Remembering Bataan Death March Survivor Ralph Knox

Ralph M. Knox of Williamston lived to tell a story of American bravery in the face of amazing horror.

Knox was a survivor of the Bataan Death March in World War Two.

Last night, Knox fell victim to another horror. He died in the wet and near-freezing cold.

Knox had gone to the store, and before he could get into his home, he apparently fell and was unable to get up. He was wearing only a light windbreaker.

Neighbors thought they heard someone calling for help, but they couldn't see anything.

Knox's body was discovered about 7 o'clock this morning. The Anderson County Coroner says Knox apparently died of hypothermia.

Ralph Knox was 86 years old.

His passing is a call to us to remember what he and tens of thousands of other Americans endured in World War Two.

In April 1942, after a battle lasting three months, the Japanese Army was victorious in the Philippines. Approximately 75,000 American and Filipino troops surrendered and were forced to march in tropical heat, with no food or water, to prison camps. The march covered 60 miles (for perspective, that is the approximate distance between Spartanburg and Greenwood). As many as two in seven prisoners died, and in the most brutal ways. They were beheaded, bayoneted, run over by trucks. If a prisoner fell, he was killed. If a prisoner helped a fellow prisoner or complained, he was killed.

The march lasted a week.

One of the 54,000 survivors was 19-year-old Ralph Knox, a B-17 crew chief.

He would end up in Japan and spend 40 months doing slave labor.

His prisoner identification number was 2064.

He wrote a book, "The Emperor's Angry Guest." It details the terrible treatment prisoners suffered at the hands of the Japanese. He also criticizes the United States government for not helping former POWs get compensation for their slave labor.

We are losing our World War Two veterans at an alarming rate, an estimated 1000 per day. They are a source of national pride, and it is saddening to see them leave us.

It is especially saddening to think of a veteran (or anyone else) dying alone, in the dark and cold.

After what he endured for the sake of our country (you and me), Ralph Knox deserved much more peaceful end.

Each of us should read his book. He had a lot to say, and after what he went through, the least we can do is listen.