For thirty-one months,
his suffering by hostile
forces, barbaric:
The Bataan Death March
Cabanatuan Prison
Arisan Maru
His last written words,
“There is still beauty in a
sunrise,” echo yet…
His mother had prayed
her "Bodie" would see freedom;
he did ... in God’s arms…
Memorial Day:
A day to never forget
the price of freedom...
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A Tribute to Heroes
Contest Winner
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Author Notes
Sargeant William A. Kenel, U. S. Army Air Corps, was among the 12,000 American soldiers who were surrendered to the Japanese at the tip of the Bataan Peninsula on April 9, 1942 during World War II. He survived the infamous Bataan Death March where over 1,000 soldiers perished during the nine day, 55 mile long trek, and the brutality of Cabanatuan Prison. On October 11,1944, he, along with 1774 other prisoners was crammed, at bayonet point, into the cargo hold of an unmarked Japanese "Hell " ship, the Arisan Maru, that sailed from Manila, Philippine Islands to the Japanese mainland. On October 24, 1944, the vessel was sunk by the American submarine, the U.S.S. Snook in the South China Sea. The captain of that ship committed suicide when he learned that his torpedoes had killed over 1500 men who had been chained in the cargo hold of the Japanese ship. For his valor, my uncle was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously. He had been a prisoner of war for thirty-one months. He was twenty-four years old when he perished.
My father was a man of quiet strength and dignity. By his very nature, he was a man of few words. Never was this more true than when someone brought up his brother, Bill. My father had great difficulty speaking of his younger brother, "Bodie;" his passing left a tremendous gaping hole in the heart of my father's family. Yet, years later, when I was a teenager, my father welcomed into our family a Japanese exchange student because as Dad said, "It's time that we all heal."
That in itself is the triumph and legacy of my uncle's life...and perhaps, my father's as well...
The quote by my uncle, "There is still beauty in a sunrise," served a dual purpose: my father's family not only knew that "Bodie" was still alive, but that he could still see... Letters home were so scarce, and there were only certain things the POWs could write. That quote by my uncle has always moved me...
Oh...and one more thing: our Japanese exchange student's father was a guard at the Japanese Emperor's palace during WWII.
Please Note:
William = two syllables: Wil/liam pronounced Will-yuhm
beloved = three syllables: be/love/ed
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