John Manuel Real

World War II Veteran, survivor of the Bataan Death March, and Japanese Prisoner of War, hero John Real passed away on Sunday, June 8, 2014, at the age of 92 with family at his side. His passing signals the loss of another member of that generation of Americans that quietly sacrificed so much for their country during the last world war. They and their families continued this sacrifice the remainder of their lives as they dealt with the Post Traumatic Stress that was an inevitable result of the wartime experiences.

John Manuel Real was born on February 22, 1922, in Navaho, Arizona. His parents, Manuel and Isabel Real, were en route with their children, Frank and Lucille, from Malaga, Spain, to Ojai, California.

The Real family took up residence in a small home outside of town near Thacher School where Manual tended Mr. Thacher’s orange trees. Because his father died when he was young, John’s brother, Frank, became a role model and a substitute father to him as they worked to help their mother support the family.

As he reported during an oral history interview with Rutgers University in 2007, John had graduated from Nordoff High School in 1941 and being adventurous, was interested in getting as far away from home as possible. The Army Air Corps offered such an opportunity---the exotic Philippine Islands. John and fellow classmates, Louis Hayes and Bill Fredricks, joined up together and John was assigned to Clark Field, outside of Manila. There he began training in aerial photography, flying on many aircraft, including the B-17.

On December 8, 1941, the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese attacked Clark Field. Thus it was that John moved with his squadron and many others to Bataan to await reinforcements. Those hoped for reinforcements never materialized and John and his fellow soldiers were overrun by the Japanese.

After surviving the horrors of the Bataan Death March, John and the other survivors were marched and then crammed into narrow gage train cars and taken to Camp O’Donnell. Seeing death everywhere and realizing that if he remained at Camp O’Donnell he too would die, John volunteered for a work detail and was trucked back to Bataan. Within six months of his capture, John was put in the crowded hull of a Japanese hell ship, into a cargo hold with little air, food or water, for the long journey to Japan. The unmarked ship was deliberately positioned at the end of the convoy so to be in the most vulnerable position in case of American air raids or submarine bombings. The ship arrived, however, without incident, and John was assigned to the labor camp at Nigata, Japan. There he worked for forty two months as a POW, enduring near starvation, freezing cold and the debilitating effects of the malaria that he had contracted in the Philippine Islands. John remained in Nigata until the Americans dropped the atomic bombs that ended the war.

After his release John returned to the U.S. and hitch hiked his way quietly back to Ojai, arriving at four in the morning. He graduated from Ventura College and attended UC Santa Barbara, staying close to Ojai so he could continue to help his mother. He subsequently obtained his Master’s in Business from Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona. While there he met fun-loving Standard Oil Company employee Gertrude (Trudy) Doherty, who was Michigan Irish, a life-long true- blue democrat and a phenomenal talker. During their turbulent five year courtship, both transferred to Los Angeles where John worked in sales for the Borden Company. Eventually, John and Trudy were married at Saint Basil Catholic Church in Los Angeles in 1957. They purchased a house in Whittier and added three children, Christopher, Alicia and Gregory to the family before moving to Ventura in 1966. John particularly enjoyed camping, trips to the beach and sports including the Anaheim Angels with his family. He also had a great interest in tennis which he started playing as a child in Ojai. John continued to work in sales and marketing for pharmaceutical companies until his retirement. He then continued to serve as a volunteer docent at the Getty Museum in Malibu and at the Ventura County Museum. He also enjoyed travel and the fact that he had visited so many places around the world.

Very important to John was a recent trip to Japan, where as a guest of the Japanese government he returned to the site of the Nigata prison camp where he was held in during the war. It was on this journey that John “officially” forgave the Japanese for their wartime actions and admitted to his son, Greg, that the Camry that Trudy had wanted to buy years earlier was now something he would support.

John thought his military service helped him to mature into a good citizen. He thought the values of honesty, trustworthiness, politeness and treating others as you would want to be treated were very important and he tried to instill those in his children. John loved his grandchildren and cherished the many good times he was able to spend with them.

John was preceded in death by his loving wife, Trudy (legendary Ventura childcare provider); brother, Frank; and sister, Lucille. He is survived by son, Christopher and wife Tracy Real; daughter, Alicia Real; and son, Gregory and wife Monika Real. John is also survived by four grandchildren.

The Family wishes to thank those who served John with love and care including Doctors Tom Kong Sr., Tom Kong Jr. and Scott Tushla, Lilly at the Oxnard VA and the loving staff at Treacy Villa.

A Funeral Mass will be held on Friday, June 20, 2014, 11:00am, at Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church, 3175 Telegraph Road, Ventura. Burial will follow at Ivy Lawn Memorial Park, 5400 Valentine Road, Ventura.

In lieu of flowers donations can be made to John’s favorite charities: CARE USA (www.CARE.org), 151 Ellis Street, NE Atlanta, GA 30303 or Ventura County Museum (www.venturamuseum.org), 100 East Main Street, Ventura, CA 93001.

Arrangements are under the direction of the Ted Mayr Funeral Home, 3150 Loma Vista Road, Ventura. Condolences may be left at TedMayrFuneralHome.com.