My Uncle, Master Sergeant Herbert Edward Pepper Army Air Corps, was a Japanese POW for almost 4 years. He was a survivor of the Bataan Death March, the Hell Ships & the Slave Labor Camps at the condemned coal mines. He witnessed the Nagasaki Bomb from the POW Camp ****uoka #17 at Omuta.

He passed away today at age 93. God Rest His Soul.

Hand Salute !

I'm so sorry, my friend.

We are very thankful for his service and his sacrifice. He must have been an amazing man, and I'm very sorry for your loss.

That he survived all that and still lived to 93 is amazing. RIP Sergeant Pepper. X

Honored to hear his story, thankful for his service.

Very sad news! RIP

What an incredible story and an incredible man. Jet, did he write about or record any of his life events?

R.I.P. Master Sergeant Pepper.

What a man, What a hero.

My condolences on the passing of one tough Master Sargent.

You can bet he will have the angels standing at attention in no time

Thank you all for your kind words. He was one hell of a man.

He survived the 3 month siege of Bataan, the grueling death march, the hell ships & time spent in slave labor at condemned coal mines. He saw the Nagasaki bomb. It took a month after the war to get rescued, but on a hospital ship back to the States he fell in love with a nurse. They were married for 65 years. As they closed the casket yesterday, she kissed him on the cheek & said, I'll see you soon.

I went to visit his mother's grave yesterday, just to feel a little closer to them. My Gr. Grandmother born 9 children. I knew 7 of them. My uncle Herbert, and 6 girls. The women were very important in my life. I knew her grave was out in the woods, and I hadn't been there for many years, since my Dad & an uncle went to clean it up. It's well over grown right now & I'm pleased that I found there is a program with the local sheriff's office that has convicts come out once a year to clean up old graves & cemeteries. They put up a historical marker & notate the site on State records for future land uses. I couldn't be more pleased.

Consider doing rubbings of the stones. Then you can have them close at hand.

Great family stories, brother, I was always honored when I would have one of these heroes as a customer, while traveling as a buyer.

The family stuff, , grave upkeep, etc. slowly begins to fall on our generation, I have begun to try and have a "decoration day" each year to re-flower a handful of graves of some as far as 6-7 generations back, taking my now 21 yr old son and explaining how even though the State Park must keep it up, our family must be the ones to "take care of it" and all the other places around that county where the majority of our now 7 generations are buried.

Thanks for the story jetblasted and very sorry for your loss He must have been a hell of a man!! I will smoke one in his honor this evening and blow a little salute to the sky...

I worked with a great man who also was on the Bataan Death March, and subsequent imprisonment in a Japanese POW work camp. That guy too had some incredible stories.

God bless his soul, and God bless the soul of Master Sergeant Herbert Edward Pepper. I salute them both.