MOTHERWELL TIMES, FRIDAY 21ST JUNE 1968
HE READ ABOUT HIMSELF LAST WEEK
Following an article under our ’25 Years Ago’ column, the ‘Times’ received a letter from a Mr Daniel Fraser, formerly of Motherwell and now residing in Shandon, near Helensburgh.
Mr Fraser had been featured in the article as being one of the first Japanese POWs to manage to have a postcard sent home telling about the state of his health and the location of the camp where he is being held.
He happened to read the ‘Motherwell Times’ that week and was surprised and delighted to see his own name mentioned.
Then he decided to write to us, enclosing some press cuttings from the war-time American ‘Stars and Stripes’ forces newspaper.
These cuttings tell of his further experiences while a captive in Korea, when he commandeered a fishing boat while on an unauthorised foraging expedition outside his camp to rescue the crew of an American bomber shot down into the sea.
After the war, Mr Fraser was honoured for his heroism by the US Air Force, who awarded him a bound letter of commendation. The USAF embassy attache in London, Brigadier General Grover C Brown and his staff, in fact made a special trip to conduct the presentation at Prestwick Air Base.
Mr Fraser is now an instructor at St Andrew’s Approved School, Shandon and despite his past experiences, is in the best of health.
Shandon People and History 