In Memoriam

The following former Taiwan POWs and friends have passed away since our last newsletter.
We extend our sincerest sympathy to the families of these men and assure them that although they are no longer with us, they will  -  Never Be Forgotten!

ROBERT P. GARCIA
PVT., US ARMY
NOVEMBER 8, 2006

BALTAZAR M. APODACA
PFC., 515TH CAC, US ARMY
JANUARY 17, 2007

BOBBY T. BACON
PFC., US ARMY
JUNE 10, 2007

C. JOHN GREEN
SPR., ROYAL ENGINEERS
JULY 5, 2007

FERGUS McGHIE
GNR., 155TH FIELD REG’T. R.A.
AUGUST 25,  2007

JOHN MURRAY
GNR., 9TH COAST REG’T. R.A.
OCTOBER 27, 2007

SID DODDS
GNR.,5TH  S.L. REG'T. R.A.
NOVEMBER 21, 2007

ERIC CARTER
PTE., 1ST / 5TH SHERWOOD FORESTERS
NOVEMBER 22, 2007

also

MRS. JOAN SEED
November 1, 2007
- Widow of former Kinkaseki POW
Peter Seed (Died 1977)

“We Will Remember Them”

The passing of POW friends…

     Once again several of our very dear POW friends have left us in the past few months.

     Joan Seed, the wife of the Kinkaseki Camp doctor Peter Seed, passed away at home on November 1. Joan was a dear friend to all of the POWs, and especially to my wife Tina and me.  She came to Taiwan in 2000 and attended all the reunions in the UK as well. She was our guest for  the ceremony at Buckingham Palace when I received my MBE – representing the POWs’ wives and widows, and we have stayed in her home near Manchester. She was such an encouragement to me in the work and I will miss her very much.

(Cont’d on page 5)

TAIWAN POW MEMORIAL TREE . . .

     Sunday November 18, 2007 another memorial was dedicated in the Taiwan Prisoner of War Memorial Park on the site of the former Kinkaseki POW Camp.

     This time it was a “living” memorial – in the form of a Taiwan Green Maple tree which the Taipei County Government planted as part of the upgrade to the park in 2005.

     Over the past two years the tree has done well. It is healthy and has grown, and during that time it has survived several typhoons. Like the former POWs, it is standing straight and tall in the midst of adversity – the storms and the rain and the cold weather that characterize the village where the POWs slaved those many years ago. 

     This summer we decided to adopt the tree and dedicate it to all the POWs who were interned in the fifteen former Taiwan camps and their family members. This fall a plaque was designed and manufactured and just a few days before our annual Remembrance Week was scheduled to begin, the plaque was installed at the site.

On Sunday morning as the guests arrived they observed the tree with its plaque and surrounded by a garden filled with poppy crosses and artificial poppies. The dedication ceremony took place prior to the regular Remembrance Day service at 10:30am.

Pastor Diane Wong of the Church of the Good Shepherd (Anglican) in Taipei officiated at the dedication and asked everyone to hold out their hands together as if in blessing the tree while a prayer of dedication was read. Members of the Brant family placed a large poppy cross at the base of the tree in honour and memory of Harry Brant Sr. who passed away earlier this year.

It was a very moving but happy moment for everyone as now there is an official POW Memorial Tree here in Taiwan to match the one that the Society and friends planted and dedicated at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire UK in 2003. The memory of the POWs will live on through these two trees.

More photos on page 8