ROBERTSDALE, Alabama — Before retired colonel Glenn D. Frazier spoke to members of the Robertsdale High School Junior ROTC on Tuesday, Oct. 13, his wife, Terri, addressed the students in the room.

“How many of you in this room are 16,” said Terri Frazier, holding a photo from the Bataan Death March which features her husband. Several hands go up. “That’s the same age (Glenn Frazier) was when he lied about his age to get into the Army.

“How many of you in this room are 17. That’s how old he was when this photo was taken.”

Like it was yesterday, Frazier recounted stories of lost love and bar fights that led to his enlisting in the Army from a recruiting station near his rural hometown of Fort Deposit in April of 1941.

At the time, World War II was still in its infancy and the United States had not yet entered the war, so Frazier was assigned to the Philippine Department in Manila, where he attended officer candidate school. Less than a week before he was set to graduate and six days after his 17^th birthday, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The next day, they bombed the Philippines where he was stationed and Frazier found himself in the middle of a war.

“We were told that all of our orders had been cancelled and we would have to wait for additional orders,” Frazier said.

Frazier was then thrust into fighting against incredible odds and in April of 1942, after months of fighting, the leader of the Philippine-American forces surrendered to the Japanese, and Frazier became a prisoner of war, participating in the largest surrender of a military force in U.S. history, which would become known as the Bataan Death March.

While the history books say the march was about 65 miles, Frazier said, his part in the march was more like 90.

“How long the march was depended on where you joined it,” he said. In the end, more than 78,000 American and Philippine soldiers participated in the march. More than 11,000 Americans lost their lives and of his company of a little over 300 soldiers, only 25 made it home alive.

For 3 ½ years Frazier was held prisoner by the Japanese, suffered untold torture and the death of several friends. As a result, among others, Frazier was awarded four Purple Hearts. In September of 1945, following the dropping of atomic bombs on two major Japanese cities, Frazier and his fellow prisoners were released and returned to the United States.

“It is a miracle that I survived,” he said.

Frazier returned to have a successful career in business and sales. In 2007 he participated in “The War” by famous documentary filmmaker Ken Burnes.

He has also written a book, “Hell’s Guest,” which is dedicated to all of those who fought and died in the Philippines during World War II. Frazier also recounts his experiences at various speaking engagements and is spending the month of October speaking to all of the ROTC classes in the area.

“It is my sincere hope that none of you will ever have to go through what I went through,” he said. “It is my hope that in the future the world will be able to solve its problems without war. But I want you to remember all the things that you are being taught and be able to apply it in your lives, no matter what the circumstances.”

Frazier said the biggest lesson learned through his experiences is the lesson of forgiveness, and he credits his wife through Christianity, for showing him that lesson.

“I came back with so much hatred for the Japanese,” he said. “I thought I was a Christian, but (my wife) showed me what it is to be a Christian. If you’ve got hatred, or even dislike for something in this life, you have to get rid of it.”

In addition to Robertsdale, Frazier spoke to the Daphne High School ROTC on Oct. 15 and will be at Spanish Fort High School on Oct. 21 and 22 and at Baldwin County High School in Bay Minette on Oct. 27.

“I think it’s good for our kids to hear these stories,” said Petty Officer 1^st Class Edward “Theo” Theodoro, Naval science instructor at Robertsdale High School. “These are stories that they just can’t hear in a textbook.”

If you would like to learn more about Frazier, his book and to find out more information about book signings and speaking engagements, visit colonelfrazier.com or email usafirst2008@yahoo.com.