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Lester Tenney joined a tank unit in the US Army Reserves, hoping to serve 1 year and then move on with his life.
But the world had different plans.
Captured by Japanese forces on Bataan Peninsula in The Philippines in the early days of World War 2, Tenney endured the Bataan Death March and spent 3 years and 6 months in POW camps in The Philippines and Japan.
He then spent more than 70 years on a quest for forgiveness and redemption.
This is the story of Private Lester Tenney.
Images
Tenney Bio Sources
- Ancestry.com, “1910 United States Federal Census”
- Ancestry.com, “1920 United States Federal Census”
- Ancestry.com, “1940 United States Federal Census”
- Ancestry.com, ”1950 United States Federal Census”
- Ancestry.com, “California, US, Marriage Index, 1960-1985”
- Ancestry.com, “Cook County, Illinois, U.S., Birth Certificates Index, 1871-1922”
- Ancestry.com, “US, World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946”
- Ancestry.com, “US, World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947”
- Ancestry.com, “US, World War II Prisoners of the Japanese, 1941-1945”
- Associated Press, “Japan’s Views of World War II History Rankle Some US Veterans,” reprinted in The Dispatch, Moline, Illinois, 29 April 2015, page 13, online at Newspapers.com.
- “Attack on Clark Field,” Wikipedia
- Edith Tenenberg memorial, Find a Grave
- Gene S. Jacobsen, “We Refused to Die: My Time as a Prisoner of War in Bataan and Japan, 1942-1945 (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2004), pages 7-12
- Lester I. Tenney, My Hitch in Hell: The Bataan Death March (Washington, DC: Patomac Books, 1995), page 19-21
- Louis Morton, “Chapter V: The First Days of War,” The Fall of The Philippines, United States Army in World War II, The War in the Pacific series (Washington, DC: Center of Military History, United States Army, 1953), pages 80, 84.
- Manuel Roig-Franzia, Washington Post reporter, “Bataan Death March Group Disbands, No Apology in Hand,” reprinted in The Honolulu Advertiser, Honolulu, Hawaii, 16 November 2008, page 21 and 23, online at Newspapers.com.
- “March Survivor Fought for Apologies – Lester Tenney 1920-2197 [sic],” San Diego Union-Tribune, San Diego, California, 25 February 2017, transcription online at GenealogyBank.
- “Miller [sec] Waller Engaged to Sgt. Lester Tenenberg,” Chicago Tribune, Chicago, Illinois, 28 July 1946, page 105, online at Newspapers.com.
- Peter Maas, “They Should have Their Day in Court,” Parade Magazine, 17 June 2001, page 4-6, online at Newspapers.com.
- “Saburō Sakai,” Wikipedia
Historical Audio Sources
- Dec 7, 1941 Reports of Manila Bombed, and Dec 7, 1941 News flash interrupts Football Game came from: 1941 Radio News : WA4CZD : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Image Sources
- Private Lester Tenney ca 1940 — Staff Sergeant Lester Irwin Tenney (1920-2017) – Find a Grave Memorial
- Bar Mitvah photo — “Bataan Death March Group Disbands, No Apology in Hand,” reprinted in The Honolulu Advertiser, Honolulu, Hawaii, 16 November 2008, page 21, online at Newspapers.com
