IV 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 261 

Honoring and remembering on National Former POW Recognition Day and 

the 75th Anniversary of the Fall of Bataan on the Philippine Islands, 

the brave men and women who as prisoners of war gave their liberty 

to ensure ours, thus embodying the enduring spirit of American freedom 

and determination. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 6, 2017 

Mr. HUNTER (for himself, Mr. KINZINGER, Mr. KNIGHT, Mr. PETERS, Mr. 

ISSA, and Mr. JONES) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Honoring and remembering on National Former POW Recognition Day and the 75th Anniversary of the Fall of 

Bataan on the Philippine Islands, the brave men and 

women who as prisoners of war gave their liberty to 

ensure ours, thus embodying the enduring spirit of American freedom and determination. 

Whereas from the British prison ships floating in New York’s 

harbor to the Tiger Cages in North Vietnam, from the 

copper mines of Japan to the mine shafts of Berga, from 

Andersonville, Georgia, to Mukden, China, American 

service men and women have endured unimaginable cruelty and unspeakable treatment at the hands of their captors; 


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•HRES 261 IH 

Whereas American prisoners of war were stripped of their 

rights, their dignity, their health, and in many cases their 

lives; 

Whereas these servicemembers endured trials few of us can 

imagine and found courage in a darkness we will hopefully never experience; 

Whereas National Former POW Recognition Day was established to memorialize the surrender of 80,000 American 

and Filipino troops by General Edward P. King on April 

9, 1942, on the Bataan Peninsula that led to the infamous Bataan Death March and nearly four years of brutal imprisonment and slave labor for the survivors; 

Whereas, by May 10, 1942, over 11,500 Americans and Filipinos surrendered on Corregidor, a fortress island in Manila Bay, and at various bases in the Southern Philippine 

Islands turning the fall of the Philippines into the largest 

surrender in United States military history; 

Whereas over 26,000 American POWs were ultimately held 

by Imperial Japan, with an estimated mortality rate of 

40 percent, of which nearly one-third of these deaths on 

‘‘hell ships’’ carrying them to Japan for slave labor in 

Japanese companies; 

Whereas the productive peace between the United States and 

Japan has produced a model of reconciliation between 

former combatants; 

Whereas the Government of Japan in 2009 offered an apology to the United States POWs for their ‘‘damage and 

suffering’’ under Imperial Japan, and in 2010 established 

a program for former POWs and their families to visit 

Japan and their former POW camps; and 


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•HRES 261 IH 

Whereas the participants encourage the Government of 

Japan to partner with its national companies to turn this 

successful program into an international model of reconciliation and a permanent fund to support projects for 

remembrance, documentation, education, and exchange: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) appreciates the recent efforts by the Gov3 ernment of Japan toward a historic apology for Im4 perial Japan’s maltreatment of United States pris5 oners of war; and 

6 (2) asks the Department of State to work with 

7 the Government of Japan and representatives of the 

8 United States POWs to memorialize this historic 

9 75th Anniversary of the Fall of Bataan by crafting 

10 a formal agreement establishing a permanent future 

11 fund to understand, preserve, and teach the history 

12 of the United States POW experience with Japan. 

Æ 


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