The Japanese used jack and many of his fellow prisoners as forced labour at the Mitsubishi shipyard in Nagasaki. Jack was in the camp in August 1945 when Bockscar incinerated the city with the second – and hopefully the last - atomic bomb ever used in war.
In 2002, Ford went back to Japan with CBC journalist Reg Sherren. It was the first time he’d been in Japan since 1945.
CBC has posted the complete documentary Reg made of that trip. Ford’s story is as moving a piece of television as you will ever see crafted by an experienced, thoughtful journalist.
If you do nothing else today, take an hour and watch it here: Remembering John Ford.
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