Ripley

Born: 8 April 1919 - New Mexico

Parents: Orville & Lula Ripley

Siblings: 1 sister

- lived in Ranger, Texas

Hometown: Seattle, Washington

Inducted:

- U. S. Army

- 2 April 1941 - Tacoma, Washington

Training:

- Fort Lewis, Washington

- mechanic

Units:

- 194th Tank Battalion

Overseas Duty:

- Philippine Islands

Engagements:

- Battle of Luzon

- 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
            - 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 die each day
            - Japanese opened new POW camp to lower death rate

- Cabanatuan #1

- Bilibid Prison

- spent less then a week there

- Manchuria:

- Mukden

- POWs worked in a machine shop or lumber mill

Hell Ship:

- Tottori Maru

- Sailed: 8 October 1942 - Manila

- Arrived: 10 October 1942 - Takao, Formosa

- Some POWs released from ship during the day to

work on the docks

- ship remained at Takao for eight days

- POWs re-boarded ship for trip to Pusan, Korea

- Sailed: 19 October 1942

- Arrived: Pusan, Korea - 11 November 1942

- POWs took two day train trip to Mukden, Manchuria

Died:

- 1 January 1943 - beriberi

Buried: Golden Gate National Cemetery - San Bruno, California

- Section: L Site: 6647

Posthumously promoted: Private First Class