Paul Kerchum was born in January 1920 in Youngstown, Ohio. His father was a Russian immigrant and his mother his mother was a Hungarian immigrant. His father worked in a steel mill in McKees Rock, Pennsylvania. He often helped his parents with grocery shopping because his parents could not speak English very well. His father built him a wagon and went to different neighborhoods to collect and bring trash to recycling centers to make a little money. He went to high school and played football. He had an older brother, but Kerchum was always given most of the chores. Sometimes he would go to people’s houses and ask if he could pick the apples off the ground. He would often go blackberry picking and his mother made jelly out of them. Kerchum dropped out of high school at 16 years of age to work at a hardware store. Then he decided to join the Navy in Pittsburg [Annotator’s Note: Pittsburg, Pennsylvania], but was rejected because he did not have a high school diploma. He was instructed to go next door and join the Army. He wanted to join the military because he wanted to leave home. He boarded a train in Pittsburg and went to Fort Slocum, New York by train where he stayed for six weeks and was then transferred to a ship. The ship was an old cattle boat and headed south and into the Pacific. They pulled into San Francisco Bay [Annotator’s Note: San Francisco, California]. He stayed there for two weeks and had to perform kitchen duty. He boarded a ship again and pulled into Honolulu [Annotator’s Note: Honolulu, Hawaii]. He stayed at Scofield Barracks and was assigned to the 27th Infantry Division. He had not received any training at this point. He loaded onto a truck and was taken out into the wilderness where he learned how to pitch a tent, fire a gun, and go on maneuvers. His company often went on 15-mile hikes and would then receive beer. He remained in Honolulu for two years and then returned to the United States and was discharged. After two weeks of being home, he decided to re-enlist in the Army. His second deployment was to the Philippines.

After two years in the Army, Paul Kerchum was discharged, but re-enlisted for another overseas deployment. His second deployment was to the Philippines. His ship stopped in Hawaii and Guam. He contracted malaria [Annotator's Note: disease caused by a parasite that commonly infects a certain type of mosquito which feeds on humans] and he had to stay in the hospital as soon as he landed in the Philippines. He was then assigned to the 31st Infantry Division in Manila [Annotator’s Note: Manila, the Philippines]. The city looked like “a rat race”. Life in the Philippines was great prior to the breakout of the war. Everything was very relaxed. He got along well with the Filipinos. The soldiers often drank alcohol, and the cost of living was very cheap. He took up bowling because there was an alley at the base. After the attack at Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941], the Japanese also invaded the Philippines, attacking various military bases. General MacArthur [Annotator's Note: General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area] put a plan in place to hold out for six months in Bataan [Annotator’s Note: Bataan, the Philippines]. However, there was a limited amount of food and the plan quickly fizzled. He was in Manila when he first saw a Japanese plane come over the island. His first thought was to get some tobacco before the Japanese took over the island. After arriving in Bataan, he remembered how the terrain was very thick with vegetation. After the regiments ran out of food, they ate the mules and horses. They only had World War 1 [Annotator's Note: World War 1, global war originating in Europe; 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918] weapons and one modern weapon to fight against the Japanese. He came into his first combat experience right before he entered Bataan.

After the Japanese invaded the Philippines, Paul Kerchum and his company were ordered to report to Bataan [Annotator’s Note: Bataan, the Philippines] to hold off the Japanese takeover. He was wounded and taken to a first aid station where he was treated and then reported for duty. After a while, there was a stalemate between the Japanese and Americans until April 1942 when the Japanese pushed a massive defensive on the Americans with around the clock aerial bombardment. Three days later, the Japanese broke through. General King [Annotator’s Note: Major General Edward Postell King Jr.], the commander of the Army on Bataan, had no other choice but to surrender the American Army to the Japanese. During the stalemate, the American soldiers were starving because they had eaten everything that they had. After the surrender, the Japanese made the American soldiers walk 45 miles from Marvalis [Annotator’s Note: Marvalis, the Philippines] to the San Fernando railhead where the prisoners boarded a train in a standing room only boxcar. He was offloaded at the village of Capas [Annotator’s Note: Capas, the Philippines] and then made to hike to the prisoner camp, Camp O’Donnell. The camp was a former Filipino Army camp. They were told that they were captives and not considered prisoners of war. Some of the Americans figured out how to turn on the plumbing so they had a bathroom. Kerchum was eventually transferred to a prisoner of war camp in Cabanatuan [Annotator’s Note: Cabanatuan, the Philippines] by train. This camp was much larger than Camp O’Donnell. They slept on platforms and were fed rice. One day, the Japanese guards lined the prisoners up outside and forced them to watch Private Pevos [Annotator’s Note: phonetic spelling] dig his own grave before being executed by firing squad. Kerchum was sent on work duty to salvage material for the Japanese war effort. Some of the prisoners were put on Hell Ships [Annotator's Note: unmarked Japanese ships used to transport Allied prisoners of war to and from Japan under hellish conditions], many of which were torpedoed by unaware American vessels.

Paul Kerchum, a prisoner of the Japanese held in a camp in Cabanatuan [Annotator’s Note: Cabanatuan, the Philippines], was assigned to daily work duty. In October 1943, he was part of a work group 40 miles from Manila [Annotator’s Note: Manila, the Philippines] tasked with building an airfield for the Japanese. He also worked as a surveyor, but did a poor job. A Japanese commander came over and whacked him with a pick on his left leg. After he was demoted, he began digging. He was given little pieces of fish and watery soup to eat. After a year, the prisoners finished the runway. One day, he and some other prisoners saw a dogfight between an American and Japanese plane. Kerchum thought that maybe he would be liberated soon. However, on the next day, he and eleven hundred other prisoners were put on a hell ship [Annotator's Note: unmarked Japanese ships used to transport Allied prisoners of war to and from Japan under hellish conditions]. That was the same day that MacArthur [Annotator's Note: General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area] came back to the Philippines. There was a very limited amount of space, everyone had just enough room to sit. Many of the prisoners were sick with dysentery [Annotator’s Note: an infection of the intestines that causes diarrhea containing blood or mucus], so the smell was awful inside. They were at sea for about 18 days in a Japanese convoy zigzagging [Annotator's Note: a naval anti-submarine maneuver] across the ocean. At one point, he could hear depth charges [Annotator's Note: also called a depth bomb; an anti-submarine explosive munition resembling a metal barrel or drum] and explosions around him because they were being chased by American submarines. The ship finally reached Hong Kong and Kerchum was able to disembark. He was given a hose and drank lots of water and then helped others fill their canteens. After about five hours, they were forced back into the hole because American planes were nearby, and the ship left for Taiwan. Any prisoner that died on the journey was thrown overboard. Kerchum had a friend during this time by the name of Reed. They read books together which kept them sane. When they reached Tawain, he was given food and tobacco. He boarded a confiscated Australian cruise ship and sailed for seven days until they pulled into the port of Moji [Annotator’s Note: Moji, Japan]. He was then transferred to Tokyo [Annotator’s Note: Tokyo, Japan] where he boarded a train and headed north. At this point in time, Americans were bombing the railroad, so it took several days to move by rail. He reached the mountain town of Hosokura [Annotator’s Note: Hosokura, Japan] and began to work in Mitsubishi mine number 11.

Paul Kerchum, a prisoner of the Japanese, was forced to work in the Mitsubishi mine number 11 [Annotator’s Note: in Hosokura, Japan]. He worked with other civilian miners. He had a few positive moments with the Japanese civilians where they gave him food or kept him hidden. While he was in the mine, he wore a lamp on his head and used a mine cart on a track. Sometimes the mine cart would come off track and they would have to repair it. As he continued to work in the mine, American bomber planes began to show up and bomb the mines. One day, they did not go to the mine until 10 o’clock in the morning which was odd, because they were usually sent down at six in the morning. The next morning, a B-29 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber] flew over and dropped food, medicine, and clothing. Then news came that the war was over. Kerchum and the other prisoners waited another month until the Americans liberated them. They were taken to a hospital ship where Kerchum was given medical attention and a shower. He weighed only about 75 pounds. For the first time in four years, he was able to sleep in a bed. He was transferred to a British destroyer and was taken to Tokyo [Annotator’s Note: Tokyo, Japan]. He was interviewed for two days at an airfield. He then boarded a B-24 [Annotator's Note: Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber] and flew to Okinawa [Annotator’s Note: Okinawa, Japan]. The first night there, a typhoon came through the island. After a couple of weeks, he was flown back to the Philippines to an Army replacement center. Kerchum boarded a ship that took him to San Francisco [Annotator’s Note: San Francisco, California].

Paul Kerchum returned to the United States after being a prisoner of war to the Japanese for four years. His ship docked in San Francisco [Annotator’s Note: San Francisco, California]. He was greeted by about 60 people, which was far less than a friend of his who returned to the United States six months before the war. He was transferred to a hospital with other POWs [Annotator's Note: prisoners of war]. He was not a very good patient, and it was probably due to post-traumatic stress [Annotator's Note: post traumatic stress disorder; a mental health condition triggered by a terrifying event either experienced or witnessed]. He was eventually discharged in Pennsylvania, boarded a bus, and went home. After about a week at home, he decided to re-enlist because his parents took his military pay and spent it on alcohol. He enlisted in the Air Force and was sent to Marshfield, California. He decided to enlist in the Air Force because he wanted to be the one dropping the bombs. He was a staff sergeant, but was demoted to private for his troublesome behavior. While he was in the Air Force, he began working at a beer garden. He met his wife at the beer garden and was married for 74 years until she passed away. While he was in the Air Force, he became a supply sergeant. Every three years, he was transferred to a different base until he retired in Georgia. He learned to play golf while he was in the service.

Real estate helped Paul Kerchum get over his war experience because it was very cutthroat. Sometimes he would have nightmares about being a prisoner of war. He did not have problems adjusting to civilian life. It helped when he began giving talks to the public and school children. Kerchum never thought that he was not going to return home. He became a believer in Catholicism after his experience as a prisoner of war, and became an active parishioner in his community. Kerchum’s most memorable experience of World War 2 was getting on a British destroyer and heading to Tokyo Bay [Annotator’s Note: Tokyo, Japan]. World War 2 matured him. The war means nothing to most Americans. Kerchum believes there should be institutions like the National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana], and that we should continue to teach World War 2 to future generations.