Neat story....The only person I heard of that escaped the Death March.....

[indiucky]

And then was back on it when where he escaped to surrendered as well.....We own a section of the land he bought after being liberated from a POW camp in Manchuria....His daughter let us look through his pics and hold his medals....

Swore if he ever made it back home he would buy up a holler in his native Perry County and live the rest of his life in his beloved hills...When he died he left 100 acres to the Nature Conservancy......Fascinating story and a heck of a man...Ended up being a teacher and a State Senator...Lee Hamilton went to meet him once and asked if there was anything he could do for him....He said, "I reckon I'm due some medals......I never put much stock in that stuff but I think the kids might want them....."

Hamilton got him his medals due, Off hand I saw a Bronze Star, a Silver Star, a Purple Heart and many others.......A fascinating man who loved his family, his county, his God and his country....To show that "nut didn't fall too far from the tree" his niece was injured very bad in Iraq in an IED explosion and is still being treated for her burns to this day...His Great Grandfather served in the Union Army and I believe was a POW at Andersonville....

Quite a story and I wanted to share it...

Otis Edward Saalman

http://dcwi.com/goot/saalman.htm

https://www.nature.org/ourinitiativ...shooting-star-cliffs-1.xml?redirect=https-301

 

[SEIndSAM]

Thanks for sharing, that is a fascinating story.

 

[femurphy77]

Be tough to find many nowadays worthy of licking his boots or many others like him.

 

[indiucky]

Here is about his great grandfather along his pipe being returned to the family after his death at Andersonville some 70 years or so later...It just keeps getting curiouser and curiouser....This story is amazing as well...He dies at Andersonville, daughter goes to visit his grave years later, curator hear's her name and says, "I have something your family may want..." Wow.......Years later great great granddaughter gives it back to Andersonville where it is on display to this day..

http://family.saalman.com/estel.aspx

 

[DeadeyeChrista'sdad]

God bless him, and his family.

 

[indiucky]

God bless him, and his family.

I knew the story from researching the land...We had no idea that was his daughter across from our place...The day we bought the place we went down the road and saw her walking down to get her mail...We stopped and introduced ourselves....As the conversation went along she mentioned that her dad bought the land after the war...I asked what her maiden name was and she said, "Saalman" and when she did I got out of the truck and said, "Major Otis Saalman was your father?" She nodded affirmative and I repeated back what I knew....She was stunned....

She said, "I can't believe you know his story...Wow...Thank you...." I said, "No ma'am...Thank you and your family for their service and if I had my way every Hoosier would know your dad's story..."

So I posted it to show I meant what I said...It was an honor to have her show me his medals.....She bakes my autistic daughter brownies and cookies when she sees we are at the place......

 

[Alamo]

That is an interesting story, thanks for posting it.

It seems a lot of those guys who survived some pretty tough experiences went on to do a lot, and live a long time. While I was still on active duty and stationed at Brooks AFB in San Antonio, Brooks held a formal Retreat Ceremony each month, and responsibility for it rotated among the units on base. When our unit's turn came I was appointed as OIC and it was May, close to Memorial Day. We invited a number of Bataan Death March survivors in the local community to it and held a pass in review for them in addition to the retreat. I was surprised how many there were, we had about a dozen. Living history in the reviewing stand. "Pass in Review" is not necessarily everybody's favorite event in the military, but with these guys as the reviewing officials for a Memorial Day-related event it gave everyone some incentive for the occasion.

One of Indiana's governors was a contemporary of Major (then First Lieutenant) Saalman. Edgar D. Whitcomb was a B-17 navigator stationed in the Philippines when the Japanese invaded. He escaped being captured on the mainland by rowing a boat to Corregidor and was captured by the Japanese when Corregidor was finally surrendered. He and some other guys escaped by swimming back to the main island, where he ended up being captured a second time. He eventually got out of captivity and lived in Japanese occupied China for two years under an assumed name before he was able to arrange to get back to the US, where he served the remainder of the war. He was elected governor in 1968. He died just a year ago, in Feb 2016. He wrote a book about his experiences called Escape from Corregidor, it's worth a read.

 

[LtScott14]

The troops who served there were the true heros who deserve the highest respect. Basically abandoned, under supplied, sick, starved, and lived under slavery conditions. Thank God some lived to tell the atrocities of the Japanese.
My Uncle Sidney was on leave in the US on Dec 7, 1941. He was scheduled to return to Manila. Never went back east. He was sent to England and was a Mechanic with 8th AF. Worked on B24s, and B17s. He lived to 80 yrs old. Wouldn't have known him if he was at Bataan.

 

[SEIndSAM]

Interesting that this story popped up the same day as this thread.

POW story of Angels of Bataan army nurses is one of the greatest WWII stories never told. | Fox News

 

[BGDave]

And then was back on it when where he escaped to surrendered as well.....We own a section of the land he bought after being liberated from a POW camp in Manchuria....His daughter let us look through his pics and hold his medals....

Swore if he ever made it back home he would buy up a holler in his native Perry County and live the rest of his life in his beloved hills...When he died he left 100 acres to the Nature Conservancy......Fascinating story and a heck of a man...Ended up being a teacher and a State Senator...Lee Hamilton went to meet him once and asked if there was anything he could do for him....He said, "I reckon I'm due some medals......I never put much stock in that stuff but I think the kids might want them....."

Hamilton got him his medals due, Off hand I saw a Bronze Star, a Silver Star, a Purple Heart and many others.......A fascinating man who loved his family, his county, his God and his country....To show that "nut didn't fall too far from the tree" his niece was injured very bad in Iraq in an IED explosion and is still being treated for her burns to this day...His Great Grandfather served in the Union Army and I believe was a POW at Andersonville....

Quite a story and I wanted to share it...

Otis Edward Saalman

Saalman Hollow

https://www.nature.org/ourinitiativ...shooting-star-cliffs-1.xml?redirect=https-301

Thanks for posting and starting this thread.

 

[The Bubba Effect]

Must have good dirt to grow that type of person.

 

[indiucky]

Must have good dirt to grow that type of person.

Indeed....This is his daughter, her husband, and myself checking out the Rock Shelter behind the house....Beautiful dirt for sure...



I know it doesn't look like Indiana but it is......

 

[The Bubba Effect]

Can you believe that some folks pay millions of dollars to live in the cities? That does look like good dirt. Kind of rocky with good drainage. Might not be good for orange groves, but evidently turns up a decent hero every now and then.

Your place is awe inspiring Indiucky. Good job!

 

[actaeon277]

 

[indiucky]

Thread revival update.....


The wife, daughter and myself had dinner Sunday evening with our new neighbors...The husband and I did what men do after dinner, a nice glass of whiskey (Jack Daniels) and a journey to the gun safe for show and tell...After show and tell I went upstairs and was sitting on the couch when I noticed an out of place magazine...It was "Glamour" magazine....It was laying right there with American Rifleman, Guns and Ammo, Sportsman's Guide and the Farmer's Almanac...Miss Jane saw me looking at it and laughed....She said, "Now you know there is a reason for that magazine to be there..." She opened it up and there was a profile of her niece and the other women she was serving with that ran in to that IED...I realized I had given details about her ancestor at Andersonville and her Papaw during Bataan and in Manchuria but that I had not linked her story or any details about her service...So here is a PBS interview along with whatever else I could find on the web...As I said, I am just honored to know these people, to break bread with them and look out after each other's portion of Earth...

Sergeant Sally Saalman-Mosby Receives Hometown Support | WNIN Local News | PBS

https://duboiscountyherald.com/b/she-thought-she-was-dead


"She hit the ground hard. When she came to, she was running, dragging another female Marine on her shoulder and yelling for a weapon. The truck she’d been in moments before was flipped over and on fire. She doesn’t remember shooting, but she was later told that she was. For five minutes, the female Marines and their male security detail exchanged fire with the insurgents and dragged the badly burned women to a food truck."

So cheers to you Miss Sally....Thank you for your service and sacrifice.....May God Bless You........

She looks like her Papaw....Got his grit too it seems...

 

[femurphy77]

Man I wouldn't want to **** her off. Sounds like she'd hand your ass to you and narrate the whole process thru it all!

 

[indiucky]

Man I wouldn't want to **** her off. Sounds like she'd hand your ass to you and narrate the whole process thru it all!

Read these articles and you'll see how right you are...

A Mission That Ended inInferno for 3 Women - The New York Times

Top 10 of 2005: Marine wounded in Iraq remains proud to serve

The only photograph of the event...

She's the young lady in the back row...

 

[chocktaw2]

One hell of a story Sir. Thanks for posting.

 

[rob63]

Thanks for sharing all of that!

FWIW, I think most of us would feel unworthy of being their neighbor.

 

[Pistoleer]

Not too many of those WWII heroes left. One of these days, the last of them will pass from the scene. If you meet one, thank them for their service.