Fleet Waiting Room in Olongapo 1941
A Face and Story about a Service Member who was stationed in Subic Bay in 1941! He suffered the cruelty of being a POW in the hands of the Imperial Japanese.
Ze882. Army Lt Chester K. Britt in front of the Fleet Waiting Room in Olongapo 1941. This picture is from his family via John Duresky. Mr. Britt was assigned to Fort Wint and was perhaps waiting for transportation back to his fort on Grande Island.
From Karl. When I first arrived in Subic Bay 1962 with my ship the USS Belle Grove LSD-2 (The Two Can Do), with 11 ships in my Amphibious Squadron Seven (7) out of Long Beach CA we had to anchor out, not enough pier spaces then.
John Duresky sent me the picture and the information about this Gentleman.
Good Morning Karl (I am writing from Arizona), Dec. 9, 2019
I wrote to you back in October, so just a quick summary, I am writing a book with a friend of mine, Lt Col David Britt, USAF (Ret). His father, Army Lt Chester K Britt, was one of 1,619 POWs that were on the Oryoku Maru. Lt Britt was first assigned to Fort Wint on Grande Island in 1940, then when it was abandoned on about December 24, 1941, he fought on Bataan, was on the Bataan Death March, then spent the next 2-1/2 years at Camp O’Donnell, Cabanatuan, Davao Penal Colony, and Bilibid Prison which he left at the end to board the Oryoku Maru. He survived the Oryoku Maru, then the Enoura Maru, then the Brazil Maru, then 3 months at Fukuoka POW Camp #3, then almost 4 months at the POW camp in Mukden Manchuria. He was freed on August 16, 1945. He died in 1953 due to health problems from his time as a POW. When he died my friend was only four years old
The book will be about his life, and the lives of those around him, some of whom survived the war, some who didn’t.
This is Lt Britt’s memorial page from West Point. He graduated on June 11, 1940.
https://www.westpointaog.org/memorial-article?id=73a5cf7f-479b-48de-baa0-c2214732cc7a
From Karl: I copied it here!
Chester Kieser Britt, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Archie R. Britt, was born in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, on June 13. 1915, and lived as a boy and young man in nearby La Crosse, Wisconsin. Since he was the eldest child in the family, he was looked upon by his brothers and sisters as being the leader who would set the example they too should follow. Memory brings back those years when as a boy he took the younger ones to school smoothing the path for their first venture into a new way of life, although many times he was undoubtedly equally as unsure as they. Later as they grew older, he taught them to make pumpkin faces, or fashion Easter baskets, build igloos in the wintertime, and the numerous other playthings that are so absorbing to children. He was a lad upon whom his parents could depend; and, as a “big brother” and son, he was dearly loved and respected.
As a young boy, “Chet” was active in scouting and loved to bring his friends home to do scout work, sometimes studying, to earn merit badges or constructing bows and arrows. During these years he became interested in playing the bugle and consistently won city-wide contests that sent him to scout camp for entire summers as camp bugler. Swimming, skiing, skating, fishing, and basketball were his primary interests in sports.
Later he became interested in aviation and model airplanes and won city contests. This spurred him on to try gliders; and one summer with the help of his friends, he built a full-scale glider and planned to actually fly it off the top of “Grandad’s Bluff” His father put a stop to this when he decided it was too dangerous, and the flight was never carried through. The prizes Chet won in his various endeavors were not his incentive, however. It was rather his desire for perfection in all his ventures that won for him first place in so many things, and this conscientiousness was a part of his character.
In high school he achieved very high grades, graduating as an honor student. He then attended State Teachers College in La Crosse, pledging Kappa Delta Pi, National Honorary Fraternity. It was during this period that he received a Congressional appointment to the Academy at West Point. Upon his graduation in 1940 he married his high school sweetheart, Miss Grace Runice, and together they went to Fort Monroe, Virginia, for a brief tour of duty before proceeding to the Philippine Islands, where Chet served in the Coast Artillery.
The ensuing war years are well known to all. Chet, holder of the Silver Star, was on Bataan when it fell and was subsequently a prisoner of war of the Japanese for three and a half years. Although only four Red Cross form cards were received from him in that entire time, his family never gave up hope of his safe return. The prayers of many people, some of whom were strangers but who had heard about him, and the dream of returning to his family helped to give him strength to endure those long years and enabled him to return home in 1945 after the Japanese surrender.
Homecoming was made even happier by meeting for the first time his little son, Chester, Jr., who was born in 1941. After Chet had regained his strength, he and Grace, and their son returned to duty at Fort Bliss, Texas. A few years of happiness followed during which time two more sons, Donald and David, were born to them. But the long years of maltreatment as a prisoner of war were to take their toll, and in 1949 a stroke partially paralyzing him, forced his retirement from the Army. At this time he held the rank of Major. He and his family returned to La Crosse to live, and there he spent the remaining years of his life.
In July 1953 this courageous man, whose life had been religiously and ideally lived, was called from this world. Now, when in Chapel we stand and sing America with the Christian flag and the American flag side by side, the words the minister used in describing Chet’s life come back again:
“He truly loved and served his God and his Country.”