WWII vet tells of 42 months as Japanese POW

WWII vet tells of 42 months as Japanese POW

By Amy C. Rippel, Correspondent
January 8, 2012

MINNEOLA — After spending a horrific 42 months as a Japanese prisoner of war during World War II, wasting away to nearly 90 pounds and being beaten within an inch of his life, you'd think Lee Wilson would have jumped at the chance to get his honorable discharge from the Navy and move on with his life.

But that simply wasn't Wilson's style. Instead, he returned his hometown in Kentucky, married his sweetheart and returned to duty. Today, Wilson and his wife Glenda, married for 65 years, have been enjoying their retirement in Minneola. With the most recent Veteran's Day fresh in mind, Wilson recalled his years of service, the horrors of being a prisoner of war and the joy of being reunited with his love. Despite his years in a prison camp, Wilson remains fervently patriotic.

"I'd do it all again for my country," said Wilson, 90.

Wilson was just 18 when he enlisted in the Navy. Even today, as aging and illness encroaches, Wilson can recall those years like they were yesterday. So poignant, his daughter-in-law Patricia Berg Wilson recorded them as a cherished family record.

"To know Lee Wilson is to know a true patriot," Patricia Berg Wilson wrote in her father-in-law's memoirs. "He is a proud American, yet a humble servant of God. For he knows that without his faith, he could have never been able to endure and survive the horrors of being a prisoner of war in a Japanese camp in WWII."
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