"Clarence Bramley is a remarkable man," writes author William T. Garner. "He has seen and been a victim of some of the most heinous behavior witnessed in modern times. Yet, his objectivity and his faith have not diminished. Indeed, the opposite is true."
Many books have been written about the Bataan Death March, but few have described the deep faith of the heroic men who experienced the horrors of that march. Among the survivors was Clarence Bramley. Tall and lean, he enlisted during World War II with dreams of flying P-40 fighter planes in the U.S. Army Air Corps. But the reality of war often dashes young men's dreams. While waiting for the results of his pilot exams, his squadron was ordered to the Philippines where he serviced the very planes he was hoping to fly. Then in the spring of 1942, the islands fell to the Japanese.
During the years that followed, Bramley experienced the brutal Death March, incarceration in the Philippines and Taiwan, nightmarish weeks on a Japanese Hell Ship, and forced labor in a prison camp at Kosaka, Japan. He suffered disease and brutality and witnessed the agonizing deaths of close friends and comrades — but he never lost faith in God.
Weeks after atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Bramley was thrilled to watch American B-29 bombers drop welcome food and supplies to the soon-to-be released prisoners in Kosaka. To celebrate that eventful day, Bramley and others crafted an American flag that lifted the spirits of the weakened prisoners.
Although Bramley survived to join what journalist Tom Brokaw called the "Greatest Generation" in its efforts to build a stronger, better world, he credits his love for family and country, and his faith, for the strength to overcome the harrowing years of imprisonment. In 1945 he wrote to his parents:
"I am humbly grateful for the bringing up you have given me, and though I can never repay, I sincerely pray that I might have the strength to be the man you would have me be. I am thankful to the Lord for the comfort, peace of mind, and happiness that a knowledge of Christ brings; also, for the care and protective guidance and innumerable blessings which have been poured upon myself and my fellowmen through these troubled times."
It was a time when the P-40 was the rage among combat fighter planes.
Clarence Bramley desperately wanted to fly one. He had taken an aviation course while at Wilson High School. But the Depression had taken hold and he had to take a series of jobs to help his parents.
Still, on Feb. 14, 1941, he joined the Army Air Corps and was eventually sent to the Philippines. On April 9, 1942, he was among 78,000 U.S. and Filipino troops taken by the Japanese on the Bataan peninsula, the largest surrender in U.S. history.
It was a time when the P-40 was the rage among combat fighter planes.
Clarence Bramley desperately wanted to fly one. He had taken an aviation course while at Wilson High School. But the Depression had taken hold and he had to take a series of jobs to help his parents.
Still, on Feb. 14, 1941, he joined the Army Air Corps and was eventually sent to the Philippines. On April 9, 1942, he was among 78,000 U.S. and Filipino troops taken by the Japanese on the Bataan peninsula, the largest surrender in U.S. history.
Today, at 92, Bramley, who now lives in Lomita, is one of few remaining survivors of the infamous Bataan Death March.
His ordeals and the faith that helped him survive them have been recounted in "A Study in Valor," a book by William T. Garner, a retired Superior Court judge from Long Beach.
"Clarence's family and mine had been friends as far back as I can recall," says Judge Garner. "It was common knowledge in our family that he was a Death March survivor but when World War II ended I was a student at Lindbergh Junior High School in Long Beach I did not fully appreciate his ordeal."
When Garner learned no one had written Bramley's story, he offered to do so. The Death March survivor and the judge, a fighter pilot in the Korean War, proved a great combination.
Bramley's story of the March starts with an account of his captors shooting six of their own soldiers for surrendering earlier. "How did you feel on seeing that?" I asked.
"I didn't see that particular shooting," said Bramley. The prisoners who did told me about it while we were being assembled to begin the March, and they expressed shock and dismay that the Japanese would do that to their own people."
Later Bramley saw Japanese soldiers "forcing Filipino women into the brush where I knew the women were being raped and beaten. On reflection, I believe my own surprise at the shooting incident was overshadowed by the plight of the women and my own feelings of frustration and hopelessness."
We turned to other aspects of the Death March.
Q. "Were the marchers able to help each other?"
A. Bramley: "We had to rely on each other and on God. We couldn't allow a fellow prisoner to suffer needlessly, and the experience probably strengthened our feelings of compassion. I believe it did for me."
Q."Do you still have nightmares about the March?"
A."No. I've heard other former soldiers and prisoners have had these, but for some reason I don't recall having had any. I'm sure people are affected differently. Of course, I've thought of my experiences many times, but my thoughts haven't frightened me. I'm simply grateful to have survived."
Q."I've read that you went into combat with a Bible and books of your Mormon faith hidden in your coveralls. Were they of comfort to you? And did you pray during your captivity?"
A."I continued to pray daily. Sometimes the sleeping areas were very small and I had to pray while on my side or stomach or in some other cramped position. But I tried to carry a prayer in my heart always. I knew that Lord was aware not only of me, but of my comrades and our circumstances."
Q."After the war, did you find yourself having ill thoughts toward the Japanese?
A."I'm forced to acknowledge that there were times when I harbored such thoughts. But as time has passed, I've come to know that we are all children of the same God and that I would only hurt myself by feeling hatred toward anyone.
"Have I simply matured? I think it's more than that. I believe that the admonition to love one's fellow men is more than an idle phrase. It is essential to happiness and peace."
Arriving in Japan
On Oct. 1, 1944, Bramley and 1600 other POWs were crowded into the holds of the Hokusen Maru, one of the "hell ships" that took prisoners to Japan.
During a stop on Formosa, a Japanese guard saw Bramley reading his New Testament and asked, "If America is supposed to be a Christian nation, why doesn't it act like one?"
Bramley does not recall his response - or if he responded at all.
In a prison camp in northern Japan, he heard about the atomic destruction of Hiroshima.
"My feelings were mixed. I was sad that the entire city was destroyed and I thought of all the innocent Japanese people whose lives were lost. But I was sure the Japanese would not surrender without first inflicting an even greater number of casualties, and I felt on balance the high price was worth it."
When Japan surrendered on Sept. 2, 1945, Bramley was down to 85 pounds. Like his fellow prisoners, he had suffered from malaria, beriberi, dengue fever, sunstroke, temporary blindness and dysentery. For all that, some of them spent their last days in the camp making an American flag.
In mid-September, he was put aboard a ship for San Francisco, where he was hospitalized for three months. By the time of his discharge, he had learned another piece of ironic but welcome news: his younger brother, Herbert, had become an Air Corps pilot.
Bramley resumed a pre-war job laying linoleum and in 1946 married Norma Jean Lilly, a Marine serving at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. The diseases he contracted as a prisoner left him incapable of becoming a father. Over time, they adopted four children.
Norma Jean died in 1977. Not long ago, Bramley found a note in her handwriting. In part it read:
"How gracious and kind God has been, an ever-loving hand in our life, holding us together, healing hurts, giving us love and caring, lifting us above ourselves, making our lives worthwhile. Without Him, we would be nothing."
In 1949, Bramley became a Los Angeles firefighter, a job he held for 30 years.
Judge Garner, who wrote "A Study in Valor," says, "Clarence is humble and not given to self promotion. When I offered to write his story, he rather quietly said that if I felt it to be of importance, I had his permission to do it."
He adds, "At 92 years of age, Clarence was sometimes unable to recall details that I would like to have included, and was reluctant to talk about his own accomplishments, preferring to dwell on those of others.
"A Study in Valor" is available in most bookstores, including Borders and Barnes and Noble. Published in paperback, it sells for about $12.
Never have I read a book so focused on one man's sacrifices for his country. Reading it will make you a better American.
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From his own military, investigative, and legal experience, William T. Garner is able to personalize this account of the wartime service of an American soldier who became a prisoner of the Japanese. Garner, a student-athlete in high school and college, is the son of a career U.S. Marine and was himself a Marine Corps jet fighter pilot during the Korean War. Upon leaving active duty, he worked as an insurance investigator while completing the schooling he had begun before his military service. After graduation from law school and admission to the State Bar of California, he maintained a distinguished law practice in Long Beach: first alone and later as a partner in a highly respected firm. He was appointed by the governor of California to be a Judge of the Superior Court of the County o …