Rue_E

Capt. Edwin W. Rue was the son of Insco and Lotta Forbes-Rue. He was born on May 31, 1910, and was the fourth oldest child, and the oldest of son, of the couple's thirteen children. He was known as "Skip" to his family and friends.

In 1934, two major events in Skip's life took place. He married Frances True Brown and joined the 38th Tank Company of the Kentucky National Guard in Harrodsburg, Kentucky. With him in the National Guard was his brother, Arch.

While in the National Guard, Skip quickly rose in rank from private to sergeant. In the fall of 1940, his tank company was federalized. With the tank company, he traveled to Fort Knox, Kentucky, for one year of federal service.

For the next year, Skip trained with his company. At this time he was promoted to first sergeant. In the fall of 1941, he took part in maneuvers in Louisiana. After the maneuvers, he and the other members of the battalion were told that they were not being released from federal service. Instead, the battalion was being sent overseas.

Skip, being over twenty-nine years old, was given the opportunity to resign from federal service. He made the decision to remain with his company and go overseas. It is believed that at this time he resigned as an enlisted man, and reenlisted as a first lieutenant.

Sailing from Angel Island, the battalion arrived in Manila after stops at Hawaii and Guam. For the next two weeks, Skip and the rest of the battalion worked to prepare their equipment for use in maneuvers they were suppose to take participate in shortly.

On December 8, 1941, Skip lived through the Japanese attack on Clark Field. As a member of the Provisional Tank Group, he was assigned to the tank group's headquarters as HQ Commandant. It was during this time that he was promoted to captain.

Skip was assigned to General Wainwright's headquarters as laision officer. The day after the Japanese landed troops at Lingayen Gulf, Wainwright asked him how long it would take to get the tanks to the area. Skip told him that it would take ten minutes. It was Skip who carried the message to the tankers to engage the Japanese.

It was at this time that in Skip's opinion that the tankers training went unused. At Ft. Knox, they had been trained to fight an offensive war. Hit hard and fast and get out. Instead, General MacArthur used the tanks as defensive cover for withdrawing troops.

During the Battle of Bataan, Skip recalled that to supplement their diets the soldiers slaughtered caribou when they had the opportunity. When a rumor started that the Japanese had sprayed the meat with poison, no one wanted the meat.

In Skip's opinion, it was important for the Filipino and American troops to hold Bataan as long as possible. In his opinion, by holding onto Bataan for four months, the Japanese were unable to use Manila Bay or take Corregidor.

Without reinforcements, their was little that the Filipino and Americans could do. Skip believed that General King was a great general but could do little because he had resources. With as many as 300 men dying each day, it was General King who made the decision to surrender.

Skip recalled that as food became scarce it also became unhealthier. He recalled: "I'd pick up food from the Filipinos - most of it was dirty. One (Filipino) brought me a dozen hard buns, and I thought, 'this'll last me a week.' I opened them up and there were ants in them."

Skip recalled that he was out in the field when he received his orders to surrender the night of April 8th. He dismantled his .45 caliber handgun and threw the pieces away in different directions in the jungle. He also got rid of all his ammunition. He recalled that the night was filled with roars, flashing lights and even an earthquake.

Skip and the other men assembled at Balanga in the south of Bataan. When Skip began the death march, he had one drink of water. As it turned out, he would not drink water again until he reached Camp O'Donnell.

Skip recalled that the worst things about the march were the lack of food and water and the heat. He also believed that the march was worse than people have heard. The food that Skip and the other POWs received was inadequate and prepared poorly. Rice was the main staple of the POWs. It was cooked in dirty 50 gallon drums. "I remember looking at the preparation once - I wouldn't look at it again."

Like so many soldiers, Skip started the march ill. He had beriberi and was weak. He also was suffering from hunger pains. Skip collapsed from exhaustion and hunger, and when he opened his eyes, a Japanese guard was standing over him holding an American .45 in his face. Skip recalled the gun was so close to his face that he could see the boring marks inside the gun's barrel.

An officer of B Company, 192nd Tank Battalion, was passing and shouted to Skip that he had nothing to worry about because the guard had no idea how to release the safety on the pistol. As it turned out the officer was right. For whatever reason, the guard allowed two Filipino soldiers to carry Skip between them. It took him five days to complete the march.

At San Fernando, Skip and the other POWs were forced into boxcars. They were packed in so tightly, that men passed out and died in the cars. At Capas, Skip and the other POWs climbed out of the cars and walked the last few miles to Camp O'Donnell. It had been five days since he started the march.

As a Prisoner of War, Skip had memories of Camp O'Donnell. "I remember men lost their minds during the march being rounded up and put in a bullpen and I could hear them screaming and fighting all night."

Another experience that stayed with Skip his entire life was the image of the dead being carried to the cemetery to be buried. "I have a vivid memory of the continual of corpses being carried to the graveyard. There was a whole lot of sickness."

When the new camp opened at Cabanatuan, Skip was sent there. It was during that his beriberi got worst and his body was filling with fluids. Yandell Terhune gave him vitamin pills which stopped his beriberi. Ironically, Terhune died of dysentery in July, 1942.

Skip was later sent to Japan on the Nagato Maru on November 7, 1942. As he walked up the gangplank he was handed a wooden chip. His wooden chip was a different color from his friends in D Company. The color of the chip determined where a POW would be sent. Chip's woodchip was a different color then his friends. He did not see them again until the end of the war.

During the trip, Skip recalled that the POWs were all hungry. It was during the trip that he got the first signs of dry beriberi. His toes began to tingle and slowly the pain moved from the instep to his ankles. As it got worse, the pain would shoot up his legs and down again. Finally, he could not stand anything touching him.

In Japan, it is known that Skip was held at Zentsuji. There, he worked as a stevedore in the rail yards of the Port of Takamasu. Being an officer, Skip did not have to work. If he chose to work, he received more food. So, he worked.

On June 23, 1945, Skip was sent to Rokushi Camp with other officers. In this camp, the POWs worked on a farm to provide food for themselves. During his time in Japan, Skip noticed that American B-29s were appearing in the skies more frequently. At night, he could hear the bombs exploding for hours. The bombing stopped on August 14, 1945.

The only news that Skip and the other POWs received about the atomic bomb was from the guards. A Japanese guard ran into Skip's barracks screaming, "Yankee vultures! New weapon! Boom!" As the guard screamed this, he waved his arms wildly. This was the first time that Skip and seen a Japanese guard look pale.

One day, six B-29s flew over the camp and parachuted food and clothing to the starving POWs. "It was just like an air raid - you had to look out to keep from getting hit by food."

Skip and the other POWs were taken by train through Osaka. He could not believe his eyes at what he saw. Nothing was standing except one smoke stack.

After he was liberated, Skip weighed himself. To his amazement he weighed 87 pounds, and his waist was down to 17 inches. On September 10, 1945, Skip was returned to the Philippines. There, he learned that his younger brother, Arch, who was an officer with D Company, died when the ship he was on, the Oryoku Maru, was attacked by American planes.

After he was liberated, Skip was promoted to Major. Skip returned to Harrodsburg and ran his own business. He also became the father of a second daughter. Skip later moved to Lexington, Kentucky, where he spent the rest of his life.

Edwin "Skip" Rue died on November 28, 2004, in Lexington, Kentucky.

It should be noted that after the fall of Bataan, LIFE Magazine in its July 6, 1942 issue published an article on D Company and Harrodsburg. In the magazine, there was a full-page photo of Skip's daughter, Linda. Since the website was created, we have been contacted several times by people, born on that date, who had recently received the magazine as a birthday present.

Each time, the person wrote that he or she found our website attempting to find out if the daddy of the little girl, in the picture, had made it home from the war. Those individuals who contacted us were always happy to learn that Skip had survived the war and returned home to his wife and daughter.

Skip remained in the military and rose to the rank of Major. He became the father of a second daughter, Joan. Joan's daughter is the actress, Sarah Rue, who played Nurse Martha in the movie, "Pearl Harbor" and was a main character on the television show, "Less than Perfect".