Parents: Joseph & Mary Johnson

Siblings: 2 brothers

Hometown: Cleveland, Ohio

Inducted: 

    - U. S. Army

        - 28 March 1941 - Ohio

Training: 

    - Fort Knox, Kentucky

    - Camp Polk, Louisiana

Overseas Duty: 

    - Philippine Islands

Engagements: 

    - Battle of Bataan

Prisoner of War: 

    - 9 April 1942

        - Death March

            - Mariveles - POWs start march at southern tip of Bataan
            - POWs ran past Japanesee 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

POW Camps: 

    - Philippine Islands: 

        - Camp O'Donnell

            - unfinished Filipino training base
            - Japanese put camp into use as POW Camp
            - only one water spiget for entire camp
            - as many as 50 POWs died each day
            - Japanese opened new POW camp to lower death rate 

        - Cabanatuan

        - Clark Field

            - POWs built runways

        - Bilibid Prison

Hell Ship:

    - Oryoku Maru

        - Boarded: 13 December 1944

            -1619 POWs boarded onto ship

        - Sailed: 14 December 1944

            - ship attacked by American planes

            - attack continued the next day

        - Sunk: 15 December 1944

            - Japanese abandoned ship

            - planes stop attack when they saw the large number of men climbing out of the ship's

              holds

            - Japanese fire at POWs as they swam ashore

Died: 

    - 15 December 1944

        - shot by Japanese 

        - Sinking of the Oryoku Maru - Subic Bay, Philippine Islands

Return to Company B