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Photo above: Burying their dead comrades at Camp O'Donnell, Capas, Tarlac. Unfortunately, the Mindanao Death March had no photo documentation.
Atty. Robert John I. Donesa
rjdonesa@gmail.com
Baliwag Polytechnic College
Abstract
The
purpose of this paper is to bring to the fore the rather untold story of the
Death March in Mindanao – one of the only two death marches recognized in the
Tokyo war crime trials as evidence of inhuman treatment to Prisoners of War
(POWs) during the World War II.
On
4 July 1942, surrendered Filipino and American soldiers in Mindanao were made
to march on a rocky dirt road and under the blazing tropical sun, from Camp
Keithley in Dansalan to Iligan in Lanao – a distance of about thirty-six (36)
kilometers for the purpose of joining them with the rest of the Mindanao POWs
at Camp Casisang, Malaybalay, Bukidnon. Transport trucks, although available,
were denied the POWs. Without food and water, one by one the soldiers fell down
due to exhaustion. Those who fell were shot at the forehead to prevent them
from joining the guerrillas in case they recover.
But
the story did not end there. The challenge of establishing said historical fact
is very difficult because of utter lack of records. It is, however, fortunate
that some survivors of the ordeal left recorded interviews and memoirs which
are now found online. But then again, historians are faced with the challenge
of validating and admitting these online sources as primary sources of history.
Thus, this paper.
Keywords:
Online primary sources, world war II, death march in Mindanao
I. Introduction
During the World
War II, there were two (2) death marches that took place in the Philippines.
Both were presented at the Tokyo War Crimes Trials as evidence of inhuman
treatment to prisoners of war (POWs). These were the “Bataan Death March” and
the “Iligan Death March.” The Bataan Death March, which took place in April
1942, was an arduous 65-mile march from Mariveles, Bataan to San Fernando,
Pampanga. The Mindanao Death March , sometimes called the Iligan Death March or
Dansalan Death March, happened on July 4, 1942, was a 25-mile walk under the
scourging heat of the tropical sun from Dansalan (now Marawi), Lanao del Sur to
Iligan, Lanao del Norte.
While the Bataan
Death March is a widely known indignity to the WWII POWs, there seemed to be
very scanty account on the Iligan Death March. It is fortunate that at least
four (4) of the American POWs who participated in the said death march
eventually survived the gruesome war and narrated their ordeals before they
died. They were: Victor L. Mapes, Herbert L. Zincke, Richard P. Beck and
Frederick M. Fullerton, Jr. These narratives, however, can only be found online. After validating these sources,
it is now possible to retell the story of the Mindanao Death March for the
present and future generations. Thus, this paper.
II. Notes on the Sources
Although the
Iligan Death March took place in Mindanao, majority of the primary sources may
only be found overseas. Thus, a few years back, it will take a persistent
historian, with means, to access records from overseas libraries and archives
to establish such historical fact. It indeed is fortunate that in the recent
years, some survivors of the World War II left interview video records, memoirs
and photographs which were posted online by the overseas libraries and
archives.
Historians,
before considering the expositions of a source, examine its intrinsic and
extrinsic validity. The source should be historically verifiable in form and
substance. Failure to pass these tests may result to the rejection of a
document, record, narrative, interview and even memoir as evidence for the
establishment of a historical fact. This is also true to sources found online.
The four primary sources used in this work were primarily personal narratives of
the survivors of the event. Two are published online, that of Richard P. Beck
and Frederick M. Fullerton, Jr. The other two were published memoirs, that of
Victor L. Mapes and Herbert L. Zincke. The online sources, after triangulation,
were verified and accepted as records for purposes of reconstructing the
historical fact - the Mindanao Death March.
The first set of
primary sources is the video interview and memoir of Frederick M. Fullerton,
Jr. He was a corporal in the US Army assigned at Philippine Ordnance Depot,
75th Ordnance Company. He survived the the Iligan Death March which he called
“Dansalan Death March.” He was interviewed by Holly Edwards of the Veterans
History Project of the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress on
September 15, 2003 at the Tyler Junior College, Tyler, Texas. He also wrote an
unpublished account on his World War II ordeals entitled “Memoir of Frederick
Marion Fullerton, Prisoner of War of the Japanese, May 27, 1942 - September 2,
1945.” These sources can be accessed online and cited as: Frederick Marion
Fullerton, Jr. Collection (AFC/2001/001/15785), Veterans History Project,
American Folklife Center, Library of Congress. The said memoir details the
events before, during and after the 1942 death march.
The second set of
primary sources are the video interviews of Richard P. Beck. He was a Master
Sergeant of the 14th Bomb Group of the US Army Air Corps. He surrendered in
1942 and was held a captive in several Japanese prison camps days before being
rescued by the Rangers from Camp Cabanatuan in 1945. He
survived the Iligan Death March. He was interviewed by Janson Cox of the South
Carolina Cotton Museum, Inc. where he narrated his ordeal. The videos of the
interviews may be accessed online and cited as: Richard P. Beck Collection
(AFC/2001/001/54751), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center,
Library of Congress.
The third primary
source is a published memoir of Victor L. Mapes. He was enlisted in the 14th
Bomb Group of the US Army Air Corps in 1939 and served until his retirement in
1959. Upon his surrender at Camp Keithley in Dansalan in 1942, he served as the
Camp’s cook, thus, the title of his memoir is “The butchers, the baker : the
World War II memoir of a United States Army Air Corps soldier captured by the
Japanese in the Philippines.” It cannot be accessed online. A copy may be found
at The Filipinas Heritage Library (FHL), Ayala Museum, Makati City. On the
Iligan Death March, Mapes devoted a detailed chapter on the event which he
called the “Mindanao Death March.” Mapes’ work verifies the online accounts on
the death march by Beck and Fullerton, Jr.
The last primary source is the published
memoir of Herbert L. Zincke. At 18, Zincke
enlisted in the 14th Bomb Group of the US Army Air Corps. He was a survivor of
the Death March and even helped Beck survived the ordeal. He wrote “Mitsui
Madhouse,” a memoir based on a diary he wrote during the war. Zincke’s notes on
the Mindanao Death March are very similar in substance with that of Mapes.
Nevertheless, it may also be used to validate the sources found online.
The identified authors were confirmed
survivors of the WWII Mindanao Death March. Although they revealed their
ordeals long after the war is over, their narratives were gathered and kept by
the United States Library of Congress for posterity. The intended audiences
include future researchers, filmmakers, storytellers and other stakeholders.
All of the authors confirmed the existence of the Mindanao Death March and its
gory details. All of the sources were assessed to be relevant, reliable and
accurate. Thus, the following historical narrative.
The objective of this study is to
establish a historical fact - the Death March in Mindanao. It is hoped that
this paper spurs interests among historians and researchers to reexamine
Mindanao’s role during World War II to better appreciate it and to place more
space for Mindanao in Philippine History textbooks.
IV. Methodology and the Conceptual Framework
As the
study involved a historical problem or the need to establish a historical fact,
the methodology used in this research is historical approach and triangulation. Data about the
Death March in Mindanao were mined from online records, memoirs, statements,
testimonies and as well as printed books and triangulated the same with
contemporaneous print and non-print sources.
The
data collection includes: (1) mining online libraries, archives and other sites
for relevant public documents, statements, testimonies, edicts, decrees, memoirs,
books, documentaries and movies among others; (2) combing Philippine libraries
and archives for published WWII books authored by some survivors; and (3)
looking into the secondary sources - the published the works of historians and
scholars found in Philippine libraries.
The
collected records and documents were evaluated as regards their extrinsic and
intrinsic validity. They were cross-validated with existing print and non-print
sources through triangulation. They were then classified as primary and
secondary sources. The verified primary sources were given primacy over
secondary sources. Secondary sources were consulted only when the primary
sources were ambiguous or contradictory.
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WWII Death March in Mindanao
(Historical Fact)
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Online
Primary WWII Documents, Decrees, Memoirs
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Print
and non-print WWII Primary Sources
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Online Primary WWII Survivors’
Interviews, Documentaries, Movies
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Print
and non-print WWII Secondary Sources
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- The Tokyo War Trials and the Iligan
Death March
On January 19,
1946, the victorious Allied powers—France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom
and the United States of America— established the International Military
Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE) in Tokyo, Japan. The IMTFE had the
jurisdiction to try individuals for Crimes against Peace, War Crimes, and
Crimes against Humanity committed during the World War II. The subsequent
trials held were collectively known as the Tokyo War Crimes Trials.[1]
The IMTFE was
authorized to try and punish Far Eastern war criminals. It presided over the
prosecution of nine (9) senior Japanese political leaders and eighteen (18)
military leaders who were considered to be the prime movers of the World War II
atrocities. Eventually, the tribunal found all the defendants guilty and
sentenced them to punishments ranging from seven-year imprisonment to death.
Two of them died during the trial. The Japanese Emperor Hirohito and the
members of the imperial family were not indicted. The Emperor was permitted to
retain his royal position, although on a diminished status.
General Douglas
MacArthur, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, as authorized by the IMTFE
Charter, appointed judges to the IMTFE from the countries which signed Japan’s
instrument of surrender: Australia, Canada, China, France, India, the
Netherlands, the Philippines, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the
United States. Each of these countries also sent a prosecution team.[2]
The Tokyo War
Crimes Trials were held from May 1946 to November 1948. The Philippine
Prosecution Team presented and proved before the IMTFE at least sixteen (16)
incidents of indignities, torture and barbarities committed against the
Filipino and Foreign Prisoners of Wars (POWs) and civilians. These incidents
were as follows:
1. The Bataan Death March
2. Bataan General Hospitals 1
and 2
3. Camp O’ Donnell
4. Iloilo Camp
5. Corregidor Fortress
6. Iligan Death March
7. Cabanatuan Camp
8. Gapan Camp
9. Bilibid Prison
10. Davao Penal Colony
11. Nichols Field
12. Tayabas Road Detail
13. Puerto Princesa
14. Bombing of Oryoku Maru
15. Execution of Two American Fliers
16. Los Baños
Each of these
incidents is a bundle of gruesome stories and tales of human sufferings. The
Bataan Death March, notorious as it was, overshadowed all the other incidents
in history books. In fact, of the 16 incidents, only the Bataan Death March
appeared in history textbooks. All the others remained unknown.
And because the
pieces of evidence against the accused were overwhelmingly strong, the Iligan
Death March, along with others, were only summarily presented and proven during
Tokyo War Crimes Trials. The trial records summarized the incident as follows:
“A milder
counterpart of the Bataan Death March happened on July 4, 1942, in Lanao. On
that day, American and Filipino forces were forced to march from Keithley to
Iligan, Lanao, a distance of about thirty-six kilometers with Malaybalay as
their destination. During the march a prisoner was sick and unable to keep pace
with the rest was shot. No food or water was given the prisoners. One died
during the march.”[3]
B. Guests of the Emperor
The Japanese
landed in the Southern part of Mindanao, in Parang, Maguindanao. From there,
they began advancing northwards to the Province of Lanao. The Philippine Troops
and Moros formed the Bolo Battalion under General Guy Fort. The plan was to
defend Ganassi, Bacolod Grande on the southern end of Lake Lanao and stopped
the advancing Japanese troops. Gen. Fort planned guerilla warfare.
However, on May
6, 1942, Gen. Jonathan M. Wainwright IV, the Allied commander in the Philippines, surrendered
the Filipino and American Forces on Bataan and Corregidor. Gen. Homma
threatened to kill the American surrenderees from Bataan and Corregidor unless
all American and Filipino forces surrendered. Subsequently, on May 10, 1942,
Gen. Wainwright ordered Gen. William Sharp to surrender all his US and Filipino
troops in Mindanao which he complied.[4]
At Bubong, Lanao
del Sur, a large number of Filipino troops escaped to the hills. The Americans
were ordered not to desert or face court martial. On May 26, 1942, soldiers
walked 6 miles from Bubong to Dansalan, where they surrendered their arms. The
Japanese Commanding Officer declared them as “guests of the emperor” and not
“prisoners of war.” Soon, the surrenderees realized it was just a lip service.
There were 46 Americans and some 300 Filipinos under General Fort who
surrendered.
While awaiting
instructions from Gen. Homma, the POWs were billeted in an abandoned building
once used as a mint for producing provincial money. Soon, the Japanese guarding
the POWs were replaced with extremely young men. These spirited new guards
forced the prisoners to count themselves in Japanese language. Anyone slow in
learning Japanese numbers or committed mistakes in counting received a hard
slap on each cheek.
Beginning June
10, 1942, the young Japanese guards invaded the POW sleeping quarters. During
these nightly invasions, the Japanese looted the POWs of their belongings, beat
and abused them physically. These incidents resulted in hushed talks about
escaping. To avert possible escape, the Japanese guards adapted the Honor System,
that is, for every soldier who escaped, their officers will be executed.
On July 1, 1942,
Cpl. William Knortz, Pvt. Robert Ball, Seamen Jas S. Smith and William Johnson
escaped. Under the Honor System, Col. Robert Hale Vesey, Captain A.H. Price and
Sgt. John L. Chandler paid the price. When asked about the whereabouts of the
above-mentioned officers, the Japanese interpreter only remarked: “They died
like soldiers.” The Japanese were very angry with the escape. As punishment,
all POWs were required to walk instead of riding to Iligan.[5]
C. The Iligan Death March
At 8:00 A.M.,
July 4, 1942, the POWs lined up for the march at Dansalan (now Marawi), Lanao.
The Americans were arranged by four abreast and were strung together, in
columns, by a gauge wire through their belts. The Filipino POWs, though
unwired, were to walk barefooted. As it was the fourth of July, the march was
mockingly dubbed as the “Independence Day March.”
A truckload of
Japanese soldiers with a mounted machine gun followed the prisoners, ready to
shoot anybody who will try to escape. As the day progressed, the midday
tropical sun became unbearable.
Without food and
water, one by one the soldiers fell down due to exhaustion. Those who fell were
left behind, however, they were first shot at the forehead to prevent them from
joining the guerrillas in case they recover.[6]
D. The Death of Childress/Kildritch
Mr. Childress, or
in other documents - Kildritch, was an American civilian who owned a coconut
plantation in Mindanao. Fullerton, Jr. shared that Childress married a Filipino
and settled in Pagadian, Zamboanga.[7]
When the Japanese landed at Parang, Southern Mindanao, he volunteered for duty.
During a skirmish at Ganassi, Lanao, Childress was separated from his unit and
wandered for days in the jungles around Lake Lanao. While asleep on the side of
a trail, a Maranao attacked him, wounding him on the left side of his body. The
Maranao took his rifle, and left him unconscious[8]
Lt. Ali, the leader of the Maranao
guerrilla battalion, found the unconscious Childress and brought him to Camp
Keithley, a US Military Reservation in Marawi. At that time, the camp was
already under the control of the Japanese Imperial Army. Lt. Ali had to
intoxicate the Japanese guards for Childress to be slipped in. Lt. Ali believed
that the patient will be better taken good care of at the camp’s medical
facilities and supplies and by Major Luther Heidger, a US military surgeon.[9]
Indeed, Childress
improved under Major Heidger’s care. However, he was not fit enough for a long
walk. During the “Independence Day” march, the throng had not gone far when
Childress collapsed on the road. He had to be carried by three other prisoners
wired with him. They were soon exhausted and called Col. Mitchell for
intervention. Col. Mitchell descended from the truck and explained the
situation to Lt. Osawa, who was in charge of the march. But Lt. Osawa angrily
replied, “this march is my responsibility.” He ordered Col. Mitchell to get
back to the truck.
A Japanese guard
unhooked Childress from the throng and brought him to the rear. Col. Mitchell
hoped that Childress would be placed on the truck. Instead, the Japanese guard
led him some 75 yards behind the column and into bush and a shot was heard.
When the guard came back into sight, Lt. Osawa screamed ordering him to make
sure Childress was dead. The guard returned to the bushes, leaned over, fired
another shot and rejoined the column. The march became a death march.[10]
E. The Psychological Trauma of Richard P. Beck
Richard P. Beck
was one of the lucky survivors of the war. He had been maneuvered into a safe
spot as General Fort's orderly while a prisoner at Camp Keithley. And during
the march, Herbert Zincke, a sturdy sergeant, was tied next to him. It was
obvious to everyone that without help, Beck would not have made it through the
day.[11]
The march became
traumatic for Beck as he saw people getting executed without reason. Beck felt
like he was the next to die as he was hardly moving. Zincke slipped his arm
around Beck’s shoulder and helped him along. “Had it not been for him,” Beck
later recalled, “I would not have made it through the march.”[12]
F. The Death of Major Jay J. Navin, Commanding
Officer, 84th Regiment
Lt. Col. Barnes,
the medical officer of the 81st Division, loaded himself down with beddings,
canned goods and medical books. This load slowed down not only him but also his
whole file. His companions, Lt. Robert Pratt and Major Jay J. Navin, had to
pull like hell to keep up with the rest of the column. The other prisoners
tried to convince Barnes to throw off the yoke before he, or his comrades get
killed, but to no avail.
The Japanese
guards allowed a ten-minute rest for every hour of walk. But the rough and
rocky country road, the burden of pulling loaded comrades and the mercilessly
blazing tropical sun have taken its toll. After two hours of walk, Major Jay J.
Navin, the Commanding Officer of the 84th Philippine Regiment, was in bad shape.
Suffering from exhaustion, Major Navin fell to the ground.
Victor L. Mapes
offered him pineapple juice and tried to get him on his feet. It did not help.
Major Navin asked for water. Zincke handed him a canteen but insisted that
Navin only drinks a little. Instead, Navin turned the canteen upside down and
drank half of it before he could be stopped. He became delirious and was
gasping for breath. His comrades laid him on the ground, opened his shirt, and
called Major Heidger, the surgeon. A watching Japanese guard stopped Major
Heidger, walked over and looked at the unconscious Navin. He pulled him off the
road by his collar and shot him in the forehead. Then, the death march
continued.[13]
G. The Death of the Filipino Soldiers
The Filipino
soldiers, being resilient people, started the march at a lively pace. They
weren’t tied together. But unlike their American counterparts who wore military
shoes, they walked barefooted. Few hours into the walk, the hot rocky dirt road
started to burn their feet. So unbearable that some of them started crawling.
One was left behind. The Japanese guard, tired of prodding him to walk,
bayoneted him to death. As the march continued, The Japanese killed four more
Filipinos, including a Medical Officer with a Red Cross band on his arm. By the
end of the day, Fullerton, Jr. estimated some ten or twelve Filipino soldiers
who were killed by bayoneting or shooting.[14]
H. At St. Michael’s Academy, Iligan
By mid-afternoon,
when the throng was about 3 kilometers near Iligan, the gauge tie was removed.
They arrived in Iligan at around 7:00 P.M. in the evening. All tired, thirsty,
hungry and were at the point of complete exhaustion.[15]
The POWs, both
Filipinos and Americans, were housed at rickety two-story school building of
St. Michael’s Academy, located across the St. Michael’s Church in Iligan. The
Filipino POWs occupied the first floor while the Americans were locked at the
second floor. Physically drained of the long walk, the Americans struggled
their way up the stairs. They were cramped in a small room that when they tried
to sit down, their legs became entangled. The prisoners were irritable. They
growled at each other like wild animals on slightest provocation. It was only
when the Japanese realized that their prisoners were manageable when properly
hydrated that they allowed the men to obtain water from the nearby well.[16]
I. The Death of Lt. Robert Pratt, Finance
Officer, 81st Division
During the march,
Lt. Robert Pratt, a young and conscientious Finance Officer of the 81st Division,
was positioned in front of Lt. Col. Barnes, the Medical Officer. The fat Lt.
Col. Barnes couldn’t keep up with the pace of the throng. He was further
burdened by his baggage, which he refused to let go. As a result, Lt. Pratt was forced to pull him
all the way to Iligan. This left him completely exhausted and dehydrated by the
end of the walk.
That night, Lt.
Pratt was violently vomiting. Some of his comrades tried to comfort him by
giving him whatever they had - water, juices, etc. The physicians in the group,
Lt. Col. Barnes and Major Heidger, said there was nothing they could do for
him. He was delirious and he passed out. Before dawn, Pratt died in the arms of
his comrade, Victor L. Mapes, with a faraway look in his eyes. He was buried in
a shallow grave at a nearby Catholic Cemetery. Atop his grave, they placed a
wooden cross with Lt. Pratt’s dog tags.[17]
J. Off to Camp Casisang, Malaybalay, Bukidnon
The POWs stayed
in Iligan for two (2) days before they were ferried away to Cagayan de Oro. The
Japanese, every now and then, confiscated the POWs’ money, valuables, gold
rings, wristwatches, etc. on the pretext that the POWs had to purchase their
own food or transportation. Afraid of another dreaded march, the POWs gave
whatever they have that are of value to the Japanese. On July 6, 1942, the POWs
boarded a canon boat and sailed a hundred miles east along the shore of
Mindanao to Cagayan de Oro, a town in Northern Mindanao. From there, trucks
took them to Camp Casisang, Malaybalay,
Bukidnon where they joined other POWs from Mindanao.[18]
VI. Conclusion
The story of the
Mindanao Death March, through all these years, remained relatively unknown.
This speck of Philippine History was neither available nor accessible to the
Filipino reading public until online primary sources became available.
Triangulating and verifying these online primary sources with other available
printed and non-print sources made possible the admissibility of these sources
as historical records to be used as evidence for the writing of this historic
fact - the Mindanao Death March.
As shown, it was
a tragic story of how the American and Filipino POWs experienced undue
brutalities and indignities during the WWII in Mindanao. They surrendered and
thus, under existing laws of war they expected, at least, some civilized
treatments from the Japanese victors. It is now time to rewrite the Philippine
History textbooks and place more space for the participation of Mindanao in the
WWII.
LITERATURE CITED
Bassiouni, M.
Cherif (1999) Crimes Against Humanity in
International Criminal Law. The Hague, The Netherlands: Kluwer Law
International.
Chen, C. Peter. Invasion of the Philippine Islands, 7 Dec 1941 - 5 May 1942. https://ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=46. Accessed August 25, 2018.
Fullerton,
Frederick Marion. Memoir of Frederick Marion Fullerton, Prisoner of War of the
Japanese, May 27, 1942 - September 2, 1945. Frederick Marion Fullerton, Jr.
Collection (AFC/2001/001/15785), Veterans History Project, American Folklife
Center, Library of Congress.
Mapes, Victor L.
(2000) The butchers, the baker: the World
War II memoir of a United States Army Air Corps soldier captured by the
Japanese in the Philippines. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company.
POW Summation - Appendix B, Part II Summary of Evidence in Relation to
Treatment of Prisoners-of-War, Civilian Internees and Inhabitants of the
Philippine Islands Between December 1941 and September 1945.
https://dspace2.creighton.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10504/74573/SummationAppB-Part2.pdf?sequence=4.
Accessed May 16, 2018.
Richard P. Beck
Collection (AFC/2001/001/54751), Veterans History Project, American Folklife
Center, Library of Congress.
Zincke, Herbert
(2003) Mitsui madhouse: memoir of a U.S. Army Air Corps POW in World War II.
Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company.
Appendix 1
The
Lanao Surrenderees
The following are the American Military
Personnel who surrendered in Lanao area. The list was culled from writings of
the survivors Victor L. Mapes, Herbert L. Zincke, Richard P. Beck and Frederick
M. Fullerton, Jr...
A. Army Air Corps
From 14th, 19th and 30th Bomb Squadrons
1. Major Luther C. Heidger, Medical, 14th
- Died on the Shinyo Maru, September 7, 1942.
2. Lt. John Doe, 14th
3. Robert Ball, Fifth Air Base - Joined
guerillas, survived.
4. Richard P. Beck, 14th - Survived.
5. Edmund Casey, 14th
6. Cawthorne, 19th Medic
7. Sgt. John L. Chandler, 14th - Executed
at Dansalan, Lanao, July 3, 1942.
8. John F. Clark, 30th - Survived.
9. Jerry L. Coty - 14th
10. Vergil E. Haifley, 14th
11. William A. Knortz, 14th - Joined
guerillas, killed in action, September 11, 1943.
12. Koontz, 19th Medic
13. McLaughin, Medic
14. Victor L. Mapes, 14th - Survived.
15. Sgt. James A. Palmer, 14th - Died on
the Shinyo Maru, September 7, 1942.
16. Peterson, 30th
17. James Price, 19th
18. Thomas Renick, Jr., 14th
19. Herbert L. Zincke, 14th - Transferred
to Japan, survived.
B. Navy
20. Lt. Commander Strong
21. David Goodman, PT Squadron Radioman
Boat 34
22. William H. Johnson - escaped and
joined guerrillas, survived.
23. James S. Smith - escaped and joined
guerrillas.
81st Division,
Philippine Army
Headquarters
24. Brig. Gen. Guy O. Fort, Division
Commander - Executed.
25. Capt. A.H. Price, Field Artillery -
Executed at Dansalan, Lanao, July 3, 1942.
26. Capt. Charles Wyatt, Engineer
27. Lt. Col. Barnes, Medical Department
Doctor
28. Lt. Landis Doner, Quartermaster -
Sent to Santo Tomas Civilian POW Camp
29. Lt. Robert Pratt, Finance Officer -
Died following the Death March at Iligan, July 4, 1942.
30. Frederick M. Fullerton, Jr.,
Philippine Ordnance Depot, 75th Ordnance Company - Survived.
73rd Infantry
Regiment
31. Col. Robert Hale Vesey, Regimental
Commander - Executed at Dansalan, Lanao, July 3, 1942.
32. Capt. Steven M. Byars, Executive
Officer
33. Lt. Albert Chase, 1st Battalion
Commander - Died on the Shinyo Maru, September 7, 1942.
34. Lt. Jack Laro, 2nd Battalion
Commander - Died on Arisan Maru, October 24, 1944.
35. Lt. John Stephens, 3rd Battalion
Commander - Died on the Shinyo Maru, September 7, 1942.
61st Infantry
Regiment
36. Col. Eugene H. Mitchell, Regimental
Commander - Survived
37. Major Richard Hill, Executive Officer
38. Capt. Harry Katz, Regimental Staff -
Died on the Shinyo Maru, September 7, 1942.
39. Lt. Donald Hanning, Regimental Staff
- Sent to Santo Tomas Civilian POW Camp
Provisional
Battalion (84th Regiment)
40. Major Jay J. Navin, Battalion
Commander - Shot during Death March
Engineering
Combat Unit
41. Lt. John D. Stuckenberg, Company
Commander - Died on the Arisan Maru, October 24, 1944.
[1] Richard J. Marshall, January 19, 1946, Special Proclamation - Establishment of an
International Military Tribunal for the Far East. http://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/atrocity-crimes/Doc.3_1946%20Tokyo%20Charter.pdf
[2] Bassiouni, M. Cherif (1999) Crimes Against Humanity in International
Criminal Law. The Hague, The Netherlands: Kluwer Law International.
[3] See POW Summation - Appendix B, Part II
Summary of Evidence in Relation to Treatment of Prisoners-of-War, Civilian
Internees and Inhabitants of the Philippine Islands Between December 1941 and
September 1945.
[4] C. Peter Chen, Invasion of the Philippine Islands, 7 Dec 1941 - 5 May 1942, See: https://ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=46. Accessed August 25, 2018.
[5] Herbert Zincke, Mitsui madhouse: memoir of a U.S. Army Air Corps POW in World War II (Jefferson,
N.C.: McFarland & Company, 2003), 45-51. Henceforth cited as Zincke.
[6] Victor L. Mapes, The butchers, the baker : the World War II memoir of a United States
Army Air Corps soldier captured by the Japanese in the Philippines (Jefferson,
NC: McFarland & Company, 2000), 156-157. Henceforth cited as Mapes. See
also Frederick Marion Fullerton, Memoir
of Frederick Marion Fullerton, Prisoner of War of the Japanese, May 27, 1942 -
September 2, 1945. Frederick Marion Fullerton, Jr. Collection
(AFC/2001/001/15785), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center,
Library of Congress, 82-83. Henceforth cited as Fullerton.
[7] Fullerton, Jr., 78.
[8] Zincke, 48-49.
[9] Zincke, 48.
[10] Zincke, 48-51. See also Mapes, 157 and
Fullerton, Jr., 84.
[11] Mapes, 158.
[12] Richard Beck, Interview by Janson Cox.
See Richard P. Beck Collection (AFC/2001/001/54751), Veterans History Project,
American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
[13] Zincke, 51-52. See also Mapes, 157-158.
[14] Fullerton, Jr., 83-84.
[15] Fullerton, Jr., 85.
[16] Mapes, 158-159.
[17] Mapes, 159-160. See also Fullerton, Jr.,
82-83.
[18] Mapes, 161-172.
