Garr

Pvt. Carl E. Garr was the son of Alfred & Lena Garr on February 13, 1917, in Kiowa, Oklahoma, but he was raised in the town of Mayhill, in Pittsburg County, Oklahoma. It is known he had one brother and one sister. He joined the army in 1940 and took basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky. He was sent to Camp Polk, Louisiana where he was assigned to the 753rd Tank Battalion.

Although the 753rd was present at Camp Polk, they did not take part in the Louisiana maneuvers of 1941. After the maneuvers, he volunteered to join the 192nd Tank Battalion which was preparing for duty in the Philippine Islands. The battalion was in need of soldiers to replace those men released from Federal service because they were too old to go overseas. He was assigned to the company as a tank driver.

Carl was assigned to B Company and traveled with them west to Angel Island. There he received the necessary inoculations. Sailing from San Francisco, he arrived in the Philippines of Thanksgiving Day, 1941. He and his company were taken to Fort Stotsenburg where they were assigned to tents along the main road between the fort and Clark Airfield.

On December 8, 1941, Carl's company was ordered to the perimeter of the airfield to guard it agianst Japanese paratroopers. That morning they had bee informed of the attack on Pearl Harbor. He and the other men watched the attack on Clark Field. They fought the best they could with weapons that were not designed to fight aircraft.

During the Battle of Bataan, Carl was took part in the Battle of the Pockets. During this battle, the tanks were used to wipeout pockets of Japanese Marines who had been landed behind the main defensive lines on Bataan. He was a member of the Sgt. Zenon Bardowski's tank crew with Pvt. Wallace Marston.

During this battle, Carl's tank came to the aid of the tank crew of Lt. Ed Winger. The crew of the tank shouted at his tank crew, over the radio, they needed his tank crew's help.

Lt. Winger's tank had knocked out a number of Japanese positions. As Lt. Winger's tank approached another Japanese position, it was fired upon by Japanese flamethrowers. The crew was blinded and their tank ended up wedged between two trees. The tank was abandoned by it's crew.

Carl pulled his tank behind the trapped tank. Sgt. Bardowski dismounted the tank and dragged the towing cables from the bow of his tank to the rear of Lt. Winger's tank. The Japanese managed to shoot the cable away from the hook, so Zenon had to run around to the rear of his tank and set the cable to make the rescue.

Carl's tank crews efforts saved Lt. Winger's crew. In the process of rescuing the tank crew Carl's tank had destroyed a .57 mm Japanese gun and a Japanese flamethrower.

Later, Carl's company was assigned to the east coast of Bataan to prevent the Japanese from landing troops. At night, they fought firefights with Japanese landing barges attempting to land troops behind the main defensive line on Bataan.

When the news that Bataan was being surrendered to the Japanese reached Carl's platoon of tanks, they decided that they made the decision to escape to Corregidor. After being told the tanks could not be taken to the island, his platoon abandoned them. When the final Japanese attack on Corregidor was made, one of the first tanks landed was Carl's own tank.

On May 7, 1942, Corregidor was surrendered to the Japanese. The Prisoners of War were taken about a mile from shore and made to swim ashore. Once on land they were told they would have to march to Cabanatuan. Knowing about the death march, the men feared they would receive the same treatment. Although they marched, they were never mistreated.

What is known is that Carl was held at Cabanatuan as a POW. He is also listed as having been sent to Palawan Island on a work detail. He remained on the detail until September 14, 1944, when he was returned to Manila and sent to Bilibid Prison. Carl remained in the Philippine Islands until he was selected for transport to Japan. He was boarded onto the Hokusen Maru and was sent to Formosa. On the island, he was held at Heito Camp #3 and then sent to Taihoku #6. It was at this camp that Carl died of dysentery and malaria.

1st Lt. Jacques Merrifield's final report on the 192nd Tank Battalion states that Pvt. Carl E. Garr died on July 13, 1945. According to the National Archives POW punch cards, the last information on Pvt. Carl E. Garr was received on August 12, 1945.

While Carl was a POW, his parents moved to Bell Gardens, California. After the war, they requested that his remains be returned to the United States. His remains were returned home in December 1948. He was buried at Park Lawn Cemetery in Plot F, Lot 21, Grave 2, in Bell Gardens, California. His grave is next to his parents.