70 Years After WWII, Mitsubishi Apologizes to Santa Maria Veteran

The Associated Press reports a major Japanese corporation has given an unprecedented apology to a 94-year-old U.S. POW for using American prisoners of war for forced labor during World War II.

At a solemn ceremony Sunday with U.S. and Japanese flags projected behind them, POW James Murphy accepted the apology from executives of Mitsubishi Materials.

Murphy, who was forced to work in Mitsubishi copper mines under harsh conditions during the war, called the day glorious and historic and said the apology was sincere and remorseful.

The event was hosted by the Museum of Tolerance at the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles.

The Japanese government has twice apologized to U.S. POWs for subjecting them to forced labor during the war. But Sunday’s apology was the first from a Japanese corporation, according to organizers.