it also happened to be the 22nd birthday of tony gargano and it was the day that he decided he would enlist in the united states navy. tony was assigned to a ship disguised as a merchant marine vessel. he and hisshipmates didn't wear navy uniforms or carry i.d.'s and the ship had no guns. in november of 1942, a german ship, also disguised as a merchant vessel sank the ship that tony was on. tony survived and was taken as a prisoner aboard the german ship. then he was turned over to the japanese where he spent the next three years as a prisoner working in a coal mine. every day he'd come out of the mine covered head to toe with coal dust. in those three years tony never had a chance for a shower never even could wash his hands. three years. and he worked more than 10 hours a day on less than eight ounces of water six ounces of spoiled rice. here's how he described his experience. quote -- "they torture you they beat the hell out of us, you'd try to get up and they'd beat you back to the ground. you prayed to god that they would kill you." by the time the war was over and the red cross