Madison

Tec. 4 Harold F. Madison was the son of Ruel & Anna Madison. He was born in South Dakota on August 14, 1914, but he grew up in Monona, Iowa, with his two brothers and three sisters. He attended a parochial grade school and went to high school in Luana. In 1937, his family moved to Milton Junction, Wisconsin.

In November of 1940, Harold and his brother Ralph joined the Wisconsin National Guard's 33rd Tank Company in Janesville. His reason for doing this is that the draft act had passed and he wanted to fulfill his military obligation. He also was aware that the tank company had been federalized and was to train in Kentucky for a year.

At Fort Knox, Kentucky, Harold was trained as a tank radio operator. It was his job to keep in touch with company headquarters. Next, he took part in maneuvers in Louisiana in the early fall of 1941. After these maneuvers, he learned that the 192nd Tank Battalion had been selected for duty overseas.

On December 8, 1941, just ten hours after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Harold lived through the Japanese bombing of Clark Field. With the rest of his company, he spent the next four months fighting the Japanese as they advanced in the Philippine Islands.

The evening of April 8, 1942, Harold learned that he and that other defenders of Bataan were to be surrendered to the Japanese. The next morning Harold was a Prisoner Of War. With the other members of A Company, he walked to Mariveles where he began the "Death March."

As a POW, Harold was first held at Camp O'Donnell and next at Cabanatuan Camp #1. He was sent out on the bridge building detail to rebuild the same bridges the retreating Filipino and American forces destroyed as they withdrew into Bataan. While on the detail he became ill and was sent to Cabanatuan.

It was at Cabanatuan Ralph was reported to have died on August 14, 1942 of dysentery at 2:30 in the morning. His date of death happened to be his 28th birthday. Since his final resting place is unknown, his name appears on the Tablets of the Missing at the American Military Cemetery outside of Manila.

It should be noted that the National Archives records of Americans who died during the World War II has Tec 4 Harold F. Madison as a second lieutenant.