Kaplar

Very little is known about Pvt. Nick Kaplar. It is known that he was born on May 29, 1915, to Mrs. Cecelia Kohniak in Illinois. It appears that his father may have passed away and that his mother remarried. It is known that Nick moved to Withee, Wisconsin where he was inducted into the army on April 7, 1941. He joined the 192nd Tank Battalion while it was training at Fort Knox, Kentucky. He was assigned to the Medical Detachment and trained as a medic.

Nick took part in the maneuvers of 1941 in Louisiana and was informed at Camp Polk the 192nd was being sent overseas. He returned home, said his goodbyes and returned to Camp Polk.

Nick arrived in the Philippine Islands seventeen days before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. After the attack on Clark Field on December 8, 1941, Nick and the other medics gave aid to the wounded and dying.

Nick continued to give aid to the wounded during the four month long Battle of the Philippines. When Bataan surrendered on April 9, 1942, Nick became a POW. He took part in the death march and was held as a POW at Camp O'Donnell. He was next held as a prisoner at Cabanatuan.

Nick was sent to the Port Area of Manila and boarded onto what became known as a "hell ship". In Japan, he was held at Fukuoka Camp #3-B near the Japanese town of Tobata. The POWs in the camp were used as slave labor at the Yawata Steel Mills. He remained there until he was liberated on September 13, 1945. He was discharged, from the army, on April 12, 1946.

Nick Kaplar returned to Wisconsin where he married, Lila Oberbillig,in Loyal, Wisconsin on January 19, 1947. His brother was his best man. The couple had met at a Veterans Administration hospital where he was sent to recover from his POW experience.

Nick Kaplar lived the rest of his life in Wisconsin. He died on October 7, 1968, in Eau Clare, Wisconsin. He is buried at Lakeview Cemetery in Eau Clare, Wisconson.