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To: HAL9000
Wake Island is an Atol of 3 Islands..Historical landmarks may have been lost forever..

"The "98 Rock" is a memorial for the 98 U.S. Prisoners of War who were forced by their Japanese captors to rebuild the airstrip as slave labor, then blind-folded and killed with machine guns on 5 October 1943.

An unidentified prisoner escaped, and scratched "98 US PW 5-10-43" on a large coral rock near their mass grave, on Wilkes Island at the edge of the lagoon.

He was recaptured and beheaded by the Japanese admiral, who was later convicted and executed for these war crimes.

The rock still bears the original inscription and a small plaque identifying it; a bronze plaque naming the victims has been placed at the site.

There are also memorials for the military and civilian personnel who died defending the islands from the Japanese take-over.

The remains of Japanese fortifications during World War II are still visible around the islands".

sw

41 posted on 08/31/2006 10:18:33 AM PDT by spectre (Spectre's wife)
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To: spectre
The "98 Rock" is a memorial for the 98 U.S. Prisoners of War who were forced by their Japanese captors to rebuild the airstrip as slave labor, then blind-folded and killed with machine guns on 5 October 1943.

JESUS. Are we the only one who follow the rules?? This is horrible.

69 posted on 08/31/2006 12:27:31 PM PDT by Fawn (http://www.jokaroo.com/funnyvideos/toilet_obsession.html)
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