Sizemore, Marvin
Service: Navy
Marvin was stationed aboard the USS Houston, there were two ships named Houston this was the first. She was sunk on March 2nd 1942 in the Battle of the Java Sea. Marvin was not aboard when she was sunk, he had went ashore to the hospital. He had been aboard the Houston at several battles before the sinking. He was captured by the Japanese while trying to avoid capture in the mountains. He was sent to Burma aboard one of the Hell Ships that took POWs to slave labor camps. Marvins interview is very interesting as he tells about the physical violence that he suffered as well as starvation. One bit of history that I had never heard of before was that the Japanese would tie a railroad tie to a man’s shoulders that weighed about 200 lbs. Marvin said the trick to surviving this was to fall over so that your face was pointing up so that you would not suffocate. My interviews are for sale with Veterans permission to keep WW II history alive so that we can see how our many freedoms were earned not given to us.