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Post by Bob Hudson on Jun 28, 2012 10:41:28 GMT 8
Ft Mills Death Cards are now on my Photobucket account below. photobucket.com/BataanSon Click on all albums once you're in to choose which album you wish to see.
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Post by fots2 on Jun 28, 2012 15:28:23 GMT 8
Thank-you for posting the cards Bob.
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Post by chadhill on Jul 1, 2012 22:40:27 GMT 8
Bob, nice job posting this information. I noticed that Battery Denver's colorful 1stSGT Dewey E. Brady is listed on your view # 49. He was KIA by shrapnel on top of one the water tanks on 4/24/42, the same day he was given a battlefield commission. Apparently the promotion paperwork from that morning had not been received in time for his burial. I also noticed that listed on view # 55 are the names of the Battery Mobile crew that manned the quad barrelled pom-pom gun atop Malinta Hill. On 4/29 they were seeking refuge from the Japanese bombardment by occupying the tunnel for Searchlight # 8, when a 240mm shell penetrated the vertical ventilation shaft and ignited the fuel tank for the searchlight's generator. Most sources say that 1LT Friedline and either four or five of his men were KIA. A few sources say that Friedline was WIA and later died. According to the burial records two men were wounded and later died: 1LT Stanley Friedline PVT Russell G. Johnson These men were KIA: PVT Thomas G. Moore PVT Oliver G. O'Bryant Since there are only four men listed, I looked a bit farther and found on view # 61: PVT Robert C. Prichard wounded in action buried 5/3/42 However, I can't say for sure that PVT Prichard was part of the pom-pom crew on 4/29. For more info, see the Malinta Hill thread: corregidor.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=threads&action=display&thread=532(news clip courtesy Dana Ribble) (photo from "Philippine Expeditionary Force", 1943) (photo courtesy armyjunk)
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Post by chadhill on Jul 6, 2012 23:04:14 GMT 8
Another burial which caught my attention was one listed as that of an unknown Japanese serviceman on 1/5/42. See view # 8 on Bob Hudson's Photobucket site above. It says:
BURIAL REPORT AS OF MIDNIGHT, JAN 5, 1942
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ENEMY DEAD
Plot 1, Located at 92nd CA (PS) Park
RC Row No. 1 Grave No. 1- Unknown No. 1 Japanese
Service by Calimbus
I assumed the body must have been that of a shot down Japanese airman, since it was buried well before the invasion on May 5-6. However, I recently found this passage in Colonel Carlos Romulo's "I Saw the Fall of the Philippines" (p. 199):
"On Corregidor one of our priests administered the last rites to a body found on the beach wearing the uniform of our forces. The body was about to be given Christian burial, when it was discovered to be that of a Japanese".
This passage in the book is undated. It occurs shortly before Romulo writes of the battle at Aglaloma Bay (Quinauan Point) which began with the Japanese landings on the night of January 22-23; however, he does not always write in chronological order.
Has anyone heard of Japanese attempts to put spies ashore on Corregidor?
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Post by okla on Jul 7, 2012 0:16:32 GMT 8
Hey Chad....Methinks, the enemy attempting to place a spy on the "Rock" in this manner (disguised in an American uniform) is a bit too "James Bondish" in my humble. You would think that he would immediately have been asked "what unit", etc by the first MP he encountered. If for real, this was sure as heck a very amateurish attempt, ala the attempt by the Germans in 1942 to dump agents on the American coast in order to commence blowing up munitions factories,etc. You would think, as you hinted, that he was a casualty from the Points fighting, but WHY the American uniform??? Strange indeed, this happening. Cheers.
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Post by chadhill on Jul 7, 2012 1:20:55 GMT 8
Okla, Romulo certainly wasn't clear on this, but maybe the "spy" was posing as a PS or PA. If this was not a downed airman, it would be interesting to know how he got to Corregidor on or prior to 1/5/42, with Bataan in USAFFE hands. Lots of room for rampant speculation here. I wonder if there were other Japanese buried on The Rock before May 5/6. P.S.- (late entry) When I mentioned Romulo writing shortly thereafter about the Points battle, I was trying to tie his Corregidor spy story in with the 1/5/42 burial. But he skips around sometimes, so it's only a SWAG
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Post by okla on Jul 7, 2012 5:02:22 GMT 8
Hey Chad....The Jan 5, 1942 burial, of course, is too soon to be any casualty from the Points fighting (I didn't pickup on the date till reading your last post), but no downed Japanese airman would be outfitted in GI duds. I would suppose that it is entirely possible that remains of any enemy aircrew that crashed on Corregidor would have been given a similar burial, but I have never/ever heard of any Japanese A/C piling up on Corregidor proper. You speak of rampant speculation....how about this. A Japanese kid raised in LA goes home to see his relatives in Osaka in early 1941. He is drafted, against his will, into the military, takes part in the invasion of the PI, decides to "go over the hill", thinking that the USAFFE will repel the invaders, which will insure his safe return to the loving arms of his stateside parents out in the shadow of the the Rose Bowl. Tragedy strikes and he drowns in an attempt to reach one of the Bay Forts from Cavite. Naw!!! This is too extreme for even my too vivid imagination. As I told Patty, it's another little Corregidor puzzle to ponder. Cheers. Postscript...Do you think that this senario is fodder for a TV Movie??? LOL
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Post by chadhill on Jul 8, 2012 10:39:35 GMT 8
Okla, I think that's plausible enough and would make a great TV movie. Why, I'd watch it ;D
How about this one: In Manila the Japanese placed a spy, outfitted as a Philippine Regular, on board the SS Corregidor to learn if the civilian ship was carrying artillery as they suspected (the guns were in fact on board, destined for the 81st Artillery and others in the Visayan-Mindanao Force). When the liner hit a mine the night of December 16-17, the spy was killed. His body washed up on the shores of Corregidor, was found in early January and buried on 1/5...
* * * * *
I checked the DPMO and ABMC websites. Both 1stSGT Brady and 1LT Friedline were reburied in the Manila American Cemetery; however, Brady's date of death is listed incorrectly by ABMC as 10/24/42 instead of 4/24/42. PVTs Johnson, Moore, O'Bryant and Prichard are not listed on either site, so I assume they were reburied stateside.
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Post by okla on Jul 8, 2012 20:20:43 GMT 8
Hey Chad....Is is possible that we have missed our "calling". ?? Hollywood Screenwriters!!!! I had never given it much thought, but I think I will just stick with my retirement occupation of mulling over puzzling riddles concerning Corregidor. Postscript....It does appear that Patty has taken the "Rock" bait, hook, line and sinker. This is a good thing.
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Post by Karl Welteke on Jul 11, 2012 16:32:05 GMT 8
Hello Bob and All
First of all, thank you Bob for making these cards available. These cards are almost like putting faces to the story of Corregidor. So far, I only looked at the first 25 death cards and I make these observations and have a question. Battery “H” 59th CA is Battery Geary, right? What happened to them on the 6th or 7th of Jan 1942? These are listed on views # 9 & #10
I noticed many Philippine civilians died, I wonder where they reburied and where. Did their families get recognized or helped in other ways? Some worked for USED (view #13) or were from USFR (view #21), what were those organization?
As a Navy man, it struck me that a few of the engineering personnel on the USS Napa had Philippine names. Were Philippine Nationals part of those Navy Ship crews then? Were there many and did they serve in all ratings, (MOS in the other services)? When I entered the Navy in 1960, Filipinos recruited then in the Philippines usually only served as stewards in the wardrooms.
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