Pvt. Manuel G. Nevarez

Parents: Alfredo & Alexandra Nevarez

Siblings: 5 sisters, 1 brother

Home: Williams Road - Alisal, California

Occupation: sugar factory worker

Inducted:

    - U.S. Army

        - 10 February 1941 - Salinas Army Airfield

Training: 

    - Fort Lewis, Washington

Units: 

    - 194th Tank Battalion

Overseas Duty: 

    - Philippine Islands

Engagements: 

    - Battle of Luzon

        - 8 December 1941 - 6 January 1942

    - Battle of Bataan

        - 7 January 1942 - 9 April 1942

Prisoner of War: 

    - 9 April 1942

        - Death March

            - Mariveles - POWs start march at southern tip of Bataan
            - POWs ran past Japanese artillery firing at Corregidor
                - Americans on Corregidor returned fire
            - San Fernando - POWs put into small wooden boxcars
                - each boxcar could hold eight horses or forty men
                - 100 POWs packed into each car
                - POWs who died remained standing
            - Capas - dead fell to floor as living left boxcars
            - POWs walked last ten miles to Camp O'Donnell  

POW Camps:

    - Philippine Islands:

        - Camp O'Donnell

           - unfinished Filipino training base
            - Japanese put camp into use as POW Camp
            - only one water spigot for entire camp
            - as many as 50 POWs died each day
            - Japanese opened new POW camp to lower death rate  

        - Cabanatuan #1

        - Las Pinas Detail

            - POWs built runways

            - 21 September 1944 -  American planes bomb and strafe airfield

    - Formosa:

        - Inrin Temporary 

    - Japan

        - Sendai #7

            - POWs worked in copper mine

Hell Ship:

    - Hokusen Maru

        - Boarded: 21 September 1944
        - Sailed: Manila - 3 October 1944
        - Arrived: Hong Kong - 11 October 1944
            - attacked by American planes while in port
        - Sailed: 21 October 1944
        - Arrived: Takao, Formosa - 24 October 1944
        - Disembark: 8 November 1944

    - Melbourne Maru

        - Sailed: Takao, Formosa - 14 January 1945

        - Arrived: Moji, Japan - 23 January 1945

Liberated:

    - 15 September 1945

Discharged: December 1945

Resided:

    - Salinas, California

    - Sparks, Nevada 

Link: Excerpt from Nevarez's POW diary

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