I believe we all have seen the 1957 war epic; The Bridge on the River Kwai starring Alec Guinness and William Holden. What many may not know that the bridge is indeed real. During the war the bridge was built by Japanese forces in Thailand trying to complete a railway that would connect Burma to Siam (present day Thailand). The Japanese desperately needed to get supplies into Burma and they did it a quite a cost. The Burma Railway had come to be known as “The Death Railway”. The Japanese used forced labor to complete the task. 
More than 13,000 prisoners of war and 100,000 civilians had lost their lives building this railway. As it turns out, there were actually two bridges built at this site, one was made of wood and the other made of steel. Both bridges were functional for 2 years. The film version of the destruction of the bridge is entirely fictional but during the war, Allied forces bombed the bridges from the air. Both bridges suffered severe damage but only the steel bridge was rebuilt. The steel bridge is still fully operational today. Walking across the bridge is an eerie feeling. It is something that cannot be accurately described. Nevertheless the bridge is quite a piece of history, so much so that the Thai government has preserved and maintains the cemetery for those fallen soldiers. Suzy and I were glad we took the time out to visit the bridge and memorial cemetery. We found it quite moving.