# Long John Wisecup ww2 pow=



## jamesmetairie

anyone remember Johnny Wisecup. he was a retired seaman and federal worker at new sanyo(?) hotel and lived in yokohama for many years. he was a uss houston survivor(usmc) and was pow on death railroad.


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## Dave63

jamesmetairie said:


> anyone remember Johnny Wisecup. he was a retired seaman and federal worker at new sanyo(?) hotel and lived in yokohama for many years. he was a uss houston survivor(usmc) and was pow on death railroad.


Yes, I remember John. I met him in 1971 when I was working on an oil tanker, the Sandy Lake, going between Thailand and the Persian Gulf. John taught us boxing and told stories about his days in wartime captivity; he said he survived that episode because he was "tougher" than anyone else. He was a colorful character, worked as a wiper at the time, said it was the most secure job in the fleet because no one else wanted it, and he could get off or on a ship when he liked and needed the money or wanted to spend it. He wrote some poems, one of which was about "getting a ship" when your wife was screaming at you too much. I was glad to know him, a real old salt and independent guy with lots of tales to tell, some no doubt tall but entertaining. He's probably passed away by now, but I thought of him on the next ship I worked on -- as a wiper for NMU.


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## Dave63

*Update on John Wisecup*



Dave63 said:


> Yes, I remember John. I met him in 1971 when I was working on an oil tanker, the Sandy Lake, going between Thailand and the Persian Gulf. John taught us boxing and told stories about his days in wartime captivity; he said he survived that episode because he was "tougher" than anyone else. He was a colorful character, worked as a wiper at the time, said it was the most secure job in the fleet because no one else wanted it, and he could get off or on a ship when he liked and needed the money or wanted to spend it. He wrote some poems, one of which was about "getting a ship" when your wife was screaming at you too much. I was glad to know him, a real old salt and independent guy with lots of tales to tell, some no doubt tall but entertaining. He's probably passed away by now, but I thought of him on the next ship I worked on -- as a wiper for NMU.


P.S. I just checked on Google and found John mentioned as passing away in Yokohama in 2001, after retiring there and marrying a Japanese woman named Iku, I believe. He continued to write poetry, apparently, and as a USS Houston survivor he is mentioned on their associationi websites and in the U.Texas archives devoted to those survivors. After all he suffered in WW II, he wound up finishing up his life in Japan happily, it sounds like. I'm glad for him.


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## jamesmetairie

*remember this=*

i,m john,s cousin. i was a.b. on the ss copper state in sattahip around november 1971 when you guys were there. i was sitting in the bar at the launch boat landing when john stepped ashore. later most everyone went to the swan lake hotel. they had a big dance floor there. i remember meeting a german crew member on the sandy lake at the time. in 1973 i worked alot of 24 hour standby jobs on the tankers in sattahip. if i,m right i remember the valves on deck took 2 or 3 guys to turn em. was tony archer on the sandy lake then? tony lived in pattaya beach back then. i,m retired nmu and work as a lock operator(army civilian) in new orleans for 15 years. john was here visiting in 2001. i put him on the airplane and i got the call from the us consulate . if there,s anyway to send a private message on this forum send me your e-mail and we,ll chat. Jim Mc D.


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## Dave63

*1971 photo of John*



jamesmetairie said:


> i,m john,s cousin. i was a.b. on the ss copper state in sattahip around november 1971 when you guys were there. i was sitting in the bar at the launch boat landing when john stepped ashore. later most everyone went to the swan lake hotel. they had a big dance floor there. i remember meeting a german crew member on the sandy lake at the time. in 1973 i worked alot of 24 hour standby jobs on the tankers in sattahip. if i,m right i remember the valves on deck took 2 or 3 guys to turn em. was tony archer on the sandy lake then? tony lived in pattaya beach back then. i,m retired nmu and work as a lock operator(army civilian) in new orleans for 15 years. john was here visiting in 2001. i put him on the airplane and i got the call from the us consulate . if there,s anyway to send a private message on this forum send me your e-mail and we,ll chat. Jim Mc D.


I filled out the online form to become Friends with you, Jim, but I'm not sure if it worked or not, seemed to be no way to actually send a message. I only worked on the Sandy Lake for three months that time and I think I got off in Singapore before it arrived in Sattahip when you were there. That was the last I saw of John, but I do have an old photo of him teaching one of the ordinaries boxing in 1971 that I could send you a copy of, including electronically, if you wish. Dave


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## jamesmetairie

*thanks Dave.*



Dave63 said:


> I filled out the online form to become Friends with you, Jim, but I'm not sure if it worked or not, seemed to be no way to actually send a message. I only worked on the Sandy Lake for three months that time and I think I got off in Singapore before it arrived in Sattahip when you were there. That was the last I saw of John, but I do have an old photo of him teaching one of the ordinaries boxing in 1971 that I could send you a copy of, including electronically, if you wish. Dave


 the forum moderator told me said we need to post at least 5 times to be able to send private e-mail.
btw= i got the ashes of john and his wife and they,re now at the new V A cemetary in grand prairie(dallas). alot of the survivors of the uss houston are being buried there.


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## Dave63

jamesmetairie said:


> the forum moderator told me said we need to post at least 5 times to be able to send private e-mail.
> btw= i got the ashes of john and his wife and they,re now at the new V A cemetary in grand prairie(dallas). alot of the survivors of the uss houston are being buried there.


Did you get my reply I sent to this already, Jim? Dave (they seem to have blocked my effort to get you my email address, again this time too, even though this is our seventh post, oh well)


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## jamesmetairie

*not yet=*



Dave63 said:


> Did you get my reply I sent to this already, Jim? Dave (they seem to have blocked my effort to get you my email address, again this time too, even though this is our seventh post, oh well)


i think it takes the mods a couple of days to process it. Jim.


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