Hatlevig

T/4 Kenneth R. Hatlevig was the son of Sever & Anna Hatlevig. He was born on March 12, 1918, and raised and attended school in Evansville, Wisconsin. He worked for the Baker Manufacturing Company, in Evansville, in the shipping department.

Kenneth joined the 32nd Tank Company of the Wisconsin National Guard which was headquartered in an armory in Janesville. In the fall of 1940, the company was called to federal service as A Company, 192nd Tank Battalion. He trained for almost a year at Fort Knox, Kentucky with the company.

In the late summer of 1941, Kenneth did not take part in maneuvers in Louisiana. The reason was that he had not finished his schooling at Ft. Knox. After the maneuvers, he and the other members of the battalion learned that their one year of federal service was being extended from one to five years.

Ken was given a furlough home. At the end of ten days, he returned to Camp Polk, Louisiana and prepared for overseas duty. Traveling west by train, A Company arrived in San Francisco. They were ferried to Angel Island in San Francisco Bay.

On Angel Island, Ken and the other members of the battalion received physicals from the battalion's doctors. Those determined to be healthy were allowed to continue on to the Philippine Islands.

After arriving in Manila, the battalion was sent to Ft. Stotsenburg. There they lived in tents between Clark Airfield and the fort.

On the morning of December 8, 1941, A Company and other companies were ordered to guard the perimeter of Clark Field. They were informed of the attack on Pearl Harbor from Captain Write. They watched as Japanese planes bombed and strafed the airfield.

For the next four months, Ken fought to slow the Japanese conquest of the Philippines. He became a Prisoner Of War when Bataan was surrendered to the Japanese.

Ken most likely took part in the death march and held as a POW at Camp O'Donnell. He was transferred to Cabanatuan when the camp opened. It was there that Ken became ill with dysentery.

On July 8, 1942, at approximately 6:15 in the morning, T/4 Kenneth R. Hatlevig died of malaria at Cabanatuan POW Camp. He was 24 years old.

After the war, the Hatlevig family requested that Kenneth's remains be returned to Evansville. He was reburied in Maplehill Cemetery in Evansville on November 11, 1949.