Clarence M. "Cal" Graham                           a brief biography Born in rural Eastern Nebraska, April 1920, Attended Nebraska Univ. in 1939 - 1940 Enlisted in U.S. Army in July 1940, and was assigned to the horse-drawn Field Artillery at Ft. Riley, KS.  Transferred to Battery "G", 60th CA (AA) Ft. Mills Corregidor, Philippine Islands, March 1941. Battery G was moved to the Bataan Peninsula just north of Corregidor Island prior to the start of World War II.  The Philippines were bombed by the Japanese on the same day that Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was bombed.  We fought there on starvation rations, living partly off of what we could obtain from the jungle until Bataan was captured on April 9, 1942.   The night of the capture our Battery was returned to Corregidor to rejoin our 60th Battalion, where we continued the fight until the Philippines were captured, on May 6th 1942.  We, who had survived this far, were herded into the Corregidor 92nd garage area without food or water.  From there we were moved to Bilibid prison in Manila, then to Cabanatuan Prison Camp #1.  In this camp malnutrition, flies and disease took a heavy toll.  I worked on a detail in Leap then back to Cabanataun and this time camp #3.   From there, on the Hellship "Canadian Inventor" (Mate Mate Maru) to Fukuoku Camp #17, Omuta Japan where I worked until the end of the war. We were eyewitness to the explosion of the Atomic Bomb dropped on Nagasaki, which I tell about in detail in the book I have written and published entitled "Under The Samurai Sword". This book has been well received. It tells of many war atrocities in a light and casual way.  It is used in a few High School History classes and even in some Sunday Schools.  Mr. Tom Brokaw of NBC tells of my story in his second best seller book The Greatest Generation Speaks, pages 4 through 7.  Upon returning to the States after the war I married a girl, Doris Lueders, whom I had known in my high school years, attended the Nebraska Ag College on the GI Bill and obtained a job with the US Soil Conservation Service.  I worked for them for twenty-five years, retired and then worked for the Oregon State Parks as a park ranger.  My wife and I have been married for over 55 years, have four children, a son and three daughters and ten grandchildren.  I speak to school children about Freedom and what it has cost.  We have a wonderful country of which I am very proud. For more information on Clarence, see this website....http://www.us-japandialogueonpows.org/ Biographies Page     Main Page