Joseph A. Vater was born in March 1917, in Pittsburgh [Annotator's Note: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]. He was drafted into the Army and served in the 803rd Engineer Battalion, Aviation (Separate). His father painted houses for a living. Vater grew up with three brothers and three sisters. Starting at 13 years old, Vater started working to help the family. During the summer, he worked eight hours a day. During the Depression [Annotator's Note: Great Depression], people were lucky to find work. Many people were on government relief. After he graduated from high school, Vater wanted to be an architect. He enjoyed drawing and painting. He thinks he was at work when Pearl Harbor was attacked [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941].

Joseph Vater's older brother was old enough to serve, but was married and had a child, so he was not drafted. Vater was drafted at 19 years old. He was sent to Fort Belvoir [Annotator's Note: Fort Belvoir, Virginia] to train as an engineer. He was in good shape from playing sports, so he did not have a hard time in boot camp. Vater would send home money he earned in the military. When he went to boot camp, it was the first time he ever left home. While at Fort Meade [Annotator's Note: Fort George G. Meade, Maryland], he was in line for food when a man in front of him did something funny.

Joseph Vater traveled from San Francisco [Annotator's Note: San Francisco, California] to Hawaii then to Manila [Annotator's Note: Manila, Luzon, Philippines] in the Philippines. It was his first time seeing the ocean. Many men got seasick. Vater did not eat much so he would not get sick. He wrote to his family often, but did not get home sick. He was excited to go overseas. Vater's unit [Annotator's Note: 803rd Engineer Battalion, Aviation (Separate)] built airfields. He used heavy equipment to level an area to make a runway. When the war broke out, the Japanese bombed the airfields he worked on. There were combat troops in his area, but not in his unit. Vater did alot of work while in the Philippines, even during Japanese attacks. After the Japanese landed, everyone in Vater's unit carried a rifle, despite not being trained in infantry tactics. His company was pulled back to Corregidor. He had to destroy all the materials he could before the surrender. Vater was wounded by shrapnel. He did not know how his unit would get out of there, but he never gave up thinking he would get back home.

Joseph Vater did not know what would happen to him after he had to surrender. He felt helpless and stuck. He knew nothing good was going to come out of his capture. He worried about his family. His younger brother enlisted in the Navy and another brother enlisted in the Army. Vater felt bad for his parents because so many of their boys were in the military. He tried to stay out of trouble while imprisoned. He saw many men getting beaten for not doing things the way the Japanese wanted. Vater does not remember the train rides he took to the prison camps. He was transferred to Camp O'Donnell [Annotator's Note: Camp O'Donnell prisoner of war camp, Luzon, Philippines], where the 31st Infantry Division had had their headquarters. The Japanese were strict and Vater learned early to keep his head down and do what he was told. There was nowhere to escape to. He was fed rice but it was not enough to keep people healthy. He believes the will to live was the most important thing for him. At some point, Vater was very sick, but still tried to stay optimistic. He would steal food when the opportunity presented itself. Vater did not get much from the local population because they would be beaten if caught.

Joseph Vater remained at Cabanatuan [Annotator's Note: Cabanatuan prisoner of war camp, Cabanatuan City, Luzon, Philippines] for four months. In October [Annotator's Note: October 1942], he was loaded onto the Tottori Maru [Annotator's Note: a Japanese cargo ship used to transport Allied prisoners of war under hellish conditions] along with hundreds of other POWs [Annotator's Note: prisoners of war]. He did not know what was happening, but he did not think there was anything he could do about it. Everyone on the ship had dysentery. Vater does not know why he did not walk away and let the Japanese kill him. Many men on the ship died. Vater believes his will to live is what kept him alive. Some of his friends that were in better shape than he was died. Many people died from starvation. Vater tried to protect himself so he would survive. A hell ship [Annotator's Note: unmarked Japanese cargo ships used to transport prisoners of war to other places, including Japan, under hellish conditions] going to Japan was sunk by an American submarine because it was not labeled as a POW ship. Vater's ship docked in Korea, then took a train to Mukden, Manchuria [Annotator's Note: Mukden, Manchuria, China] to a prison camp. There were 1,500 prisoners in the camp, with roughly 60 to 80 people per barracks.

Joseph Vater believes Manchuria [Annotator's Note: Manchuria, China] was the coldest place on Earth. He was given a warm jacket, but it was still very cold. Each two story barracks held over 100 prisoners and had two fireplaces to keep them from freezing. Vater slept with all of his clothes on. He was given soy beans and maize [Annotator's Note: corn] to eat. There were not as many deaths in Mukden [Annotator's Note: Mukden, Manchuria, China] as in the Philippines. After the war was over, the prisoners that died were disinterred. Vater worked as a slave laborer at the camp, but he still believed he would survive. He had to travel three or four miles to get to the factory he worked in. The prisoners primarily talked about food. Everyone thought they would survive the war. Vater did not receive much news from outside the prison. He was given two or three packages from the Red Cross. Prisoners did not fight over the food, but would divide up some of the contents. Some of them were sent packages from their families. The Japanese were very strict with their discipline. If they caught a prisoner stealing, the prisoner was put in jail. There were many fist fights over food. The camp was accidently bombed by American bombers. A barracks building was destroyed and some prisoners were killed. Vater remembers the crew of a downed B-29 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber] were put into a separate camp. Those crewmen were given food from Vater's camp. People were excited when they saw the first B-29s coming over. The planes scared the Japanese. Several of the Japanese spoke good English, but they were not friendly towards the prisoners.

On 20 August 1945, Joseph Vater was liberated by Russian soldiers. He remembered them dropping in by parachute. At first, he thought they were Japanese troops. However, some air force troops recognized they were Allies. The prisoners were brought to the courtyard and the Japanese commandant informed them the war was over. Vater weighed 84 pounds when he was liberated. He always said he would make it through. He believes many of the men that wanted to make it got through. He does not have any regrets from his time as a POW [Annotator's Note: prisoner of war]. He tried to do what he had to do to survive. He believes he had a good life. Vater's time as a POW has made him appreciate things more. He built his house and tries to make it nice. The day he was discharged he started working. He has never had dreams or flashbacks from his time in the labor camp. Life in the camp was not easy, but he tried not to despair. He got sick for some time during his time in the camp.