Griffin

Sgt. James A. Griffin was born in 1915 in Chicago. He grew up at 6733 North Bosworth Avenue and was the son of Judge John J. Griffin & Mrs. Alice McCabe-Griffin. His father was a Cook County, Illinois circuit court judge. With his four brothers and sister, he grew up on the northwest side of Chicago.

Jim attended St. Jerome's Catholic School, and for high school, he attended Campion Prep, a Catholic Prep School, in Prarie du Chien, Wisconsin. He graduated in 1933 and attended college. He was a highly decorated Chicago Police Detective working in the Summerdale Police Station on the north side of Chicago.

In 1941, Jim was drafted into the United States Army and sent to Fort Knox, Kentucky for training. At Fort Knox, he was assigned to Company B, 192nd Battalion as a replacement. When he became a member of Company B, he received the rank of Private First Class. By the time he became a member, all the "cushy" positions were already filled by the original Illinois National Guard members. He was trained like all the members of the company to operate all the equipment used by the battalion. Jim was known as having natural leadership ability and a great sense of humor.

In October of 1941, the 192nd Tank Battalion was sent to the Philippine Islands. Arriving in the Philippines just a little over two weeks before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The tankers were taken to Ft. Stotsenburg and hosed in tents along the main road between the fort and Clark Airfield.

The morning of December 8, 1941, the tankers were informed of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor just four hours earlier. They were ordered to take their tanks to the perimeter of Clark Field and guard against Japanese paratroopers.

On December 21st, tJim took part in the first tank action by American tanks in World War II. Jim was a tank commander and assigned to Lt. Ben Morin's tank platoon. Morin's platoon was ordered north to Lingayen Gulf where the Japanese had landed troops.

Morin's platoon approached Agoo when it ran head on into a Japanese motorized unit. The Japanese light tanks had no turrets and sloped armor. The shells of the Americans glanced off the tanks. Morin's tank was knocked out and his crew captured. Jim's tank took several hits. One of the hits killed his machine gunner, Pvt. Henry Deckert.

After the engagement, Jim and the surviving tanks dropped back to Rosario. Deckert's body was removed and buried. The tanks were lost to enemy fire while being towed back for repairs.

When the American and Filipino Forces on Bataan were surrendered to the Japanese, Jim took part in the death march. He was held as a prisoner at Camp O'Donnell and Cabanatuan Prison Camp.

While Jim was a POW at Cabanatuan, he was selected to be sent to Batangas on a work detail. There, he worked on a farm and did construction work. It is believed that because of illness Jim was sent to Bilibid Prison outside of Manila. At the prison, Jim was reunited with Pfc. Frank Goldstein and Sgt. Zenon Bardowski of the 192nd. Jim's physical condition was poor so Pfc. Frank Goldstein gave him a handful of vitamin pills he had received in a red cross parcel. At Bilibid, Jim was the cellmate of Dr. Paul Ashton. While a prisoner at Bilibid, Jim assisted the doctor in helping the wounded and caring for those who could not take care of themselves.

Jim had a fantastic sense of humor and loved to play jokes on the guards. One of his jokes would lead to his death. Jim made placebos from plaster and sold them to the guards to cure their "social diseases."

According to Lt. Ack Merrifield, Jim was sent to Bilibid from a work detail because he was suffering from dysentery. On May 19, 1944, while Jim was outside lying down and sunning himself after taking a shower, a Japanese guard came up to him and started a conversation. During the conversation, the Japanese guard said to Jim that he was going to shoot him. Jim's response was "Go ahead." The guard shot him three times. One shot hit Jim in the neck severing his spinal column and paralizing him from the arms down. According to other POWs, the guard was unhappy with the medicine that Jim had sold him. Jim died from his wounds the next day.

Jim's cellmate, Dr. Paul Ashton, heard what happened and ran out of the cell block and up to the guard. Without hesitating, Dr. Ashton jumped the guard which prevented him from killing himself. The gunshot did blow off part of the guard's jaw. The guard was taken from Bilibid and never seen again. For whatever reason, the Japanese did not kill Dr. Ashton but put him through a court-martial. As punishment, he was not allowed to be transported to Japan.

It was on April 23, 1945, that Jim's parents learned of his death. On May 19, 1945, his parents held a memorial for Jim at St. Jerome's Catholic Church in Chicago.

Today the remains of Sgt. James W. Griffin lie in the American Military Cemetery outside of Manila.