Garman

Pfc. George S. Garman was born on October 18, 1917, to Stephen Garman and Mabel May-Garman. He was raised in Fort Recovery, Ohio. He would later live in Celina, Ohio. On February 5, 1941, he was inducted into the U. S. Army and sent to Ft. Knox, Kentucky for basic training. Being from Ohio, he was assigned to C Company, 192nd Tank Battalion which had been an Ohio National Guard tank company.

In the late summer of 1941, George took part in maneuvers in Louisiana. It was after these maneuvers, at Camp Polk, that he learned the battalion was being sent overseas. He received a leave home to say his goodbyes to friends and family.

After George returned to Camp Polk, he traveled by train to San Francisco. He and the other members of the battalion were taken by ferry to Angel Island. They were given physicals and shots before being boarded onto a transport bound for the Philippine Islands.

Three weeks after arriving in the Philippines, George lived through the Japanese attack on Clark Airfield. He spent the next four months fighting the Japanese as a rear guard that allowed other units to withdraw from engagements with the Japanese.

On February 2, 1942, George was involved in an engagement against the Japanese in the area of the Agloloma and Anyasas Rivers. During this action, George was wounded and awarded the Purple Heart.

On April 9, 1942, George became a Prisoner of War when the Filipino and American forces were surrendered to the Japanese. George took part in the death march and was held as a POW at Camp O'Donnell and Cabanatuan. On December 12, 1942, George went out on the Las Pinas work detail. The POWs on the detail built runways. The only tools that the POWs had to do this with were picks and shovels. He remained on this detail until April 1944.

On July 17, 1944, he was taken to Japan on the Japanese hell ship Nissyo Maru. The ship stopped at Takao, Formosa on July 20th and remained there until July 28th. On that date, it sailed for Moji, Japan. It arrived at Moji on August 3rd.

In Japan, George was held at Fukuoka #3. George and the other prisoners worked in the Yawata Steel Mills. The POWs were given different types of work to do. Some of the POWs were used to push coal carts from the docks to the mill. Other POWs were given to the job of shoveling iron ore and rebuilding the ovens. The POWs were also sent into the ovens to clean out the debris. Since the ovens were hot, because the Japanese would not let them cool off, the POWs worked faster on this detail.

George remained in the camp until he was liberated on September 13, 1945. He was returned to the Philippines and later the United States. He was promoted to Staff Sergeant after liberation. George was discharged, from the army, on November 26, 1945.

George married Thelma Jean Schock and lived in Fort Recovery, Ohio and the father of four daughters and four sons. George S. Garman passed away in April 8, 1987, and is buried at Saint Mary Cemetery in Ft. Recovery.