Join Us On Veterans/Remembrance Day Sunday November 11th Here In Ubon

[American Legion Post TH01]

It is also to honor Little Mother Ubon who aided prisoners of war in a interment camp here in Ubon Ratchaithani. We will be participating in a wreath laying ceremony.

About Little Mother Ubon

 

In 1945, some residents of Ubon Ratchathani (Ubon) risked their lives to help exhausted & sick Allied prisoners of war.  After the war, some of the ex-prisoners paid to build the Monument of Merit to thank Ubon people for their humanity & kindness.

The Japanese army used Allied & Asian prisoners to build the terrible “Death Railway” which ran from Thailand to Burma (‘Bridge on the River Kwai’ movie).  The food was so bad and the work was so hard that many of the prisoners died.

Most of the prisoners who perished were Asian, about 90,000; however, nobody knows the exact number.  The Japanese used whole Tamil-Indian families from Malaysia to work on the Death Railway.  Many of the Asian prisoners also came from China and Myanmar (Burma).  Many of those were worked & died were women and children.

Approximately 16,000 of the 60,000 Western prisoners who worked on the Death Railway died while in internment.  Those western prisoners who perished include 6,318 from Britain; 2,815 from Australia; 2,490 from Holland; and 4,377 from the USA.  Many other prisoners died later from illnesses contracted during their imprisonment.  The deaths were not accidents!  As the railroad needed to be built fast, the prisoners worked without adequate food, rest, or medical care.  They worked until they dropped.  New slaves replaced the dead.

 

The Japanese army brought the last of the Allied prisoners in Thailand to Ubon. The guards threatened the local Ubon people not to give aid to the prisoners, but many Thais bravely tried to help when they could.  Survivors told about one Thai woman and her daughter, ‘Little Mother Ubon.’  Even though the prisoners were strangers, Mother Ubon and her daughter repeatedly came to the camp to give fruit to the starving men.  This showed great bravery and compassion,

A Thai officer fighting with the allies marched into Ubon in 1945 & finally freed the prisoners.

Flier from the organizers of the ceremony.

Download Flier: Remembrance Day 2018.pdf

Google map: https://goo.gl/maps/ubKZFuSsjN82  GPS: 15.230841, 104.858398

[Jiggo]

Respects......

[CALSinCM]

"The American Legion was chartered and incorporated by Congress in 1919 as a patriotic veterans organization devoted to mutual helpfulness. It is the nation’s largest wartime veterans service organization"

And as such they completely ignore those of us who served our country faithfully during the limited periods of time that the US was not at war.  Ask the US government the status of US vets who served between the Vietnam War and the First Gulf War.  "Thank you for your service! Now go away."  Other than that?  We're not even considered to be 'real' veterans.  More like Cold War vets who aren't 'really' vets.  I'll bet you Russia treats their Cold War vets with more respect.

[Burma Bill]

I wish you a very successful and poignant Remembrance Day in Ubon. This coming Sunday (11th November) I shall be attending the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance at the Foreign Cemetery in Chiang Mai. The UK and US Consuls usually attend along with US Veterans who hold their own ceremony afterwards. 

[roo860]

I wish you a very successful and poignant Remembrance Day in Ubon. This coming Sunday (11th November) I shall be attending the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance at the Foreign Cemetery in Chiang Mai. The UK and US Consuls usually attend along with US Veterans who hold their own ceremony afterwards. 

I'll be there!
[emoji106]

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[American Legion Post TH01]

16 hours ago, CALSinCM said:

And as such they completely ignore those of us who served our country faithfully during the limited periods of time that the US was not at war.  Ask the US government the status of US vets who served between the Vietnam War and the First Gulf War. 

That may well change soon dependent upon the US congress allowing a change to the charter.

The executive committee of the AL recently approved 2 resolutions to request congress to change it to where anybody that has served in the US military is eligible for membership. 

[Oztruckie]

I'll be attending Armistice Day service at Anzac Bar in Pattaya, big Chris does a great little service there every year, along with the Anzac Day service in April every year.