Sgt. Paul W. Klitzke was born on February 8, 1913, in Milton, Wisconsin.  He was the son of William H. Klitzke & Adele E. Merrifield-Klitzke and grew up in Richmond, Wisconsin, with his siblings.  He was a student in the Knilans School District and attended grade school in Richmond and high school in Delavan. 

    It was while Paul was working for Henry Knox that he enlisted in the 32nd Division Tank Company of the Wisconsin National Guard in Janesville.  Henry was already a member of the tank company.

    On November 25, 1940, the tank company was federalized as A Company, 192nd Tank Battalion.  Several days later, they traveled to Fort Knox, Kentucky to join tank companies from Illinois, Ohio and Kentucky.  During Paul's time at Ft. Knox, he qualified as a tank driver.

    Paul took part in maneuvers in Louisiana in the late summer of 1941.  Afterwards, he learned his battalion was being sent overseas.  He and the other men were given leaves home to say their goodbyes to family and friends.

    Returning to Camp Polk, Louisiana, Paul and other soldiers traveled by train to San Francisco.  They were taken by ferry to Angel Island.  While on the island, they were given physicals and received shots.

    Sailing west to the Philippine Islands, Paul arrived there on November 22, 1941.  Being a tank driver, he drove his tank to Ft. Stotsenburg.  There, he and the other members of his battalion lived in tents along the main road between the fort and Clark Airfield.

    The morning of December 8, 1941, Capt. Walter Write called his tank company together and informed them of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor hours earlier.  He then ordered his company to its position around the perimeter of the airfield.  Around 12:45 in the afternoon, planes appeared in the sky, when bombs began exploding, Paul and the other men knew the planes were Japanese.

    Being that the tankers did not have the right weapons to shoot at planes, there was not much they could do but watch.  After the attack, many gave aid to the wounded and dying.

    For the next four months, Paul fought to slow the Japanese conquest of the Philippines.  On April 9, 1942, he became a POW when Bataan was surrendered to the Japanese.

    Paul took part in the death march from Mariveles at the southern tip of Bataan to San Fernando.  He rode a train from there to Capas and then walked the last few miles to Camp O'Donnell.  When a new Prisoner of War camp opened at Cabanatuan, Paul remained behind at Camp O'Donnell.  It is believed that this meant that he was too ill to be moved.

    On June 3, 1942, Sgt. Paul W. Klitzke died from dysentery at Camp O'Donnell.  After the war his remains were returned to United States.  He is buried at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in South Minneapolis, Minnesota.