Massey

Pfc. Curtis Massey joined the 192nd Tank Battalion at Fort Knox, Kentucky in early 1941. He was born in May 20, 1918 to Joseph M. & Lydia Massey in Clay County, Kentucky. It is known that he had one brother and five sisters.

When he was inducted into the army, he was living in Hamilton County, Ohio. After joining the battalion he was assigned to the Medical Detachment of the 192nd to train as a medic.

Since he was assigned to B Company as a medic, Curtis lived with the company in their barracks. While the company trained with their tanks and reconnaissance cars, Curtis and the other medics were taught first aid by the two battalion doctors.

Curtis took part in the Louisiana maneuvers of 1941. During the maneuvers, the medical detachment job was to treat battalion members who were injured or had been bitten by snakes. After the maneuvers, he learned that he was being sent overseas with the 192nd.

Arriving is the Philippine Islands, Curtis and the other members of the medical detachment spent the next few weeks attempting to acquire the necessary medical supplies for the battalion.

On December 8, 1941, Curtis lived through the Japanese attack on Clark Field. After the attack he and the other members of the medical detachment provided aid to the wounded and dying.

During the battle for the Philippines, Curtis would travel with various companies of the 192nd as they fought the Japanese and withdrew into the Bataan Peninsula. During this time, the Filipino and American troops were bombed and shelled constantly.

On February 5, 1942, during an air raid, Curtis was hit by a piece a shrapnel from a Japanese bomb. The shrapnel cut his spinal cord leaving him permanently paralyzed. He was taken to a Field Hospital #2 where the medical staff did what they could without adequate medical supplies.

Curtis was visited by Capt. Alvin Powleit the chief medical officer of the 192nd Tank Battalion on February 7, 1942. Poweleit determined that it would be just a matter of time before Curtis would die from his wounds.

According to U. S. Army records, Pfc. Curtis Massey died on March 2, 1942, from his wounds. Since his final resting place is unknown, his name appears on The Tablets of the Missing at the American Military Cemetery outside Manila.