Rawson

Born: 15 October 1918 - Oakland, California

Parents: Harry G. Rawson & Ellen Ramson-Rawson

Hometown: Watsonville, California

- family later resided in Salinas, California

Enlisted: California National Guard

Inducted:

- U. S. Army

- 10 February 1941 - Salinas Army Air Base

Training:

- Fort Lewis, Washington

Unit:

- 194th Tank Battalion

Overseas Duty:

- Philippine Islands

Engagements:

- Battle of Luzon

- Battle of Bataan

Prisoner of War:

- 9 April 1942

- Death March

- POWs started march at Mariveles on the southern tip of Bataan

- POWs ran past Japanese artillery firing on Corregidor

- American artillery returned fire
- San Fernando - POWs packed into small wooden boxcars

- each boxcar could hold eight horses or forty men

- 100 POWs packed into each boxcar

                - POWs who died remained standing
            - Capas - POWs leave boxcars - dead fall out of cars
            - walked last ten miles to Camp O'Donnell

POW Camps:

- 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 #1

Died:

- 10 October 1942 - malaria & dysentery

- Approximate time of death: 2:00 A.M.

Buried: Remains Returned Home