Page 10 - Desert Lightning News October 2015

10 October 2, 2015 Desert Lightning News

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Malcolm Johnson, civilian Prisoner of War

Airman 1st Class Mya M. Crosby

355th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

TUSCON, Ariz., -- Ninety-four- (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Chris Massey)
year-old Malcolm “Mickey” John-
son sits in his wheelchair wearing a Malcolm Johnson, World War II veteran and former prisoner of war, shares stories of being interned during World War II with U.S. Air Force Airman
maroon baseball cap with the words 1st Class Mya Crosby, 355th Fighter Wing Public Affairs photojournalist, at the Tucson Veterans Center in Tucson, Ariz., Aug. 18, 2015. Johnson was
“Survivors of Wake Guam-Cavite” a civilian contractor when he was captured in December 1941, then put into internment camps throughout China and Japan for nearly four years.
written in light blue letters. Johnson’s
step-son and daughter-in-law sit at- same, but some men never got the “One of the camps in China had previous injuries, Johnson’s weight
tentively while he talks about his ex- chance to send messages.” an electric fence around it and two was at an unhealthy level.
perience as a civilian prisoner of war. men were trying to escape but got
The prisoners also faced challeng- tangled up in it,” Johnson said. “One “I got down to 107 pounds at one
In April of 1941, Johnson was 19 es while trying to acquire their mail. of them was killed and the other had time,” Johnson said. “It seemed like
years old when he traveled from his his shoes burned off. That put an after the first couple of months, I was
hometown of Spokane, Washington “If you went to get your mail end to (the escape attempts).” losing pounds, but after that, I start-
to Wake Island as a civilian contrac- from the interpreter, we called him ed gaining a little bit (back). I was in
tor. Later that year in December, ‘Beast of the East’ because he was so Amid all of their hardships, mal- good shape when the war ended. I
Johnson volunteered to fight along- mean, you had to salute him or else nutrition was just another to add to may have weighed 145 pounds.”
side U.S. Marines against heavy you wouldn’t get your mail,” John- the list.
Japanese forces during the Battle of son said. “He wasn’t even a Japanese Nearly four years after his capture,
Wake Island. Army officer, he was a civilian.” “We walked through Chinese vil- Johnson was finally released. He re-
lages to get to work, (and the villag- flected on his long journey back to
“The final battle (lasted) nine For some of those imprisoned, ers there) used human waste to make the U.S., making stops in places like
hours,” said Johnson. “Wake Is- there was only one way to end the their crops grow,” Johnson said. Tokyo, Okinawa and Canada before
land had been bombed for 16 days maltreatment from their captors. “Some of our guys would jump out of finally arriving to his hometown.
already and about 300 civilians the line and grab a head of cabbage
with different jobs volunteered to “I knew men that escaped,” John- and eat it. They didn’t care if it was “Spokane felt like a whole new
fight with the Marines. Then about son said. “(There were) maybe about dirty or not, you’d eat anything.” world,” Johnson said.
1,155 of us got captured. We were four or five of them.
from all trades, civilians, enlisted, Johnson said food was so high On January 29, 1947, Johnson
officers...everything.” Several of them tried, both ser- value that the other prisoners would received a Bronze Star medal with
vicemen and civilians, (but) they got gamble using their rations. Valor from the commanding officer
Although his memory is fuzzy caught, and of course, we didn’t see of the Spokane Naval Supply Depot.
about his capture, Johnson remem- them anymore.” Due to the living conditions, in-
bered being wounded by bayonet cluding the scarce amount of meat Now a grandfather of 15, the ci-
and gunfire. To Johnson, it seemed like the distributed to prisoners, and his vilian Bronze Star recipient resides
escapes ended in failure more often in Kearny, Arizona.
Johnson was in Japan for a short than not.
time before being sent to an intern-
ment camp in Shanghai. He would
spend the next 44 months in Japa-
nese controlled camps throughout
China and Japan.

For the first two years of his captiv-
ity, Johnson was limited to light labor
such as floor sweeping due to the se-
verity of his wounds. Once Johnson
recovered, he was able to move on to
more physically demanding work.

Though they worked long hours,
the prisoners found ways to enjoy
themselves. Johnson recalls play-
ing softball games, card games, and
even gambling.

Johnson was able to write his
first letter home May 30, 1942, five
months after being captured.

“It took about six months for a
message to get home,” Johnson said.
“At one point, we were (only) allowed
to write 25 words. I got to write about
20 messages and I received about the