Bartz_R

Sgt. Robert W. Bartz was the son of Albert E. Bartz & Ida C. Hawkinson-Bartz. He was born on March 31, 1920, in Edgarton, Wisconsin, and was one of eight children born to the couple. With his brothers and sisters, he grew up at 220 North Palm Street in Janesville. He joined the Wisconsin National Guard on September 30, 1940, and was a member of the same company as his brother, Albert.

On November 25, 1940, Bob was called to federal duty when his Wisconsin National Guard company was federalized as A Company, 192nd Tank Battalion. He trained at Fort Knox, Kentucky, for nearly a year and then took part in maneuvers in Louisiana. It was after these maneuvers that he and the other members of his company that his battalion was being sent overseas.

Arriving in the Philippine Islands, he lived through the Japanese attack on Clark Field. After fighting the Japanese for four months, he became a Prisoner of War when the Filipino and American troops were surrendered to the Japanese.

Robert was held as a POW he took part in the death march and was held as a POW at Camp O'Donnell. To get out of the camp, Robert volunteered to go out on a work detail to collect scrap metal. He was part of a group of ten POWs who would tie the disabled American vehicles together and drive them to San Fernando. Four months later Robert was sent to the Pampanga Provincial Hospital after he came down with malaria. After recovering from the malaria, he was "taken by Japs" on October 12, 1942 and sent to Cabanatuan POW Camp.

On July 15, 1944, Robert was sent to Manila to be transported to Japan on the Nissyo Maru. The ship sailed on July 17, 1944. It took the ship ten days to arrive at Takao, Formosa. After an overnight stay, the ship sailed for Moji, Japan. It arrived there on August 3, 1945. The POWs disembarked and Robert and the other POWs were sent to Fukuoka #23 with him was Earl Burchard of A Company. There, he and the other POWs worked in a coal mine. The POWs rotated shifts in the mine. For ten days, they would work days and then rotated and worked ten nights. A work day for the prisoners lasted 12 to 14 hours.

The POWs in the camp were fed mainly rice. But, they also ate seaweed and potato tops. There were times that the POWs ate grass. Since the diet were so bad, Robert developed pellagra and beriberi.

The day that the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Robert recalled the camp shook since it was 80 miles from the city. He remained in the camp until he was liberated on September 17, 1945.

Robert returned to Janesville after the war. He would learn that his father had died in 1943, while he was a POW. He was discharged from the army on May 26, 1947. Robert married Eleanor Goehler and would move to Richmond, Illinois, where he was superintendent of the public works department until he retired in 1975.

Robert Bartz moved to Harrington, Texas. In November 1977, he suffered a massive heart attack. He appeared to be recovering when he suddenly passed away on March 6, 1978. He is buried at Mont Meta Memorial Park, San Benito, Texas.