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Post by JohnEakin on Aug 21, 2015 20:43:41 GMT 8
Knowing how the members of this forum love a good Corregidor mystery, here's a good one. Here are links to X files on three sets of remains found in isolated graves on Corregidor. There's not many clues, not even a location where they were found, but the fact that they were found in isolated graves rather than a cemetery means they were likely killed during the May 6 attack on tailside. There are three of them and due to the similarities in the files, I'd guess that they were found in close proximity, if not the same grave. Based on the equipment found with them, they may have been Marines. Most intriguing, a piece of gold braid was found with one of the remains. While that would seem to indicate an officer, why would anyone be wearing a dress uniform under these circumstances? The fact that they were not found until late 1947 might indicate that they were buried in a very isolated location, perhaps in their fighting position. X-334X-335X-336
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Post by okla on Aug 22, 2015 5:18:57 GMT 8
Hey John...Here are a couple of extreme SWAGs (as our Buddy Chad would call them) regarding that braid found with the remains of the "Unknowns". These guesses are coming from way out in "Left Field", but here they are anyhow. Being Ex-USAF I'm not into USMC or Army uniform decorum, but don't "Aide de Camp" types wear a braided cordlike gizmo on their right upper arm or shoulder. I do know that this is so with dress uniforms, but could they also wear one of these that is not so "dressy" on a field khaki shirt to denote their status or function??? If so, I wonder if this "gold braid" fragment might be something akin to what I am attempting to describe. Also, don't some Bugles have a braid/tassel like thing hanging from the instrument??? Bugles I have seen on Dress Parade sported something like this. I would doubt that a Bugle being utilized in the field would have such a thing dangling from it, but under the situation existing on Corregidor in early May 1942, who knows what might be in use by the besieged Defenders cornered on the "Rock". These two, "shots in the dark" are all that I can conjure up at this point, but ain't this fun?
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Post by wwalker on Aug 22, 2015 11:00:08 GMT 8
Hello John, Your post piqued my curiosity immediately and I've been digging through photographs all day. Thanks for posting the data sheets for these unknowns. The one who puzzles me the most is #334, found with the gold braid. Here are my thoughts, or as many members like to say, my SWAG. The gold braid is quite a mystery. He's (334) the only one of the three that wasn't found with a helmet. Could be, as the documents indicate, that it was from a Navy dress hat. However, it would have been strange for a sailor or any soldier or marine to have been in combat when the Japanese landed on Corregidor without a helmet, especially considering that a gold braid or white hat would present an easy target for a Japanese rifle or machine gun. Not to mention the tremendous amount of artillery fire that was being pounded onto the island, slinging shrapnel, concrete, debris etc. But things were chaotic and haphazard, of course supplies were always a problem, and some men probably lost their helmets or simply didn't get one. It could also be that the gold braid did not come from headwear. Unknown #336 was found with a USMC bayonet and the report seems to suggest that he was a Marine. If the three remains were found together, in the same spot, then I would say there is a high probability that they were Marines. But when the Japanese landed, the battle in many ways became a free-for-all, with whoever wanted to get in on the action simply grabbing a weapon (if they didn't already have one, which was the case for some of the coast artillerymen) and heading into the fight. I've heard multiple stories of Marine officers and noncoms handing out rifles to whoever would rush out of the East entrance of Malinta with them. It is my understanding that there were instances of "We need more men! You, come with me!" or "Follow him!" Out they went into the darkness or dawn to meet the Japanese with whatever weapon was at hand. So there is a faint possibility that the USMC bayonet could've been held by someone other than a Marine, but I think this is very unlikely. Back to the golden braid. If #334 was a Marine, here is one possibility for where the braid might have came from. Members of the 4th Marine Regiment Band wore gold braids on their dress uniforms. The following is a 1937 image of the 4th Marines Band in Shanghai from the website chinamarine.org Now, it's unimaginable that a Marine would have been wearing his dress uniform during combat. But it's possible that he held on to the gold braid for luck or something of the like. A keepsake of the good ole days perhaps. Who knows? This is only a SWAG! WW
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Post by fortman on Aug 22, 2015 14:20:41 GMT 8
It is interesting that no "dog tags" were found with the remains. Did the tags only come in use later in the war?
fortman
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Post by JohnEakin on Aug 23, 2015 8:49:56 GMT 8
This is kind of a stretch, but let me further confuse things. *Assuming* the gold braid indicates this was an officer and *assuming* this was a Marine, the ABMC database lists two USMC officers who died on May 6, 1942 and whose remains were not recovered.
CLARK GOLLAND LEE JR MAJ CASTLE NOEL OKER CAPT
I think there have been several threads about Capt Castle. I wonder if he wore wire rimmed glasses?
FWIW, ABMC lists (worldwide) 114 missing who died on May 6, 1942, 39 of whom were Marines.
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Post by beirutvet on Aug 23, 2015 9:05:49 GMT 8
Wwalker
Great find with that photo! I love seeing things like that on this site.
I do not think that this is the gold braid that is in question. In the file it reads that the gold braid was "from a hat, probably navy".
You can see this gold braid on barracks style hats along the front third of the hat just above the brim. I have seen pictures of them but sorry, I don't have any to post. Maybe someone here can find one.
Karl
You were navy, perhaps you can shed some light on this for us. Are you familiar with the style cap I am referring to?
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Post by wwalker on Aug 23, 2015 11:07:30 GMT 8
I agree guys and am inclined to think that the braid probably came from a hat too, and it would seem likely that it may have belonged to an officer. I just don't know of that many officers (Navy or Marine) that died during the siege. Major Golland L. Clark actually survived the fight for Corregidor and died on the Enoura Maru. Interestingly, on May 6, 1942, Wainwright sent Major Clark forward with the white flag. There were others with him too, I can't remember who all went with him at the moment (maybe just one other guy went with him). I'm out of town and away from my books. There was also a Major Harry Lang, USMC (I think I've got his name and rank right) who was KIA in early May (I think May 4).
It would be interesting to know if Captain Castle did wear wire rimmed glasses, John. I will check into this and see what all I can find about him. I've got some testimony of his death.
I cannot think of a single Naval officer who died on Corregidor, but I'm running only on memory of what I've read. But wait, I just happened to remember I stuck a Corregidor KIA list in my backpack. Much of the information I've compiled on this list is thanks to you, John, especially those KIA on May, 5/6 1942. Here are the officers I have on the list who died in May 1942 on Corregidor:
2d Lt. Walter Gage, Ordinance Aviation Unit, KIA May 6, 1942 Cpt. Noel O. Castle, Co. D 1st Bn. 4th Marines KIA May 6, 1942 Maj. Harry Cox Lang, Co. A 1st Bn. 4th Marines KIA May 4, 1942 Lt. Phillippi d. May 14, 1942 Lt. Duck d. May 6, 1942 3d Lt. Baltazar B. Goligado, Philippine Army Air Corps, KIA May 4, 1942 2d Lt. Cesar G. Calayag, Philippines Army Air Corps, KIA May 4, 1942 Cpt. Charles C. James, 729th Ordinance attached 4th Marines, KIA May 4, 1942 Cpt. William G. Thompson, Btry. D 59th CAC, KIA May 6, 1942
The source of this list of officers is a mixture of Chaplain Perry O. Wilcox's records and Cabanatuan testimonials. I only have the printout in front of me and not the actual file, which contains more details. I feel like I'm getting fairly close to a complete list of deaths on Corregidor. The totals are nearing 500, but I have more threshing to do. I'm not only compiling a list of Americans but those of every nationality who died on Corregidor during the siege. This thread is motivating me to do more work on this.
WW
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Post by JohnEakin on Aug 24, 2015 6:38:43 GMT 8
OK, here's the 7 officers who died on May 5 or 6 and whom ABMC lists as still missing. No way to know if they died on Corregidor, but all of these units were there.
PHILLIPPE HERSEL E 1LT CORPS OF ENGINEERS WOOLERY EDWARD R 1LT 3 PUR SQ 24 PUR GP DAVIS BERNARD D 1LT 31 PUR SQ 37 PUR GP CASTLE NOEL OKER CAPT USMC TISDALE RYLAND D CDR USN WINTERS ROBERT C LT CDR USN CLARK GOLLAND LEE JR MAJ USMC
There's been quite a bit written about Capt Castle and the story of his death certainly fits with the few facts we have to work with. I googled the others and didn't find much except that some have different dates of death listed.
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Post by wwalker on Aug 24, 2015 11:05:26 GMT 8
Hello John,
I'm really curious about the 2 Navy Commanders on your list. I'll have to check into those two guys. Here's what I have about the circumstances of Captain Noel Castle's death on Corregidor as told by an eyewitness:
Cpl. L.R.[Lee Rae] Clark, USMC, 280447, swore on September 17, 1943 as follows (at Cabanatuan POW Camp):
"During the engagement with the enemy in the vicinity of Kindley Field, following the hostile landing on Ft. Mills, and at about 0200 6 May 1942 I observed Capt. Noel O. Castle, C.O., Co. D, 1st Bn., 4th Mar, walking across the Malinta Point trail at RJ 21 toward the north side of the road. Pfc. Edward G. Free, USMC, and I were manning a machine gun about 20 yards away. Upon recognizing Capt. Castle I called out “Go Back, there is a sniper shooting this way.” Without stopping Capt. Castle continued on. About a yard from the embankment on the north side of the road he was hit by what I believe to be rifle or machine gun bullets. I saw him fall forward and disappear from sight over the edge of the road. Shortly after this the enemy opened up with an artillery concentration from Bataan and Free and I were forced to take cover. I jumped into a nearby hole and Free ran across the road into the draw where Capt. Castle lay. The concentration lasted about 10 or 15 minutes after which each of us returned to our gun. Free then told me that Capt. Castle was hit in the chest and abdomen and was in a bad way. He told me that the Captain could not move and that he had loosened his pistol belt and other equipment. We then moved our gun to a new position and continued in the fight. I did not see Capt. Castle after he fell over the edge of the road."
If we had Castle's IDPF then that should/could tell us whether or not he wore glasses. It appears from the above story that Capt. Castle would have been the only guy to fall in that particular spot. I wish we knew where these 3 unknowns were found on Corregidor and whether they were found together, in the same spot.
WW
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Post by JohnEakin on Aug 24, 2015 23:16:00 GMT 8
Will,
It sounds as if you have made some progress with the Corregidor burial records. Below is a list of all the Corregidor X files which I have found so far. Perhaps you can match grave numbers to the X file numbers. These are all buried in Manila as Unknowns. The ABMC column is the Manila grave number. The grave column is the original burial location on Corregidor.
FILE NUMBER ABMC POD GRAVE REMARKS
MANILA2 X-73 N 10 41 CORREGIDOR CORREGIDOR C-1-14 MANILA2 X-74 G 1 6 CORREGIDOR CORREGIDOR C-3-70 MANILA2 X-76 H 13 101 CORREGIDOR CORREGIDOR C-3-65 MANILA2 X-77 G 7 1 CORREGIDOR CORREGIDOR C-3-66 MANILA2 X-78 F 10 26 CORREGIDOR CORREGIDOR C-3-68 MANILA2 X-79 N 8 47 CORREGIDOR CORREGIDOR C-3-69 MANILA2 X-80 L 14 105 CORREGIDOR CORREGIDOR C-3-71 MANILA2 X-121 N 9 71 CORREGIDOR CORREGIDOR MANILA2 X-122 N 4 42 CORREGIDOR CORREGIDOR C-5-40 MANILA2 X-123 N 3 19 CORREGIDOR CORREGIDOR C-5-36 MANILA2 X-155 G 3 9 CORREGIDOR FILIPPINO CEM CORREGIDOR FILIP B-1-17 SHOE SIZE 8C MANILA2 X-156 H 2 143 CORREGIDOR CORREGIDOR C-6-26 EST AGE 40 MANILA2 X-157 G 2 4 CORREGIDOR CORREGIDOR C-6-27 MANILA2 X-1062 D 15 21 CORREGIDOR LITTLE BAGUIO CORREGIDOR 1-1-17 MANILA2 X-1257 N 3 188 CORREGIDOR LITTLE BAGUIO CORREGIDOR 1-4-7 MANILA2 X-1258 D 1 73 CORREGIDOR LITTLE BAGUIO CORREGIDOR 1-3-19 MANILA2 X-1259 N 5 169 CORREGIDOR LITTLE BAGUIO CORREGIDOR 1-5-10 MANILA2 X-1260 A 9 4 CORREGIDOR LITTLE BAGUIO CORREGIDOR 1-3-2 MANILA2 X-1261 D 10 154 CORREGIDOR LITTLE BAGUIO CORREGIDOR 1-6-12 MANILA2 X-1262 N 4 72 CORREGIDOR LITTLE BAGUIO CORREGIDOR 1-7-15 MANILA2 X-3658 L 9 19 CORREGIDOR CIV CORREGIDOR CIV COL HARRISON NOT IN ABMC DATABASE
EDIT: As soon as I click save this table loses its formating and I'm not able to put it in to columns. Sorry.
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