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Post by JohnEakin on Sept 21, 2010 10:51:15 GMT 8
John, I had checked the ABMC and found they had nothing. Thanks for the tip about requesting the IDPF, and the addresses at DPMO. Greatly appreciated. Let me repeat that your Bataan Missing website is very good. If he died in Cabanatuan and is not listed on the ABMC site there's a very good chance his remains were returned to his family. I've been told that the Cabanatuan burial records were poor for about the first two months, after which they were excellent. So if he died in Sep 42 they should have had a record of which communal grave he was in. The deciding factor in which remains were identified was generally if they had dental records. The new guys - the pvt's and PFC's - generally only had their induction dental exams and they were not good enough for an ID. The guys who had been in longer were more likely to have had military dental work and consequently more likely to be identified. I've found little evidence that Graves Registration even looked for civilian dental records to use for ID. My cousin's older brother was a dentist so the family had the records, but no one asked. And in those pre-CSI days the average civilian had no idea they would be useful. The Army just told the family that his remains were non-recoverable and they thought that meant there were no remains. As it turns out, we were lucky enough to find the next best thing to his dental records, an oral history recording by the older brother which mentioned that he had put gold inlays in his younger brother's teeth. And of the 14 men in that grave, only one set of remains had gold inlays. Thanks for the kind words about the site. These men deserve a much better site than I could build for them, but there were so many people involved in the search for the other families that I kind of threw it together to keep everyone updated. I've asked DoD for the files on all the Manila unknowns, but they have not been real helpful - which makes me think this kind of SNAFU was typical. John
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Post by JohnEakin on Sept 21, 2010 10:30:58 GMT 8
John, that's very interesting. And...not declassified until February 2010?? Do you suppose that was just plain oversight on some agency's part? But on the other hand, it's difficult for me to believe that all these years historians and researchers didn't submit FOIA requests for that information, bringing the classification question to their attention long ago. I thought Clinton had a lot of these kinds of things marked for declassification in the 90s. So I wonder again, why February 2010? But then I could tell y'all about my learning that 11 million pages of Korean War documents are still classified. Some about POWs until 2030. I *think* they were eligible for declassification several years ago, but it wasn't until someone asked for them that they actually did it. I was told that no unknown had been recovered from the Manila American Cemetery in recent memory which would make me think no one has looked at these files as it is very obvious who these unknowns are - and there are 3,744 of them in Manila. FWIW, the individual deceased personnel files and X files all have special restricted coversheets as well as declassification markings all over them. There's about as much "defense information" in them as in my dog's breakfast. A classic example of classification to prevent embarrassment.
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Post by JohnEakin on Sept 20, 2010 23:28:41 GMT 8
John Olson writes in "O'Donnell, Andersonville of the Pacific", that an advanced party led by General Arnold Funk, numbering 133 men, left Luzon Force HQ about 1630 on 10 APR 42, and arrived at O'Donnell about 0530 on the 11th. The second party of fourteen trucks, believed to have been led by General Weaver, left Cabcaben Field and arrived a short while later. In this second party were "at least two medical officers, Captain John Rizzolo (surgeon, 21st Pursuit Squadron) and Captain Basil Dulin (45th Infantry, Philippine Scouts)". According to Dr. John Bumgarner of Hospital # 2, in his book "Parade of the Dead", on 11 APR 42, two days after Bataan fell, the Japanese "freed" all wounded and sick Filipino troops, about 5500 total, and instructed them to leave Hospital # 2. They were forced to join the March northwards. Colonel Jack Schwartz, M.D., a senior medical officer, protested but was ignored. Bumgarner learned that within days 800 of the Filipino patients had died. About 1500 US troops remained as patients at Hospital # 2. It's my guess that a number of the medical personnel left Hospital # 2 shortly after the departure of the Filipino patients, and probably went straight to O'Donnell. Thanks, that's interesting and very helpful. The unit history is very through in some respects and has obvious omissions in other areas. The confusion was very obvious toward the end. I found Captain John R. Bumgarner and LTC Jack Schwartz in the unit roster, but Rizzolo and Dulin don't appear. Sounds like they may have been attached to other units. There's also an affidavit by Schwartz posted at www.mansell.com/pow_resources/camplists/philippines/Cabanatuan/schwarz_jack_l_affidavit.htmlthat makes some references to this time. The unit rosters - which continue up through 1944 - show that 11 EM were commandeered as drivers on April 11, 42. (I'm always amazed at how much paperwork the Army generated even in a POW camp.) The 2nd General Hospital unit history doesn't make any direct reference to sending these detachments ahead to O'Donnell. It mentions that on April 9 they were visited by 10 or 12 Japanese soldiers and a medical officer. A few paragraphs later it discusses preparations for moving the patients and says that on April 9 they lost several pieces of transportation and all their gas. Perhaps these were the trucks to O'Donnell. Apparently, too, there was at least some coordination between hospitals number 1 and 2 - more so toward the end when it appears that some personnel were shifted to hospital 1. It would be interesting to find the official history for hospital 1. I doubt that anyone has explored this area as the stuff I have was only declassified in Feb 2010. John
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Post by JohnEakin on Sept 20, 2010 21:20:11 GMT 8
I haven't come across Derrington, but there were certainly all services represented at Cabanatuan. Of the 14 men buried in the communal grave for 19 Nov 42 when my cousin died, there was a Navy civilian, a Marine and a number of AAC as well as the regular Army. Have you checked the tablets of the missing available on the ABMC site? www.abmc.gov/search/wwii.phpI would also submit a FOIA to the military for his Individual Deceased Personnel file (IDPF). I *think* the Army Human Resources Command controls all the IDPF's but you may have to go through the Navy Casualty Office. Addresses are located at: www.dtic.mil/dpmo/dod_links/There's a small charge and it takes months. I'd suggest submitting a request to both the Army and Navy at the same time. The IDPF will likely contain information on the Cabanatuan grave he was buried in and efforts to identify him. If he was not identified there will be references to the "X" files of the unidentified remains from that Cabanatuan grave. The Army controls the X files and it will take another FOIA request to get them. IF he is an unknown, it is important to have someone from the family contact the military casualty office to provide a DNA family reference sample. Keep in mind that even if the family believes he should continue to rest where he is (as many do), the identifications are made by exclusion so the DNA sample may help some other family find their loved one. (Hope that makes sense.) John
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Post by JohnEakin on Sept 20, 2010 4:54:48 GMT 8
Ted was a doctor at General Hospital #2. On 10 April, Ted loaded a truck with men and drove as far north as he could before being stopped by Japanese soldiers. They were placed in a stockade then trucked to O'Donnell the next day. I'd appreciate hearing more about what must have been some of the first to arrive at O'Donnell. My cousin, Pvt Arthur Kelder, was assigned to the 2nd General Hospital. According to the unit history, most of them stayed in Bataan through at least the end of May '42, then were shipped to Manila then by RR to Cabanatuan. However, according to the accompanying unit rosters, he and 10 others were commandeered as drivers by the Japanese about April 10 or 11. He died on 19 Nov 42 in Cabanatuan, but according to his medical record he went through O'Donnell. John
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Post by JohnEakin on Sept 20, 2010 4:37:53 GMT 8
New guy here - guess I'd better introduce myself. About a year ago I started researching the life of a cousin who the family thought died on the Bataan Death March. Got lucky right off the bat when the Army Casualty Office provided stuff I didn't even know I wanted. Since then, I've enjoyed learning what I can about the Death March and the aftermath and was pleasantly surprised when I stumbled across this forum. I hope to keep learning and perhaps share some of what I have picked up. FWIW, I learned that Pvt Kelder had been assigned to the 2nd General Hospital, was one of only a few from that unit to pass through O'Donnell and he ultimately died on 19 Nov 42 in Cabanatuan. I also found the letters from the Army telling his parents that his remains were "non-recoverable." It turns out though, that while the Cabanatuan burials were well documented, the Army required two items of evidence for an identification. Those with only one item of - or no - identification were buried as unknowns. Of course, DNA has now changed the game and the military is now looking for the families of these unknowns. So it turns out that in addition to an interesting new hobby, I hope to ultimately see my cousin's remains returned to his family plot. I hope I'm not getting off on the wrong foot by advertising another website, but I didn't see any prohibitions so I'll take a chance. The Army provided me with a copy of the unit roster and history for the 2nd General Hospital and I've posted it on my site, bataanmissing.com I found it a fascinating account of one little portion of the battle. I never much thought of hospital staff as heroes - (in 'Nam there was an acronym for the rear echelon <G>) - but considering what they accomplished and the conditions they did it under, it got me hooked on learning more. (My apologies for some of the bad copies, but they came from some of the original 1940's typewritten pages. Please email me if anyone needs anything looked up from the originals.) John
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