Posted on Jan 10, 2026
POW Witness: He Was Forced to Watch an Execution of U.S. Soldiers. 80 Years After WWII, His Story...
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Now, in the twilight of an extraordinary life, Benjamin Broadwell Hagans has emerged as an eyewitness to the savage executions of three U.S. soldiers on July 3, 1942. The 96-year-old retired firefighter’s still-vivid memory of the killings is providing solid clues to finding the remains of not only those soldiers but also those of Army Brig. Gen. Guy Fort, the highest-ranking American military officer executed by enemy forces in World War II.
The general and the three U.S. soldiers executed on July 3—Lt. Col. Robert Vesey, Capt. Albert Price, and 1st Sgt. John Chandler—are memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery. The tablets are inscribed with the names of 36,286 Americans who perished in the Pacific theater during the Second World War but have no known graves.
The general and the three U.S. soldiers executed on July 3—Lt. Col. Robert Vesey, Capt. Albert Price, and 1st Sgt. John Chandler—are memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery. The tablets are inscribed with the names of 36,286 Americans who perished in the Pacific theater during the Second World War but have no known graves.
POW Witness: He Was Forced to Watch an Execution of U.S. Soldiers. 80 Years After WWII, His Story...
Posted from thewarhorse.org
WWII World War Two
Death
Philippines
Japan
Edited 1 mo ago
Posted 1 mo ago
Responses: 4
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Lt Col Charlie Brown I remember reading about this somewhere, quite some time ago. Or rather, I will say I read a similar article because I cannot remember the narrative. I remember reading about the American Manila Cemetery. Was this event around the time of the Battle of Midway? @SPC Nancy Greene talks about her Uncle Eugene, a pilot, who died but was never found.
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Imagine carrying that around in your head for almost a century. I swear to God, how these folks came back and built a family, career, and America is simply a miracle. Awe inspiring at a level that words don't work for. I wish for peace, both personal for the Men and Women on RP who fought in every war mentioned...and their upstream relatives who fought in wars we only read about in History Books, and at the Human Level, I wish for Peace on the whole Planet.
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