“It was too painful,” said Jessica Boschert, one of his nieces. “My son’s teacher wanted him to come to school and talk about it, but he didn’t want to bring up so much bad stuff.”
Honshul kept a journal about WWII, but he never shared it to anybody. He was a Japanese P.O.W. at Cabanatuan Prison Camp in the Philippines for 3½ years.
The former Franklin resident who lived in Middletown died Thursday morning at Hospice Care of Butler and Warren counties. He was 90.
Because of his kidney problems, Honshul required dialysis treatments, but he refused them, Boschert said.
“He was ready to go,” she said. “He fought a hard, long life. He said, ‘God has been good to me.’ ”
She called her uncle a hero and said this country “is based on what those guys went through.”
Honshul graduated from Alvin Drew High School in Pine Ridge, Ky. He was sworn into the service on June 7, 1941, and was assigned to the 27th Bomb Group, 91st Squadron.
The Death March of Bataan took place in the Philippines in 1942. The 60-mile march occurred after the three-month Battle of Bataan. The march, or forcible transfer of 75,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war, was characterized by wide-ranging physical abuse and murder, and resulted in high fatalities inflicted upon prisoners and civilians.
Honshul was one of the lucky ones: he survived.
During the march, Honshul, nearly disabled by malaria, was saved by the compassion of two friends who supported him on either side until he could walk alone.
He retired from Armco Steel in 1981.
He is survived by two daughters, Sharon Vojack and Becky Brewster; and two brothers, Roy and Russ. He was preceded in death by his wife, Betty.
Funeral arrangements are being handled by Breitenbach-McCoy-Leffler Funeral Home. Visitation will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday at Home Avenue First Church of God, Trenton, with services following with the Rev. Todd Wallen officiating.
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