Japan in November 1942, Olson was imprisoned at the Osaka Seiko Company steel mill in Osaka, Japan where he spent the remainder of the war in forced labor, until being moved to Oeyama before the onset of U.S. bombing raids. Liberated in September, 1945, he traveled to Kyoto, Japan where he stayed at the Miyako Hotel, overlooking the city, and was given the Emperor's Penthouse Suite, which he wrote about in an article published in the October 1983 issue of The Retired Officer, "I Slept in the Emperor's Bed." Post-War experience Back in the United States, Olson married Harriette Marshall (daughter of Major General Richard J. Marshall, a member of Douglas MacArthur's staff on Corregidor Island). The two had met en route to the Philippines just before the war. The Olsons had five children, including scientist-turned-filmmaker Randy Olson. Col. Olson served as J-3 advisor in the early 1960s in Vietnam. He retired as a full colonel in 1967. He later became Vice President of Black and Veatch Consulting Engineers as Director of International Marketing. After his second retirement, he set to work fulfilling the vow he had made after World War II to eventually write a book about his Camp O'Donnell experiences. In 1985 he self-published his first book, "O'Donnell: Andersonville of the Pacific", in which he drew parallels between Camp O'Donnell and the Civil War Confederate prison, Andersonville—the two prisons represent the two highest levels of mortality in history for U.S. POW's. In both cases, the cause of the high mortality was primarily disease due to unsanitary conditions brought on by overcrowding and poor administration. In the following years he published three more books, wrote numerous articles, and became a popular authority on the history of the Philippine Scouts. On May 24, 2008 he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Philippine Scouts Heritage Society. His military awards include, among others, the Silver Star, the Bronze Star Medal, the Order of Merit, and the Army Commendation Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster. Publications 1985: O'Donnell, Andersonville of the Pacific, 1994: The Guerrilla and the Hostage, References 1917 births 2012 deaths United States Army officers Recipients of the Silver Star Bataan Death March prisoners United States Army personnel of World War II American prisoners of war in World War II World War II prisoners of war held by Japan People from Kansas United States Military Academy alumni