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70 years after WWII, Japanese Mitsubishi apologizes to U.S. vets

In this 1942 file photo provided by U.S. Marine Corps, Japanese soldiers stand guard over American war prisoners just before the start of the Bataan Death March following the Japanese occupation of the Philippines. A major Japanese corporation will offer a landmark apology on Sunday, July 19, 2015 for using U.S. prisoners of war for forced labor during World War II.
In this 1942 file photo provided by U.S. Marine Corps, Japanese soldiers stand guard over American war prisoners just before the start of the Bataan Death March following the Japanese occupation of the Philippines. A major Japanese corporation will offer a landmark apology on Sunday, July 19, 2015 for using U.S. prisoners of war for forced labor during World War II.

By Associated Press 2 min read

LOS ANGELES — A major Japanese corporation gave an unprecedented apology Sunday to a 94-year-old U.S. prisoner of war for using American POWs for forced labor during World War II, nearly 70 years after the war ended.

At the solemn ceremony hosted by the Museum of Tolerance at the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, James Murphy, of Santa Maria, accepted the apology from executives of Mitsubishi Materials in front of a projected image of the U.S. and Japanese flags.

Murphy, who was forced to work in Mitsubishi copper mines under harsh conditions, called the apology sincere and remorseful.

“This is a glorious day,” Murphy said. “For 70 years we wanted this.”

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, an associate dean at the center whose primary focus in the past has been Holocaust education, said he believes the move is unprecedented.