Pvt. William E. Adams

Hometown: Magnolia, Kentucky

    - 1940 - living in Richmond, Kentucky

Education: completed three years of college

Inducted: 

    - U. S. Army 

        - 21 January 1941 - Louisville, Kentucky

Training: 

    - Fort Knox, Kentucky

    - Camp Polk, Louisiana

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 started 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: 

    - Philippine Islands: 

        - 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

Hell Ship:

    - Tottori Maru

        - 1961 POWs put on ship

            - 500 in front hold and 1461 in rear hold

        - 5 October 1942 – POWs left Cabanatuan for Manila

           -  housed in warehouse on Pier 7

        - 7 October 1942 – POWs boarded onto Tottori Maru

        - Sailed: Manila – 8 October 1942

            - Note:  9 October 1942 - American submarine fired two torpedoes at ship

                         - ship passes a mine laid by an American submarine

        - Arrived: Takao, Formosa - 12 October 1942

        - Sailed: 16 October 1942

                        -  returned to Takao

        - Sailed: 18 October 1942

        - Arrived: Pescadores Islands

            - anchored off the Pescadores Islands – same day

                        -  remained anchored for several days

            - two POWs died – buried at sea

        - Sailed: 27 October 1942

        - Arrived: Takao - 27 October 1942

            - 28 October 1942 – POWs taken ashore and bathed

        - Sailed: 30 October 1942

        - Arrived: 30 October 1942 - Makou, Pescadores, Islands

        - Sailed:  31 October 1942

        - Arrived: Fusan, Korea - 7 November 1942

            - 8 November 1942 – POWs disembarked ship

            - sick POWs left behind at Fusan

            - those who recovered came to Mukden at later date

            - white boxes contained the ashes of POWs who died

        - 11 November 1942 – arrived Mukden

Manchuria:

        - Mukden Camp

            - Work: machine shop & lumber mill

Liberated: September 1945 - Russian Army

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