutch POWs spent time in Japanese prisoner of war camps on Taiwan. Some stayed only a few months before being moved to other camps in Japan or elsewhere; while others were on Taiwan for the duration of the war.

     On September 5th, 1945 - three weeks after the Japanese surrendered on August 14th, Allied ships began evacuating approximately 1,300 POWs that had survived the war in Taiwan. It took four days for the US and British Royal Navy to evacuate...

TAIWAN CELEBRATES ITS FIRST FEPOW DAY

     FEPOW (Far East Prisoner of War) Day was first conceived in 2007 in the UK and is a concerted drive to have August 15th designated as a day to especially remember all those – military and civilians, who suffered imprisonment by the Japanese during World War II. The movement is spreading worldwide and for the first time ever in 2008 the event was celebrated in Taiwan.

     Organized by the Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society and co-sponsored by the Department of Cultural Affairs of the Taipei City Government, the event was held at...

75th ANNIVERSARY END OF WW II FEPOW DAY AUGUST 15th 2020

     This year was the 13th time that FEPOW Day has been celebrated here in Taiwan. Once again we met at the   Spot Theatre - # 18, Zhongshan North Road Sec. 2 in downtown Taipei, on Saturday August 15th.

      Being the 75th Anniversary of VJ Day and the end of World War II, we expanded the day’s program to include two seminars relating to Taiwan in World War II, and these took place in the afternoon.

      The first was a special guest presentation on the bombing of Taiwan and...