Tulsa Veteran Welcomed Home After Visiting Scene Of World War II Captivity

A Green Country veteran came back from the battlefield Monday night.

World War II veteran Philip Coon was a corporal when he was taken prisoner by the Japanese. He spent three and a half years as a POW.

Last week he traveled to Japan to visit the places where the Japanese military forced him into slave labor.

10/12/2013: Related Story: Sapulpa Vet And Former POW Returning To Japan 70 Years Later

Upon his return to Tulsa Monday night, he told us revisiting those sites made him more grateful than ever he survived.

"I thank the Lord for watching over me, watching over our squad and we all survived the attack," Coon said.

During his homecoming at the airport, the 94-year-old survivor of the Bataan Death March received the Prisoner of War Medal, Bronze Star and the Combat Infantryman Badge.

About two dozen people applauded after Coon received the medals. 

Coon was raised by his grandparents in Okemah and attended boarding school in Sapulpa and Lawrence, Kansas.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.