Like any American, Louise Hill can thank veterans for their service to the country, for defending her freedom and for standing up against evil in the world.

She can thank them for traveling to any number of foreign countries, prepared to sacrifice their lives if necessary to defend her rights as an American citizen.

However, Hill's gratitude may run a bit deeper than most. Born in China, she spent over three years in a concentration camp in the Philippines during World War II. Although she was only 12 when she left the camp, her experience about nearly escaping death and being liberated by American forces is a story she will never forget.

During a veterans' ceremony and luncheon at the Greek Orthodox Church in Jamestown, N.Y., last month, she asked if anyone in the room had been in the Philippines during the time she was there. When Robert Olson raised his hand, the strangers soon realized they had more in common than they may have thought.

Olson, who has lived in the Jamestown and Celoron, N.Y., area his entire life, served in the U.S. Army Reserve as a technician during World War II. He was drafted in 1943, four months after his 18th birthday.

During his time, he visited many South Pacific nations while moving supplies from ships to shore.

"I always tell the sailors I was probably on more ships that they were ever on," said Olson. "In those days we sailed everywhere, we didn't go by airplane. I had a lot of trips. I was in Australia, New Guinea, New Britain, the Admiralties and the Philippines."

Olson's group was comprised of many familiar faces, including some he knew before the battle and others he would never forget.

"These people that you were in the service with, you knew them better than your family," he said. "Those names stick with you forever. You know just about everything they did. You see each other every now and then. There were six of us from our high school graduating class in that same battalion from Celoron." He added that a total of 16 soldiers in his team were from the Jamestown area.

During his travels, his group passed through the University of Santa Tomas in the Philippines, which the Japanese had turned into a concentration camp for civilians, foreigners and prisoners of war. Hill was one of those held at the camp, which was liberated when Olson and his team passed through.

The thought that Olson was in the same place at the same time and represented the thousands of men who helped liberate those from the concentration camp was very moving for Hill. She had attended the luncheon specifically to see if anyone there would know about the concentration camp in the Philippines from 65 years ago.

"It brought tears to my eyes and now it's bringing tears to mine again," she said. "I'm very thankful for the people who came and liberated us because the Japanese had originally scheduled to take us out and kills one way or another because they were losing the war."

"It's such an unusual thing," Olson said about meeting Hill 65 years after the two were in the Philippines. "I have told other people about it and they can't seem to get over it."

At The Camp

Although she was only a child when her family was forced into the concentration camp, Hill still remembers a lot about her experience there. Over the years, she has been fascinated about the topic and continues to learn more and more about what she, her brother and her parents experienced.

"I was a child and really didn't realize how serious it was," she said. "I have quite an extensive library to this point of all that - I did all the reading and talking to friends. It was quite serious but I was there when I was nine to 12 and my friends were in there with me."

While at the camp, Hill attended school with many of her friends. Despite the school setting for the younger children, she vividly remembers what prisoners had to do each time they saw one of the Japanese.

"Every time we met a Japanese we had to bow, and I mean really bow not just your head," she said. "So whenever you saw one coming you wanted to turn around and go the other way."

The traditions prisoners were forced to follow certainly weren't the only horrible aspects of the camp. At night, the families were separated by gender, and Hill and her mother slept on cots that were crowded into a schoolhouse classroom. Also, most prisoners were only given enough food to survive, and sometimes not even that.

"The food situation was terrible," she remembered. "My dad had been a big man, not exceptionally tall but he had big framework. He was 210 pounds when we were taken in and he was 120 when we were liberated. I don't think he would have lasted much longer. This happened to a lot of people that were there; they died of Beriberi, starvation and all kinds of things."

Liberation and Closure

The camp was liberated in February 1945 and for years Hill would never speak of her experiences during her time in the Philippines. In 1995, however, she was contacted by a woman from the same concentration camp who was trying to get a group to go over to the Philippines to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the liberation.

"I had to have closure," said Hill about making the trip halfway around the world. "After I had gone to that, I was more willing to talk about things. I met many people who I had not seen in 50 years that were my friends as I was growing up in the camp."

Since 1995, a group of about 13 that were once at the concentration camp meet on an annual basis at different locations across North America.

"We've been to Vancouver, Toronto, Florida, the Cape, California," she said. "One of the gals takes it upon herself to be the hostess, if you want to call it that, and the group comes. We have kept in touch every year since 1995."

Thanking The Vets

Meeting Olson at the luncheon was another form of closure for Hill, who has called Warren home for over 54 years. She said that whenever she has the opportunity to see those who had come to the camp, she is very thankful.

"I appreciate the men who fight and what they fight for because in my instance, if it hadn't been for them I wouldn't be here," she said. "It is an experience I am very glad I went through given the outcome, because there's not much that bothers me. I put everything on a scale of one to 10 and I appreciate life."

Olson said he has been thanked on different occasions for his service. Nevertheless, he agrees that Veterans Day is a great time to thank anyone who has served in any of America's wars - past and present.

"Vets Day, I think, is the best day in the world," he said. "There are so many people that think it is just another holiday to get a day off or something."

But Hill is not one of those people. She had the chance to thank Olson and other veterans for their service last month, and she wasn't the only one thanking them Wednesday.