Memorial On The River Kwai

Their suffering at the hands of the Japanese army was immortalized years ago in the classic film, “The Bridge on the River Kwai.” Now the American POWs who died while building the so-called “Death Railway” during World War II have an official memorial. U.S. Ambassador William Itoh unveiled a plaque Sunday next to the infamous bridge near Kanchanaburi, Thailand, and dedicated the memorial to America’s forgotten prisoners. Of the 688 American servicemen who labored on the 250-mile railway, 356 died. Most of them were from the USS Houston, which was sunk by the Japanese navy off the coast of Indonesia.