2nd Lt. Archibald Beatricia Rue
    2nd Lt. Archibald B. Rue was born on January 2, 1916, to Insco and Lotta Forbes-Rue.  He was the sixth child born to the couple.  With his seven sisters and five brothers, he grew up in Harrodsburg, Kentucky and attended local schools.  Arch joined the Kentucky National Guard with his brother, Edwin.
    While he was working in a drug store, he was called to federal service on November 25, 1941, with his tank company.  He trained at Fort Knox, Kentucky, for nearly a year and then took part in maneuvers in Louisiana.  It was after these maneuvers at Camp Polk that he learned his battalion was being sent overseas.
    After receiving a leave home, Archie returned to Louisiana.  By train, the members of D Company went west to San Francisco.  They were then taken by ferry to Angel Island.  After receiving physicals and shots they were boarded onto the President Calvin Coolidge and sailed for the Philippine Islands.
    The 192nd arrived in the Philippines and were housed in tents along the main road between Ft. Stotsenburg and Clark Airfield.  It was at this time that D Company was attached to the 194th Tank Battalion.  At this time, Arch was assigned to A Company, of the 194th.
    The morning of December 8, 1941, the soldiers were informed of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.  They were then ordered to take their tanks to the perimeter of the airfield to guard against Japanese paratroopers.
    Around 12:45 in the afternoon, planes approached the airfield.  At first, the tankers thought that they were American.  It was only after bombs began exploding that they knew the planes were Japanese.  Since their tanks had few weapons that could be used against planes, most of the tankers could only take cover and watch the battle.
    For the next four months, Arch fought to slow the Japanese conquest of the Philippine Islands.  On April 9, 1941, he became a Prisoner of War.
      Arch took part in the death march and was held as a POW at Camp O'Donnell and Cabanatuan.  He remained at Cabanatuan until September 25, 1944, when he was sent to Bilibid Prison as the Japanese prepared to send him and other prisoners to Japan.  This was the processing center for POWs being sent to Japan or other occupied countries.  He was given a physical and declared healthy enough to be sent to Japan.
    On December 7th, the Japanese gave orders to the medical staff at Bilibid to make a list of POWs healthy enough to survive a trip to Japan.  Archie's name was put on the list. 
    On December 12, 1944, roll call was taken and the names of the men selected for transport to Japan were called.  At 4:00 a.m. the morning of December 13th, Arch and the other POWs were awakened and marched to Pier 7 in Manila.  The POWs boarded the Oryoku Maru for transport to Japan.
    The ship left Manila as part of the MATA-37 convoy bound for Takao, Formosa.  Meals on the ship consisted of a little rice, fish and water.  The morning of December 14th, mess was being given to the prisoners when the sound of planes was heard.  The POWs heard the change in the planes' engines sound as they began their dive toward the ships in the convoy.  Explosions were taking place all around the POWs.
     In the hold the POWs crowded together.  Chips of rust fell on them from the ceiling.  After the raid, they took care of the wounded before the next attack started.  A Catholic priest, Fr. Duffy, began praying. Father forgive them.  They know not what they do."
    When the attack resumed, the ship bounced in the water from the explosions.  The POWs in the holds lived through seventeen attacks from American planes before sunset.  Overall, six bombs hit the ship.  During the night, the medics in the ship's hold were ordered out by a Japanese officer to tend to the Japanese wounded.  One of the medics recalled that the dead, dying and wounded were everywhere.
    In the ship's holds, the POWs could hear the sound of the Japanese passengers being loaded into lifeboats.  By the next morning, all the Japanese passengers were off the ship.
    The morning of December 15th, U.S. Navy planes resumed the attack.  Again, the attacks came in waves.  A guard shouted into the holds that the prisoners were going ashore.  The wounded would be the first evacuated.  As the POWs were abandoning ship the planes returned and began attacking again.  The pilots of the planes had no idea that the ship was carrying prisoners.  It was not until the pilots saw the large number of men climbing out of the ship's holds that they realized the ship was a prison ship.  They then stopped the attack.  After the POWs had abandoned ship, the Oryoku Maru was sunk.
    The surviving POWs swam to shore near Olongoa, Subic Bay, Luzon.  As they swam the Japanese fired upon them with machineguns.  Those who survived the swim were herded onto a tennis court.  When roll was taken, it was discovered that 329 of the 1,619 POWs had been killed during the attack. 
    The POWs remained on the courts for days.  While they waited, trucks appeared and the Japanese asked if any of the POWs were too weak to continue the trip.  Those who said that they were too weak were boarded onto the trucks and taken into the mountains.  They were never seen again.
    Arch and the remaining POWs were taken to San Fernando La Union.  From there, they were boarded onto a second ship, the Enoura Maru.  The ship sailed on December 27th and reached Takao, Formosa safely. 
    On January 9, 1945, while the ship was docked, the Enoura Maru was attacked by fighters from the U.S.S. Hornet.  During the attack, one bomb exploded in the forward hold killing as many as 252 POWs.  Three days later, the Japanese had the POWs remove the bodies of the dead from the ship.  The POWs were buried on Formosa.
    The remaining POWs were boarded onto the Brazil Maru.  The ship sailed from Takao, Formosa for Japan on January 14, 1945.  It arrived at Moji on January 30th.  From there, the POWs were taken to various POW camps.  In Arch's case, he was taken to Fukuoka #22.
    Arch's time in the camp was short.  According to  military records, Arch became ill and was sent to Kokura Hospital which was also known as Moji Hospital.  It was there that he was reported to have died from acute colitis on January 31, 1945.  Officially, 2nd Lt. Archibald B. Rue is reported to have died at
Fukuoka #22.
    After the war his remains were returned to Manila.  At the request of his family, the remains of 2nd Lt. Archibald B. Rue were returned to the United States.  He was buried on November 5, 1948, in Section 12, Site 5220, at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington.

 

 

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