Christ

Born: 14 February 1917 - Pennsylvania

Parents: Edward & Elizabeth Christ

Siblings: 3 brothers, 3 sisters

Home: 4427 Maplecroft Avenue - Parma, Ohio

Occupation: laborer - aluminum mill

- U. S. Army

- 28 March 1941 - Cleveland, Ohio

Training:

- Fort Knox, Kentucky

- attended radio school

- Camp Polk, Louisiana

Units:

- 753rd Tank Battalion

- 192nd 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

POW:

- 9 April 1942

-Death March

- Mariveles - POWs start march at southern tip of Bataan

- POWs ran past Japanese artillery firing on Corregidor

- American artillery on Corregidor returned fire

- San Fernando -POWs put into small wooden boxcars used to haul sugarcane

- each boxcar could hold eight horses or forty men

- Japanese packed 100 POWs into each boxcar

- POWs who died remained standing

- Capas - POWs left boxcars - dead POWs fell to the floor

- POWs walked the last ten miles to Camp O'Donnell

Camps:

- Philippines:

- Camp O'Donnell

- unfinished Filipino Army training base

- Japanese put camp into use as POW camp

- one water spigot for the entire camp

- as many as fifty POWs died each day

- POWs went out on work details to get out of camp

- Tayabas Road Detail

- 29 May 1942 - 300 POWs left Camp O'Donnell for Tabayas Province

- trip took three days

- POWs built road with picks and shovels

- food cooked in rusty wheelbarrow

- POWs slept on rocks by river

- many came down with malaria

Note: On eight occasions, Albert stole water from the Japanese

- other POWs viewed him as a "brave man"

Died: 12 July 1942 - cerebral malaria, starvation & exhaustion

- many of the ill POWs from the Tabayas Road Detail were sent to Bilibid Prison

- the doctors at Bilibid referred to the POWs as "the walking dead"

Note:

- During his time as a POW, Albert had a watch with his name and mother's name on it. After the war,

a former POW nicknamed, "Happy" returned, with the help of Peter Pirnat, the watch to Albert's

mother. Happy had stolen the watch, eight different times from the Japanese. All that is known

about "Happy" was he was a member of B Company of the 192nd and of Polish Ancestry. It is

believed that "Happy"was Mike Wepsiec.

Burial:

- Arlington National Cemetery - Virginia

- Section: 34 Site: 2217