British Pay WWII POWs Debt Of Honor

On this Veteran's Day weekend, there have been many tributes to those who fought to keep the world safe for democracy.

CBS News Correspondent Richard Roth reports Great Britain has decided to give a special award to some very special veterans.

A moment of silence each year marks the time when the guns stopped firing at the end of World War I.

Britain calls this a time to remember all those who fought and died for freedom. But this year, the British government's added a special tribute to some of its veterans of war.

British prisoners of the Japanese more than fifty years ago, subjected to horrific punishment and forced into slave labor, are to receive compensation -- a payment of $15,000 to some 16,000 former POW's or their widows, just authorized by the British government.

"I think it was long overdue and I think it goes some way to recognizing the sacrifices they made in the interests of this country," said British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Veterans here had called it the last battle of World War II - against their own government, which had long resisted making payments, concerned that would open the way to a flood of claims.

"I am very pleased indeed with what we got, but the other side of the coin is that there is still outstanding an apology that I want from the government of Japan," said Arthur Titherington, a former British POW.

Even so, for American survivors of Japanese prison camps, it's a sad reminder this weekend of a wartime horror. They too have been fighting, in the courts and in Congress, for compensation for the sacrifice they made half a century ago.

Richard Gordon was a 20-year old sergeant when he was captured by the Japanese.

"There's only about a thousand of us left alive of those captured in Bataan and they'll be gone soon. And to think they may possibly die without ever receiving the same recognition as the British did, it is very hurtful," said Retired Maj. Richard Gordon, a former American POW.

Like the British government, the U.S. Congress has worried that singling out one group of veterans for compensation now might set a precedent for other claims.

What the British finally decided was that the sacrifice of the former prisoners was unique, and they were due a debt of honor.