2nd Lt. Frank Edward Riley


Born: 13 June 1918 - St. Joseph, Missouri

Parents: John C. Riley Sr. & Cora Frances Grooms-Riley

Siblings: 1 sister - Helen, 1 brother - Capt. John C. Riley Jr. - 194th Tank Battalion

Home: 2502 South Second Street - St. Joseph, Missouri

Enlisted: Missouri National Guard - after high school

Inducted: 

    - U. S. Army

        - 10 February 1941 -St. Joseph, Missouri

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:

    - Philippines 

        - 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

Japan:

    - Fukuoka #3

    - Fukuoka #22

Hell Ship:

- Oryoku Maru

    - Boarded: 13 December 1944

        - 1619 POWs boarded onto ship

    - Sailed: 14 December 1944

        - ship attacked by American planes

        - attack continued the next day

    - Sunk: 15 December 1944

        - Japanese abandoned ship

        - planes stop attack when they saw the large number of men climbing out of the ship's

          holds

        - Japanese fire at POWs as they swam ashore

        - POWs herded on tennis courts 

        - fifteen POWs "too ill" to be moved taken in mountains and executed

            - buried in local cemetery 

    - Transferred:

        - 24 December 1944 - POWs taken by train to San Fernando, La Union

        - 25 December 1944 - train arrives at San Fernando, La Union

            - POWs were marched to beach later the same day

            - remained on beach for two days

         - 27 December 1944 - POWs forced to jump into barges 20 feet below

                 them

    - Boarded: Enoura Maru

         - 3 January 1945 - arrived Takao, Formosa

         - 12 January 1945 - ship attacked and heavily damaged by American

           planes

         - dead stacked up in holds - sunk

         - wounded transferred to Brazil Maru

    - Sailed: Takao, Formosa - 13 January 1945

    - Arrived: Moji, Japan - 29 January 1945

        - only 271 of the 1619 POWs who boarded the Oryoku Maru reached Japan 

- Intercostal Ships

    - POWs scheduled to be sent to Mukden, Manchuria, sent there

    - Arrived: Fusan, Korea - 27 April 1945

          - POWs took two day train trip

    -Arrived: Muken, Manchuria - 29 April 1945 

Manchuria:

    - Hoten Camp - 25 April 1945

        - Link: Mukdenpows.org - direct link takes user to default page 

Military Career: Remained in army -24 years

    - trained tank units - Ft. Knox

    - counter intelligence agent - Korean War

    - Commandant - Camp Yokohoma

    - left army - 1961

Married: Lyla Pauline Riley

Children: 1 daughter

Died: 2 May 2003 - Palm Springs, Florida


 

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