Sigala

Born: 5 July 1916 - Santa Clara County, California

Parents: Macario Sigala & Margarita Cobos-Sigala

Hometown: Santa Clara, California

Enlisted: California National Guard - 1932 - 16 years old

Inducted:

- U. S. Army

- 10 February 1941 - Salinas Army Air Base

Training:

- Fort Lewis, Washington

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:

- Philippines:

- 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

- Las Pinas Detail

- POWs built runways

- sent to Port Area Manila - 22 September 1944

- Formosa:

- Toroku Camp

- Work: Sugarcane processing

- Japan:

- Maibara #10B

- Work: canal building

Hell Ships:

- Hokusen Maru

- Ship Boarded: 1 October 1944

- Sailed: Manila - 3 October 1944

- Arrived: Hong Kong - 11 October 1944

- Sailed: 21 October 1944

- Arrived: Formosa - 24 October 1944

- Disembarked: 11 November 1944

Note: POWs were scheduled to sail on Arisan Maru but were switched to

Hokusen Maru since the other POW group was not ready to sail. Arisan

Maru was sunk by an American submarine. Only nine POWs, of 1803

POWs, survived the sinking.

- Melbourne Maru

- Sailed: Formosa - 14 January 1945

- Arrived: Japan - 23 January 1945

Liberated: September 1945

Military Medals: Two Purple Hearts, Presidential Unit Citation

Military Career:

- United States Air Force

- Viet Nam

Retired: 31 May 1961

Married: Lucille

Children:

- 2 daughters

- 2 sons

Medals:

- 2 Purple Hearts

Died:

- 31 October 1996 - Denair, California

Buried:

- San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery - Gustine, California

- 7 November 1996 - Plot: 10 0 2122