Interview with Thelma W. Bensing, Elmer Bensing, Jr., June 24, 1985

Interview Summary

Elmer Bensing discusses serving with the 192nd Tank Battalion in the Pacific Theatre or World War II, where he was captured at Corregidor by Japanese forces. Bensing talks about his experiences from the Bataan Death March, being on a Hellship voyage from Cabanatuan to Japan, the brutality of Japanese soldiers, life as prisoner of war and his eventual liberation from the camp. He also mentions travelling through Nagasaki following the atomic bomb explosion on his journey back to the United States. Thelma Bensing, Elmer's wife, also discusses the circumstances of the homefront, the lack of contact with Elmer during the war, and their reunion following its end.

Interview Keyword

Wartime correspondence Women in the workforce Home front Pacific Theater 192nd Battalion POW camps Sanitation Hellships Hell ships Beriberi disease Prisoners of war POWs Food scarcity Nagasaki (Japan)

Interview LC Subject

World War II Australia Japan Philippines Veterans San Francisco (Calif.) Malnutrition Scurvy. Religion Dysentery. Work camps Bataan Death March, Philippines, 1942. Nagasaki-shi (Japan) Nuclear warfare Cabanatuan (Philippines)

Interview Rights

All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.

Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.