Your Grandfather's service number was O-198944, he died 6/14/42 and his NOK was listed as Mrs W.G. McMurray, 1560 E. 145h St., San Leander, Calif. His remains were identified after the war and buried in the Manila American Cemetery in grave D-4-15.
If you call the Army Casualty Office at 800-892-2490 they will send you a copy of his Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF). Often the IDPF will contain a hospital record which will indicate if a man came through Camp O'Donnell which would indicate he participated in the BDM.
Since his remains were identified, I'm not sure if the Army Casualty Office will ask for a DNA sample from your family. Even though he was identified his DNA might help in the identification of someone else.
The 'DATE REPORT' on the form shows that he became a prisoner on May 7, 1942, strongly suggesting he might have been on Corregidor.
The following link is a roster of Army personnel who were transferred out of Bilibid to other camps. Nearly all of the Corregidor personnel were sent to Bilibid at first. For him to have died at Cabanatuan one month later, he would almost certainly have had to go to Bilibid with the other Corregidor POWs which was on May 23, 1942. Unfortunately, for some reason his name is not on this list. But mistakes are known to have happened.
It doesn't address your question of where he started his journey, but only adds that he died at 3:00 am on June 14, 1942.
Patty
Just for future reference, this appears to be an excerpt from the Cabanatuan Burial Roster which is in the ADBC-DG library collection. Several pages were lost from the original burial roster maintained by the POWs and I've been able to overlay this roster on the original and reconstruct several of the missing pages. The biggest problem with this roster is that it is not in the same sequence as the original so it is useless for determining grave number.
I have an excerpt of the complete roster (less two pages) posted on bataanmissing.com.
FWIW, in those early days of Cabanatuan, the death rate was much, much higher among DM survivors so odds are that LTC McMurry did get the Bataan tour. The best way to know for sure is to see if it is noted on his hospital record or in one of the unit histories which were maintained in the camp. Many of these histories read like morning reports.
Last Edit: Aug 19, 2012 23:29:19 GMT 8 by JohnEakin
Thanks for recommending my Bilibid Transfer Roster but since Lt. Col. Weldon G McMurray died so early in the war , 14 June, 1942, he wouldn't appear on my roster. The Bilibid Transfer Roster only listed those pow's who were being processed for transfer to Japan and Manchuria via Hellships. All pows were moved to Bilibid Prison prior to boarding their respective Hellships. McMurray died soon after arriving at Cabanatuan from O'Donnell. The first Hellship, the Nagara Maru, did not sail until 12 August, 1942. My Transfer roster does not include Marine or Naval personnel. The Navy and Marines must have kept their own records which I never discovered at the National Archives.
Late entry: Just out of curiosity I checked the NARA "DATE REPORTED" for several POWs that I know were captured on Bataan, and it showed 7 MAY 42 for them also! Maybe NARA lists all the Bataan POWs with that date regardless of when they were captured. If so, then I could be wrong about LTCOL Mc Murray being captured on Corregidor. And I will also have misled Patty on the matter as well as the Bilibid transfer list. (P.S.- I still got dinner tonite... )
In any case, keep up the great posts, Bob. I look forward to and study each one you make...Regards, Chad
My fault. The vast majority of those who at Cabanatuan in June were Bataan men transferred from O'Donnell. I made an assumption without checking when answering Patty about why McMurray wasn't on my Transfer roster. By the way, I find mistakes on my roster all the time. Wrong middle initials, wrong rank, wrong Hellship....Some by NARA and some by me typing long hours in the middle of the night. If you discover an error, please let me know. The most accurate Transfer roster is here on my computer. The one online is nine months out of date.
JackJensen: I came across my father's name - Capt. Paul Jensen - who was with the CIC, on the forum. I'm hoping to find more, though it appears that his area - Sicily, North Africa - was not the focus of the board. So, I'm not sure how much I can contribute.
Jan 6, 2024 20:44:06 GMT 8
EXO: To clarify: There are a disturbing number of applicants for membership who are not reading the rules. As a result, new members who have not made a relevant post within 3 months may be deleted without further notice, on the ground they are "bots".
Feb 29, 2024 20:10:50 GMT 8
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lf62: Does anyone have the pdf file of 434. US Naval Station (NAVSTA) Subic Bay 1985 map or drawing that they can share with me? Let me know and I will send you my email address.
Mar 14, 2024 15:18:24 GMT 8
fortman: Thanks Karl. Sad to see so much deterioration on Grande Island.
Apr 18, 2024 3:44:41 GMT 8