By Melissa Darcey

World War II was one of the most devastating global events, involving most of the world’s nations. The more the war progressed, the more intricate the web of countries involved became. This year is the 70th anniversary of Germany’s invasion of Poland, and the start of the war.
Between 1939 and 1945, tens of millions of people would die, millions would be wounded, and hundreds of thousands would become prisoners of war (POWs). After the war, many soldiers endured Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), nightmares and devastating memories. Many will never forget what it means kill someone and to use weapons of mass destruction. Between 1939 and 1945, tens of millions of people would die, millions would be wounded, and hundreds of thousands would become prisoners of war (POWs). After the war, many soldiers endured Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), nightmares and devastating memories. Many will never forget what it means kill someone and to use weapons of mass destruction.

One then can only imagine what a POW endures, both during and after their time as a captive. Just between 1942 and1945 the number of POWs that were transported and captured by the Japanese alone exceeded 125,000 on a total of 134 ships representing 156 voyages.

One of thoe survivors is Jim Kerns, a 94-year-old San Marcos resident who remembers the ever-impending fear of death and the loss of feeling like a human being.

As the WWII veteran and POW survivor explains, being a prisoner of war is to know hunger, experience cold, fear and anger and to “suffer the agony of rehabilitation in a completely changed world from the one you left over four years ago.”

Looking back almost 70 years ago, Kerns recounts his time overseas when, as a sergeant in the Marine Corps, he was captured by the Japanese. He spent almost four years as a POW on the island of Corregidor.

Kerns smiles as he describes himself as a farm boy from Montana, born in 1914 on the Flathead Indian Reservation. He spent his first 25 years in what is known as The Treasure State.  Kerns was in his late teens when the Depression hit. “I was just trying to keep my tummy full with food. I went to college from 1931 to 1933, in the heart of the Depression, at the University of Montana. The total fees, for tuition and all expenses, was $550 for a school year.”

Kerns eventually moved to California, working for the Veterans Commission in Los Angeles. In February 1941, a letter would change his life. “I received a notice from Uncle Sam, saying to report for duty with the Marine Corps in San Diego. It was a complete surprise because the war was in Europe, not the United States.”  Within two months, Kerns found himself on a boat to China. He was in the 4th Regiment, to be stationed in Shanghai, China. He was one of two reserves in the 4th Regiment, unusual because the rest of the men had been trained. “It was embarrassing. I had never even gone to boot camp.”

Kerns’ outlook on going off to war was also different within his regiment. “Most of them were kids, 18 or 19 years old. They weren’t even thinking about what they were doing. They were just happy to get out of boot camp. They were gung ho to get out and do something. They thought they were going to the Pacific, the peaceful area, not Europe. But some of us who were older knew trouble was brewing and that things would get worse.”

Kerns first felt thankful to be in Shanghai. “It was the best duty a Marine could ask for…until November 1941 when our regiment was evacuated to the Philippines, which at the time was under U.S. control.” That December, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, which Kerns declares “changed the world forever.” The United States’ involvement began.

Soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Kerns and other men “found out suddenly how poorly equipped and prepared we were for the war, psychologically and physically.” And they discovered that the Philippines was not as desirable a location as they thought it would be. “Here we’d thought it’d be a beautiful situation because there were so many American troops there, but it turned out they weren’t ready for combat. The Japanese were better equipped for fighting. The American troops found themselves overwhelmed.”

Things only worsened for the regiment when it was on the Bataan Peninsula. The men had to burn all their personal belongings so the Japanese wouldn’t get ahold of it. They were left with nothing but the basics. “It was the first big shock,” Kerns explains.

On Dec. 26, 1941, Kerns and the other men moved from the Bataan Peninsula to Corregidor, an island in Manila Bay. “There was an army fort that had been there since World War I days, with heavy artillery, 16-inch mortars, and 12-inch rifles. We were told to take the barracks the army had left.” The men remained there, waiting for news, but instead heard only the jarring sounds of sirens.

“One afternoon, we heard sirens go off, and for an hour and a half, we were in involved in bombings. I was in a room with about 30 men or so, and I remember at one point a dud fell in the room next to us. If that bomb had gone off we would have been killed,” Kerns said.

He and the other men then were assigned to beach defense. For the next five months, until May 6, 1942, the men dealt with bombs and shelling almost every day. “We lived like gophers, digging holes, peeking out and then ducking down. A lot of men died,” he said.

On May 6, 1942, the Japanese made their first attempt to land on Corregidor. “On our side of the island we could only hear shelling. We didn’t realize the Japanese were landing. The next morning, we were told to pile all of our guns and surrender and put a white flag up. The war for us had ended.”

Meanwhile, what became known as the Bataan Death March began. Those on the Bataan Peninsula surrendered on April 9, and 75,000 Americans and Filipinos marched the 60 miles from the peninsula to prison camps. Many didn’t survive.“The Japanese took everyone as prisoners; the ones who didn’t get away marched in the death march.”

Once captured, the Japanese went through a process of stripping the men of everything they had left. “They left us with our mess kits and the clothing we had on, and that was it.”

Kerns still remembers the emotions of fear and helplessness he felt when captured. “It’s hard to describe the feeling. You’re so helpless. You actually lose the feeling of being a human being.”

After their belongings were seized, the men were put into prison camps. Kerns’ first camp was Bilibid Prison, a state prison the Japanese had turned into a prison camp. There were no sanitary systems and hardly any food.

“The only salvation was the Japanese taking hundreds of us out on work parties to Corregidor. The men were allowed to bring back food we could find,” he said. Since only so many men at a time could go out on a work party, the buddy system was vital, Kerns said. “I would work and another would stay, and we’d switch off. It made it possible for prisoners to survive for the three and a half years we were there for.”

In order to be one of the 1,500 taken out on a work party, the men had to wake up early enough to get in line. “Your whole life is based on survival,” Kerns said about that time. It was his lifestyle for months, until Kerns was taken to a new prison camp on the docks, Camp #13 – Port Area Detail – where he would be for the next two years.

In August 1944, the camp was to be disbanded, with most of the prisoners being shipped to Japan, including Kerns. “When we got to Japan, we had to march through a city, and we smelled so much people moved away from us.”

Kerns worked in a mine, 12 hours a day, for over a year. The war would end on Aug. 15, 1945, but Kerns would not be released until Sept. 6. “They didn’t find our prison camp for weeks. I remember when we saw an American plane fly by for the first time in years. All these parachutes with food barrels were coming down, and the men ran for them right away.”

He remembers how incredible it felt to eat large amounts of food again. “We ate a lot. Our stomachs were so small, it was hard to eat a lot, but we wanted to keep eating. I remember eating bread and jam for the first time again, which was so wonderful.” Not only was the food wonderful, but so were the men on the boats they sailed home on. “The men were so nice to us, and it was incredible arriving home again.”

After nearly four years in the depths of terror, agony and uncertainty, Kerns had made it home. He would go on to receive several medals and recognitions for his time spent in the prison camps.

Even thought it is more than 60 years later, Kerns still recalls the sharp pangs of hunger, the feeling of helplessness when stripped of his precious belongings and the deepest levels of fear one may ever experience.

But he also recalls the salvation of finally making it home, back into the arms of his mother and to begin life in America anew.