Veterans Hold Rally Outside San Diego Mitsubishi; Request Company Apology For Enslavement of American POWs During WWII

               Former Mitsubishi Slave Laborers Deliver Letter
                    And American Flag to Dealership Owner

    SAN DIEGO, Aug. 31 The fifty years since the United States
signed a peace treaty with Japan in San Francisco have been difficult for a
forgotten group of American veterans who were Prisoners of War of the
Japanese.  These American veterans, who were captured by the Japanese and
forced into slave labor for private Japanese companies, including Mitsubishi,
are still seeking recognition for the suffering they endured as slave laborers
for private companies during WWII.
    Today, as part of their effort to gain justice, the ex-POWs, with fellow
veterans and supporters, delivered a letter to the owner of the San Diego
Mitsubishi dealership requesting that he ask his company to apologize to the
veterans who suffered at its hands during WWII.  Former slave laborers Dr.
Lester Tenney, Woodrow Hutchison, and George "Ed" Cobb spoke to a gathered
group of veterans before Mr. Hutchison and Mr. Cobb, both former Mitsubishi
slave laborers, walked up to the Mitsubishi dealership to present the letter
of request and a flag that had been flown over the United States Capitol
building to honor these veterans.
    These ex-POWs believe that support from dealers in the United States will
have a powerful impact in convincing the company, which does billions of
dollars in business in the United States, to honor the American veterans.
    Dr. Lester Tenney, veteran and former Mitsui slave laborer: "This
gathering is not against the Japanese as a Nation, or against the people of
Japan.  This is our way of asking those American business people who deal
directly with the manufacturers of Japanese products such as automobiles,
especially Mitsubishi, to join us in our effort calling for an apology by the
responsible Japanese companies, for enslaving POWs to work for Mitsubishi and
other industrial giants."
    For George "Ed" Cobb, the lack of an apology is extremely upsetting:  "To
me, it's just like being slapped in the face.  Right from the beginning, after
WWII ended, these companies never apologized to any of the POWS for the
atrocities and the conditions that we had to live under.  They were not
humane; there was lack of medicine, lack of food, lack of proper clothing for
the prisoners."
    As difficult as the struggle against the Japanese companies has been, the
veterans feel most betrayed by their own government.  While the United States
government helped to facilitate apologies and compensation for victims of WWII
slave labor in Europe, it has been working with these Japanese companies to
oppose the efforts of these veterans.  Our government has based its opposition
on the 1951 Treaty with Japan.  There are many who disagree with this
interpretation.  In fact, congressional support for the plight of these
veterans has been strong and sustained.  There are currently three bills (HR
1198, S 1154, and S 1272) that support the efforts of these ex-POWs.
    Woodrow Hutchison, former Mitsubishi slave laborer, is frustrated by the
long struggle: "I don't like thinking about what we endured as slave laborers.
We are proud American veterans, and we should be treated with the dignity and
respect we deserve."

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