Sgt. Harvey Herbert Riedeman was born in Milwaukee on August 17, 1918, to Eric A. & Selma Riedeman.  He grew up at 746 West Main Street in Watertown, Wisconsin and attended Lincoln School.  He was a 1936 graduate of Watertown High School.  

    On January 27, 1941, Harvey was inducted into the U. S. Army.  He was sent to Ft. Sheridan, Illinois and next sent to Fort Knox, Kentucky for basic training.  His hometown newspaper reported that he was a messenger and clerk for the Farmers and Citizens Bank in Watertown before being inducted into the army.

    Upon arriving at Ft. Knox, Harvey was assigned to the 192nd Tank Battalion which had been formed from National Guard units from Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio and Kentucky.  It was during his basic training that Harvey became friends with Ed DeGroot.

    After basic training, Harvey was assigned to A Company, 192nd, which had originated as a Wisconsin National Guard tank company from Janesville.  After being assigned to the company, Harvey and Ed became good friends with Sgt. Owen Sandmire.

    In the late summer of 1941, Harvey took part in maneuvers in Louisiana.  It was after these maneuvers, on the side of a hill, the he and the other members of the battalion learned that they were being sent overseas.

    Harvey and the other men, who were shipping out, were given leaves home to say goodbye to their families and friends.  He then returned to Camp Polk, Louisiana and rode a train to San Francisco.  Upon arriving there, he and the other men boarded a ferry that took them to Angel Island.

    Harvey sailed for the Philippine Islands arriving on November 22nd, Thanksgiving Day.  A little over two weeks later, on December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.  Ten hours later, he and the other tankers lived through the Japanese attack on Clark Air Field.

    For the next four months Harvey fought to slow the Japanese conquest of the Philippine Islands.  On April 9, 1941, Capt Fred Bruni informed A Company that Bataan on been surrendered to the Japanese.  It was on that day that Harvey became a Prisoner of War.

    From Mariveles at the southern tip of Bataan, Harvey started what became known as  the death march.  He made his way to San Fernando.  From there, he rode a train to Capas where he and the other POWs disembarked.  He then walked the last few miles to Camp O'Donnell.

    It is not known if Harvey went out on a work detail, but it is known that he was sent to Cabanatuan after the new camp opened.  He was later sent to Bilibid Prison where he became friends with Dr. Paul Ashton.  Harvey worked as an aide to Dr. Ashton and kept records and issued supplies to the POWs.  During his time at Bilibid, Harvey kept a diary.  After the war, his dairy was given to his family.

    In late 1944, the Japanese began evacuating POWs to Japan or another occupied country.  Their reason for doing this is that they did not want the men to be liberated by the advancing American forces.  On December 15, 1944,  Harvey, along with 1619 other POWs were marched from Bilibid to the Port Area of Manila, The POWs were boarded on the "Hell ship" Oryoku Maru which was bound for Japan. 

    The Oryoku Maru came under attack by American planes.  The attack on the ship lasted two days resulting with the ship being intentionally grounded and then sunk by the planes on December 26, 1944.  Harvey and the other survivors swam to shore near Olongoa, Philippine Islands.  He did this while under Japanese machine gun fire.  

    While the Japanese attempted to recapture the POWs, the prisoners were rounded up and held on tennis courts.  After all the prisoners were back in custody, the Japanese asked if any of the POWs were too weak to continue the voyage to Japan.  Those who said that they were too weak to go on were loaded onto trucks and taken to the mountains.  They were never seen again.

    The remaining prisoners were taken by train to San Fernando and then returned to Manila where they boarded another "Hell Ship" the Enoura Maru.   On this ship, the POWs were held in three different holds.  Men who attempted to get fresh air by climbing the ladders were shot by the guards. 

    The POWs on the ship were taken to Formosa.  There, Harvey once again came close to death when the ship was bombed and sunk by American planes on January 13, 1945, while it was still docked.   During the attack, a bomb exploded in one of the ship's holds. This explosion resulted in the deaths of many POWs, including Lt. Leroy Scoville, of A Company, who was wounded by the bomb.

    On January 14, 1945, Harvey was boarded onto his third "hell ship" the Brazil Maru which left Formosa and arrived in Moji, Japan, on January 29, 1945.  Of the original 1619 men that boarded the Oryoku Maru, only 459 of the POWs had survived the trip to Japan. 

    Harvey may have been wounded when the bomb exploded in the hold of the Brazil Maru, since he was taken to Moji POW Hospital.  According to the final report on the 192nd Tank Battalion written by 1st Lt. Jacques Merrifield, Sgt. Harvey H. Riedeman died on February 4, 1945, at the Moji POW Hospital in Moji, Japan.  The official cause of death was listed as dysentery.

    After Harvey died, his remains were cremated and he was buried in the Charnel House at Moji.  It is known that the Japanese combined the ashes of the POWs buried in the house.  After the war, his family requested that his ashes be returned home to Watertown where they were buried in Oak Hill Cemetery.