New River Kwai Book

More prisoners of war died at Sonkrai than any other camp on the infamous River Kwai Railway. Seven thousand Australian and British POWs were sent by the Japanese to build the toughest section of the railway in the mountains between Thailand and Burma. Three thousand died from slave labour, disease, starvation and exposure the never-ending monsoon rain. After the war, a military tribunal tried five Japanese and two Koreans for those deaths.
In A River Kwai Story you will also find:

For the first time it tells the story of a River Kwai POW camp from both sides Allied and Japanese, based on the investigative and trial records.

The charge in the case was keeping prisoners in "inhuman/inhumane"
conditions, a subject which is still relevant given current controversies over how detainees are held, so the book looks at the concept of inhuman conditions then and now.

One of the main characters is British Col. Cyril Wild, who was the UK's chief war crimes investigator in Southeast Asia. Wild's papers throw new light on the Yamashita case and raise more questions about the Manila military commission that tried the Japanese general.
How you can get the book.
Allan and Unwin in Australia has rights to distribute the book in Australia, New Zealand, the western Pacific and has non-exclusive English language rights for Asia.
It is NOT easily available so far in North America or Europe.
The current rights restrictions also means you cannot order it through Amazon.
However, again if you go to my website you will find links to online bookstores in Australia that do ship internationally.You should also be able to order it if you have access to a good independent specialty bookstore or university bookstore. (These notes are from the author - Robin Rowland).

Notes from the DIVES

Also noted at the Asiatic Fleet Blog .
Ranger's Blog 2008 Dive
Rangers Web for USS Houston

From: William Deertz [mailto:wdeertz@wdeertz.net]
Jerry, saw your write up on your recent dive trip to the USS Houston. Wish I had known a group of you were coming as I would have liked to join the expedition. I am a US expat and have been living in Jakarta for the past 11 years. A group of us dove the USS Houston on the 60^th anniversary of the sinking. You can see a few photos and a short video I put together from this trip at this link As you’ll know from diving it the visibility is poor so in the video its often difficult to make out where you are at. I would have liked to get more wide angle from outside the wreck but the poor visibility makes this difficult.
Here is a 2007 PHOTO Album from another earlier Ranger Dive.

Raymond Davis - 2008 Scholarship Winner

The 2008 scholarship winner was announced at the recent reunion. He is - drumroll please! - Raymond Davis. Ray is a freshman at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA, majoring in Communications with a concentration in Video Production and Screen Writing.

His winning essay addressed the topic "What Does the Memory of the Crew of the USS Houston (CA-30) Mean to Me?" in which he wrote about his great uncle Lt. George E. Davis, Jr. USN, a 1935 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, who served on the USS Houston from May 1938 until February 4, 1942. On that day, Lt. Davis was in command of a gun turret when it was struck by Japanese bombers in the Flores Sea battle and was killed. The U.S.S. George E. Davis (DE-357) destroyer escort was later named for Lt. Davis.

Ray writes that several family members say that Ray bears an uncanny resemblance to his great uncle George (see picture above right). They do look a lot alike, don't you think?

We extend our hearty congratulations and well wishes for the future to Ray.

Annual Reunion and Memorial Service

The annual reunion of the USS Houston Survivors Association and Next Generations occurred last weekend (Feb. 21-23) and was a big success. Six of the 28 Houston survivors attended along with many of their families and friends. The highlight of the weekend was the memorial service which honored the survivors and remembered those crew members who have passed away while commemorating the 66th anniversary of the sinking of the ship. See the following links for pictures of the weekend: Shawn Flynn's Pictures and Tim Joseph's Pictures

The picture below was taken in front of the Cruiser Houston special collection at the University of Houston. The six survivors who attended the reunion are (from left to right):
Harry Kelley, David Flynn, Skip Schilperoort, Howard Brooks, Marvin Sizemore, and Bill Ingram.



In the picture below, from left to right, are Marvin Sizemore, Harry Kelley, Lin Drees, David Flynn, Val Poss, Howard Brooks, Skip Schilperoort, and Bill Ingram.

Harry Kelly Renders a Salute

This article is in the Austin Statesman .

Joe Garrett Joins Shipmates "Standing Watch"

Survivor Joe Garrett passed away unexpectedly from pneumonia and congestive heart failure on Dec. 18th after a short hospital stay. After the USS Houston sank, he became a POW for 3 1/2 years during which he participated in construction of the "Death Railway". Following the war, he remained on active duty in the Navy serving for 20 years. In the pictures below, he is shown soon after returning from prison camp (left) and at the time he received the Purple Heart and POW medals in 2003 (right). Joe attended the Houston reunions in 2002, 2004, and 2006. Most recently, he enjoyed reading the book Ship of Ghosts about the USS Houston by James Hornfischer - not once, but twice! For Joe's full biography, see this link: Joe's Biography. He will be missed by all as he now joins his shipmates standing watch over Sunda Strait.

Insightful Notes from Lynn Drees

Dear Friend, Survivor John Hood - As many of you know, John passed away Friday, November 23, 2007 - I wrote the following to his sister, Carol, via email: "If ya'll reminisce, please tell (or have your sister, Alberta, tell) the hair dryer story. One year John forgot to get reservations for the reunion; he arrived @ the hotel; it was full, but they had some small apartments next door - and offered John an apartment. Well, on Sunday, as everyone was leaving, John came up to me - and said - 'Wonderful wk-end, but I have one complaint.' Shocked, I said, 'yes, John, what was wrong?' He said 'the hair dryer in my room did not work!' - and, knowing his hair status, we both started laughing. That became a joke each year - with me, always asking John if the hair dryer in his room was working this year! I loved him!!!! Thanks for sharing him w/ us, Next Generationers"

Carol responded with "Lin, Oh, we do know that story, John told us about that, and he always laughed."

John will be missed as are all our loved USS HOUSTON men who are now standing watch at Sunda Strait. We also miss the men who cannot now attend the reunions - and remember, fondly, when they were able to attend.

BUGLER - With Internet, Val receives many questions - one recently related to the ship's bugler - I asked David Flynn what he remembered. Here is what he said: "The ship's bugler was Joseph G. Alleva. He was killed on a Japanese prison ship 24 June 1944 in the South China Sea. Aboard ship (the Houston) he'd occasionally hit a wrong note, blowing taps, etc. When criticized, he'd say, 'for 32 bucks a month you don't get Benny Goodman.' Prior to entering the Navy, he worked in a bank as a sort of doorman, director, etc. He and Gene Crispi were great friends and would argue at length. .....'and that's all I have to say about that'....."

I remember Jim Ballew, Navy, telling me that he and my cousin, James Raydell Wilson, Marine, aboard the HOUSTON, would spend some of their POW time arguing, just to pass the time of day. Once, he said that the argument led to fighting - he said, "here we were 2 'skinny' POWs, trying to fight!" Sadly my cousin passed away as a POW before I was born - but with reminiscing with Jim, I came to know some about my cousin.

Dive Team News - March 09 Dive

FOR THE MARCH 1, 2008 DIVE ON THE USS HOUSTON
GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY: VIDEORAY ( WWW.VIDEORAY.COM ), ROBERT AND SHARRON LONG, GENE FREY’S FAMILY, MAX AND VAL POSS, SURVIVOR BILL IMGRAM. SURVIVOR HARRY KELLEY, MARTHA LOGGINS, JOHN WALLER
JOHN SCHWARZ
I just received word that the U.S. Navy permit for VideoRay ROV to entered the USS HOUSTON CA-30 to take photographs of the inside of the ship, has been approved and I will be receiving the Official letter in the mail in a week or so. I would like to Thank Val for her help getting the information and blue prints to me when we were in the last stage of completing the permit with Barbara Voulgaris in Washington. I would like to thank Barbara and Wendy for there help in getting this permit through there office in a timely manner. Most of all, I would like to thank VideoRay WWW.VIDEORAY.COM for supporting us on the last dive in 2006 and the upcoming dive in March 2008. With out VideoRay donation of airline tickets, equipment and two Rov operators, this upcoming dive trip would not be possibly. I would like to thank the above USS HOUSTON FAMILY for their donation. We were able to paid for the dive boat again so that the dive team could stay out over the USS HOUSTON supporting the VideoRay Rov operators while they entered and photograph the USS HOUSTON. I still need more donations to help with other items of the trip to make sure that we can support the VideoRay ROV operators to make this dive trip a success in getting the photographs of the inside of the ship for the Survivors and Houston’ family.

At this time the USS HOUSTON DIVE TEAM is made up of the following people:
Jerry Ranger, team leader. Jolene Ranger, diver. Brad Gift, assist team leader, Eunju gift, diver, David Phillips, lead VideoRay Rov operator/diver, Tom Crossman, VideoRay Rov operator/diver, Daniel Tangguh, diver

If anyone else is thinking about joining the team or being there onboard the dive ship while operations are being conducted, I needed to know so I can make sure there is space and transportation out to the dive boat for you. Contact me at: ranger9@bellsouth.net or Phone number 850 623 3399.

As it looks now, the dive team will be over the USS HOUSTON on March 1. 2008 to March 10, 2008.

I will be working on dive tee shirt for the upcoming dive. If you would like to order one, please send me your name and sizes so I can sure you get a dive tee shirt when I order them at ranger9@bellsouth.net .

We are still working on a DVD form the 2006 dive and hope to have it down to an hour, so that the Houston’s family can see it at the reunion.

There is still a lot of work to be done for the dive trip to make sure it goes off, so I will be busy right up to the time we put our gear on the airplane and head to Java. I hope to see ya’ll at the 2008 reunion in Houston. Dive team out for now.

Jerry Ranger USN RET Son of the late John W. Ranger
Survivor off the Uss Houston CA-30
Uss Houston Dive Team Leader
ranger9@bellsouth.net
WWW.USSHOUSTON.ORG

4000 Bowls of RIce

The new paperback edition of my book, 4000 BOWLS OF RICE, has just been released (Brick Tower, Press, NY, $14.95. bricktower@aol.com. The new cover has s wonderful endorsement by Otto, and of course the book is full of quotes from Otto and some of his Houston and Texas 131st fellow POWs on the Railway. I hope to arrange a little do at the Australian consulate here in NYC (they did a lovely launch of this book back in 1994), and hope to have Trudy and maybe some of the family there. I'll be sending her an autographed copy, needless to say! Best regards, Linda
FROM LINDA GOETZ HOLMES. (The hardback is noted in the library - resources at www.usshouston.org)

Ranger and The Dive Team

News from the USS HOUSTON Dive Team
A VideoRay Presentation: Click HERE by Jerry Ranger

At this time I’m working on getting up another dive trip to Jakarta to finish the dive trip that was stopped in 2006. I have started to work on getting the permits that we will need to let us dive deep inside the ship to find the Officer’s stateroom that was opened by another dive team. I have been on the phone with the Navy and they are working with me to make sure nothing goes wrong on this next trip.

I have been in contact with David Phillips who was the one that controlled the VideoRay ROV on the ship. He has informed me that we can use the VideoRay equipment and possibly a side band sonar to make passes over the USS HOUSTON to give us a look at her on the bottom of the bay. This will also show the items that may be away from the ship on the bottom, like the engine from the SOC aircraft. The tuba from the band room that has been touched by a diver that I talked to over in Jakarta but he could not remove it from the sandy bottom. VideoRay has been very helpful.

I also have been in touch with Daniel in Jakarta about the trip and he is working on getting the same boat for the dive again. He also stated that he will be glad to help us when we arrive in Jakarta. Daniel has the air tanks and compressor for us to use when we get over there.

I have emailed Brad Gift in Korea, about the dive in March 2008, at this time he believes that his wife and he will be with me on the next dive trip on the USS HOUSTON.

COUPLE SPOTS OPEN ON THE DIVE TEAM:

I wanted to ask the Houston’s family first, if there is any SCUBA diver that would like to go on this dive trip, to get in contact with me. They will have to pay there own way over (plane ticket, food and hotel, etc) and some on the dive boat. You can contact me at Ranger9@bellsouth.net

this is a hard dive, with strong currents and not for the rookie diver. I will be also contacting other divers that I know that have dove on the USS HOUSTON before from around the world to help make up the team. I need a back-up divers for safety reasons.

SURVIVORS WELCOME TO JOIN THE TEAM.

IF ANY OF THE SURVIVORS THINK THAT THEY CAN MAKE THE TRIP, AND WANT TO SEE THE VIDEORAY IN ACTION OVER THE TOP OF THE USS HOUSTON CA-30. PLEASE CONTACT ME. I WILL MAKE SURE THAT THERE IS SPACE ON THE BOAT FOR YOU.

The son of a survivor of the USS Houston, CA30, completed his dives on the ship March 6-18, 2004. The Houston was sunk in the Battle of Sunda Strait the night of March 1, 1942.

Jerry Ranger is the son of John W. Ranger. John survived the battle and the ship's sinking only to be captured by the Japanese and held as as Prisoner of War for 42 months. To date, Jerry is the only son of a survivor to dive on the ship where it rests at the bottom of Sunda Strait.

The USS Houston, was the last ship of the asiatic fleet to be sunk. Its crew were the first Prisoners of World War II to be taken by the Japanese. Many of them were transported to Burma where they were forced to build the Burma-Thai Railway, also known as the Death Railway. The most famous bridge of the railrod came to known as the Bridge over the River Kwai. Click here to see more pictures of Jerry's dives on the Houston! Click here to see the diary Jerry kept of his journey to dive!

WEB SITES - Clay Ramsey (our USS Houston friend) has designed a great website at www.asiaticfleet.com. He entered the information about the dive at Sunda Strait http://www.asiaticfleet.com/diving_in_the_sunda_strait.htm

The Memorial Dive on the wreck coincided with the services in Houston. A phone conversation with the Divers was taped with survivors in attendance that evening. More about this dive is noted in the 'logbook' entries by the divers at the Houston Logbook site (see link to left. Those who join the site as members (no cost) may enter their own information.) A video of this is available from the Next Generation.

SON OF SURVIVOR DIVES ON USS HOUSTON
Jerry Ranger USN RET
Son of the late John W. Ranger
Survivor off the Uss Houston CA-30
Uss Houston Dive Team Leader
850-623-3399
850-293-1140 cell
ranger9@bellsouth.net
WWW.USSHOUSTON.ORG
WWW.jerryranger.net

USS Houston Documentary to be aired!

Per PBS in Houston --- I don't know how big the "region" is. Y'all might want to check your local PBS stations!"The Cruiser Houston: Of Pride and Purpose" will air Tuesday, Sept. 25th at 9p.m.; Thurs., Sept. 27 at 10:30p, and Friday, Sept. 28 at 1p.m. It is a one hour program. This is for our broadcast region only. Val

A Blog talks About SHIP OF GHOSTS

http://www.robbooth.net/2007/08/galloping-ghost-of-java-coast.shtml
This blogger from Texas give a good account of the book.

Honored 65 years late - The DeLand-Deltona Beacon

The DeLand-Deltona Beacon
http://www.beacononlinenews.com/dailyitem.php?itemnum=173
GREAT ARTICLE!! It seems Mr. Rose, over the years was a very private person about his WWII experience. It is good he finally got this opportunity for recognition.

Daily Navy Photo

Lake Minnetonka Liberty: Daily Navy Photo
USS Houston gets mentioned in this Minnetonka blog.

Naval Warfare: USS Asheville (PG-21)

Naval Warfare: USS Asheville (PG-21) Some of the information on the USS Asheville, came from survivors of the USS Houston. This is an excellent article to read.