Speckens

Born: 20 July 1922 - California

Home: Salinas, California

Enlisted:

- California National Guard

Inducted:

- U.S. Army

- 10 February 1941 - Salinas Army Airfield

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:

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

- Cabanatuan #1

- Japan

- Sendai #6

- POWs worked in a copper mine

- mine owned by Mitsubishi

Hell Ship:

- Noto Maru

- Sailed: Manila - 27 August 1944

- Arrived: Takao, Formosa - 29 August 1944

- Sailed: Unknown

- Arrived: Keelung, Formosa - Unknown

- Sailed: Unknown

- Arrived: Moji, Japan - 4 September 1944

Liberated:

- September 1945

Married: multiple marriages

Died: 25 May 1991 - Laguna Hills, California