Prisoner of War and WWII Veteran donates service memorabilia to Ft. Sill Field Artillery Museum

Prisoner of War and WWII Veteran donates service memorabilia to Ft. Sill Field Artillery Museum

FORT SILL — In honor of POW/MIA Remembrance Day Sept. 20, and the Oklahoma City VA highlighted POW and World War II Army Veteran, Leland D. Chandler, who recently traveled from Galesburg, Ill, to Fort Sill, Oklahoma — 1,480 miles round-trip — to donate his service dress uniform, awards, decorations, military documents, and artifacts to the U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery Training Support Facility.

 In January of 1941, Leland Chandler enlisted in the Army at 18 years old, served during WWII and was stationed at the Corregidor Islands in the Philippines with the 60th Coast Artillery. At the young age of 19 years old, Chandler was captured, taken to Japan and was listed as a prisoner of war. During his three-and-a-half year status as a POW, Chandler worked as a steel mill laborer with 12-hour shifts, slept on the workroom floor, required to perform under grueling conditions, if he was healthy enough to work — he was given a bowl of rice a day to eat and was beaten when he physically couldn’t perform his laborious duties.

“There were 400 of us that went into that Japanese prison camp and when we were freed, only 53 of us came out,” Chandler recalled as his children unveiled his service uniform and awards during the recent donation to the Fort Sill Museum.

Chandler weighed approximately 190 pounds when he went into the Japanese POW camp and when the remaining survivors were liberated, he weighed only 58 pounds.

“They told me I wouldn’t be able to have children, we’ll I’ve proved them all wrong. Heck, they never thought I would live this long, and I’ve proved them wrong on that one too”, Chandler said.

Three of Chandlers’ five children brought their father to Ft. Sill and were happy to help him donate his service memorabilia to the museum.

“We all talked about what we wanted to do with Dad’s military history and we all agreed, that it wouldn’t be right to split up his uniform and awards and that we wanted it all to be in the same place to be properly preserve to maintain all this history,” Lynn Woodworth, Chandler’s daughter said. “Now we have a place that his kids, grandkids and great-grandkids can come to see all of our Father’s history in one location.”

“Our facility is the U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery Training Support Facility. We have three facilities here at Fort Sill — the Field Artillery Museum, Fort Sill Museum and the Air Defense Artillery Training Support Facility,” said Correy Twilley ADA Training Support Facility Curator. “Ours is a new training concept that uses history to develop our soldiers, weapons and tactics.”

“We are ultimately a training facility and we have an obligation to teach our young Advanced Individual Training students and Officer Candidates Students that attend these courses about this part of our history so they can learn about the past in the hopes that we are not doomed to repeat it,” Twilley said, “We are grateful for this unique and well-preserved piece of Mr. Chandler’s history. With this donation, he is helping to educate the future generations of service members and their families who walk through these halls. So much of WWII history has been lost and Mr. Chandler and his family has helped us preserve this piece in time to teach those future generations about his contributions to our nation’s heritage.”

Chandler continues to defy the odds, at a very spry 101 years old, Mr. Chandler holds the title of centenarian and continues to puzzle the medical experts.

Chandler attributes his extraordinary good health to medical care he receives at the VA and his family that has taken such good care of him throughout the years.

“I’m 100 percent VA service connection and the VA has taken excellent care of me and they have done everything they needed to do for me and my wife — they are outstanding,” Chandler said. 

“One of the best things the VA could have done for my Father is to ensure our mother was also taken care of — this was a huge relief to me and our entire family,” Chandler’s daughter Lynn Woodworth stated. Unfortunately, On December 8, 2023, Chandlers’ wife passed away, just four days after celebrating their 75th wedding anniversary.

Chandler encourages other Veterans to find out if they are now eligible for VA healthcare because the rules and laws have changed over the years. Although, Chandler gives some sage words of advice to Veterans and says to come to the VA prepared.

“Bring in the right paperwork, the documents you need to get them into the system,” Chandler said. “Ask yourself, do you have what you need to back it up?”

When asked the question about Veterans who may be reluctant to come to the VA to find out if you are eligible or not, he gave some fatherly words of advice.

“Well, that is your own fault, if you don’t go in and find out — I don’t have any sympathy for people who don’t do the right thing. I don’t know about other places, but I know the VA where I belong, that is the way it works.”

Chandler added, “I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for my family and the excellent care the VA has given to me over the years.” Chandler said, “I don’t know what I’d do without them.”