POW to highlight Veteran's Day Salute

Private T. Walter Middleton of 803rd Engineer Battalion, B Company drifted somewhere between life and death, fighting to survive the infamous Battan Death March, followed by three and a half years as a Japanese prison of war during World War II.

Now, as one of the few remaining survivors, Middleton, 87, will share his experiences as guest of honor during Southwestern Community College's Salute to Veterans 11:30 a.m. Friday, Nov. 10, in Myers Auditorium on the Jackson Campus. The program will also include a presentation on the Bataan Death March by SCC history instructor Duane Wesolick.

"I knew Bataan was the greatest crisis of my life and that I had to use all of the reasoning power I had and the training I had received to enable my survival," said Middleton, who was suffering from a bullet wound to his buttock at the time. "The Japanese were murdering us in cold blood. When someone staggered and fell, the nearest Jap bayoneted him and seemed to take pleasure in it."
For his efforts of heroism and bravery the Sylva native was awarded the Silver Star, the highest award next to the Congressional Medal of Honor, the Bronze Star for bravery on the battlefield and the Purple Heart for being shot.

In 2000 Middleton published a book, Flashbacks: Prisoner of War in the Philippines. He didn't want to write it, he said, but felt compelled, especially because of the absence of this information elsewhere.

"Most material on the Philippine encounter was written by officers in different camps, or by heroes who weren't even there. I want my grandchildren to know about Bataan from the eyes of a buck private who beheld it," said Middleton, who will have copies of his books for sale at SCC.

All veterans and the public are invited to the Veteran's Day Salute.

Shown with the many medals he was awarded for heroism and bravery and with his book Flashbacks: Prisoner of War in the Philippines, T. Walter Middleton will talk about his survival of the Bataan Death March, followed by three-and-a-half years as a Japanese prisoner of war during Southwestern Community College's Salute to Veterans 11:30 a.m. Friday, Nov. 10, on the Jackson Campus.

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