Abie

A package arrived today from Alexandria, Va., stamped "Official Business". After peeling it open, I realized that it was my grandfather's IDPF (Individual Deceased Personnel File) from the 1940's/50's, that I had requested through the Freedom of Information Act, with the help of Ted Darcy.

In it are documents pertaining to his remains and copies of government requests for his dental records. At some point, they had found the remains of three POW unknowns in a communal grave in 1949, but were unable to identify him without dental records. So far, all I can tell is that they "closed the case", declaring his remains "unrecoverable".

In the past, I had been in contact with a WWII veteran by the name of Abie Abraham. He was at the same POW camp that my grandfather was at and recorded everything that he could that happened there. The last time I spoke with him, he talked for a long time sharing his memories of the war. His story is fascinating and I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation - it was a complete privilege.

He also kept a log of all the soldiers who were murdered or who had died there. He knew that if the log was discovered by the Japanese guards he would without a doubt be killed, if not severely beaten or tortured. While there, he served on burial duty (where soldiers died and were buried en masse) and was personally asked by MacArthur himself to go back and dig up the bodies of POW's left behind and bring them back. An unimaginable nightmare. But he survived long enough to see (some) justice served. He was a key witness at Homma's trial shortly before he was executed.

Today, Abie volunteers at a VA hospital in Pennsylvania and occasionally sneaks in to spend time with the vets who are there and who are lonely and alone. He told me how important it was to them (the visits) and how he wished that more people were aware of what a difference it makes to these individuals and how he hoped more people would do the same.

An older generation of men and women - individuals who saw and experienced a lot and who were humble, helpful, friendly, kind and polite when they spoke with me. A totally different class of people. They are also a generation that is dying out, sadly enough.

Abie made a profound impact on me during the course of our long conversation and even sent me autographed copies of the books he had written, books written about the War in the Pacific, as well as videotape of himself, Yoggi Barra and Bob Hope. At one point, he even offered to call me back - in Germany.

He also told me that he would try to look through his old papers to see if he had anything on Hershel (he would more than likely have been the one person who would have submitted that information to the War Department). I wonder if his hand was in any of the paperwork that I am looking at...?