Japanese POW's

• During the War in the Pacific, many allied forces were taken as Japanese prisoners of war (POWs).

• More than 60 companies used POWs for hard labor in factories and mines and bribery.

• Most of the POW camps were located in either the Philippines, Japan, or any other islands the Japanese had conquered.

•"Of the 27,000 Americans taken prisoner by the Japanese, a shocking 40 percent died in captivity, according to the U.S. Congressional Research Service. That compares with just one percent of American prisoners who died in German POW camps, (Kirk Spitzer, The U.S. POWs Still Waiting For an Apology From Japan)."

• The treatment of the POWs was horrible. They were starved, beaten, and tortured for information about the Allied Forces next step.

• Many POWs were killed when the Allied forces were on their way to liberate them.

• Those who did survive were scarred for the rest of their lives.

• The Allied POW's were freed from their camps after Japan surrendered. Here is the terms of surrender regarding those POW's. "We hereby command the Japanese Imperial Government and the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters at once to liberate all allied prisoners of war and civilian internees now under Japanese control and to provide for their protection, care, maintenance and immediate transportation to places as directed, (Formal Surrender)."