Wasson

T/5 DeWayne E. Wasson was the son of Harry A. Wasson & Gertrude Cutts-Wasson. He was born on April 4, 1919, and grew up at 539 North Terrace Street in Janesville, Wisconsin. He attended Janesville schools and was a member of the Janesville High School graduating class of 1937.

In August, 1939, Wayne joined the Wisconsin National Guard's 32nd Tank Company which was headquartered in an armory in Janesville. When the company was called to federal service in the fall of 1940, as A Company, 192nd Tank Battalion, DeWayne traveled to Fort Knox, Kentucky, for one year of military service.

During the training at Ft. Knox, DeWayne attended cooks and bakers school. It was because of his training that he assumed the position of first cook for A Company.

In September, DeWayne with the 192nd took part in maneuvers in Louisiana. After the maneuvers, the battalion gathered at Camp Polk and learned that they were being sent overseas not released from federal service.

Sailing from Angel Island, the battalion arrived in Manila on Thanksgiving Day, 1941. Since their barracks were unfinished, the battalion was assigned to tents between Fort Stotsenburg and Clark Air Field.

Having been informed of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the tanks of the 192nd were guarding the perimeter of Clark Field. Around noon, Wayne was in a mess truck carrying meals to the tank crews when planes appeared above the airfield. Within minutes, bombs began exploding.

Sometime in January, 1942, Dewayne was wounded. Since the American had no real air force, it was probably while being strafed by Japanese planes. He remained in the hospital for the next two months.

After being released from the hospital, DeWayne's job was to feed the tank crews. As food grew scarce, this became more difficult.

On April 9, 1942, Wayne became a Prisoner Of War when the Filipino and American defenders of Bataan were surrendered to the Japanese. He took part in the death march and was first held as a POW at Camp O'Donnell.

When Cabanatuan #1 opened, DeWayne was transferred to the new POW camp. Since the meals given to the prisoners were not adequate and there was no medicine, the POWs suffered from various diseases.

T/5 DeWayne E. Wasson died on July 9, 1942, of dysentery and malaria at 7:00 in the morning. He was 23 years old.

Since T/5 DeWayne E. Wasson's name appears on the Tablets of the Missing at the American Military Cemetery outside Manila. What is known is that Dewayne's remains could not be identified after the war. So his remains lie in a mass grave at the cemetery marked as "unknowns".