Pimperal

Pvt. John M. Pimperal was born on March 13, 1919 and lived at 620 West Surf Street in Chicago, Illinois. He was drafted into the army and became a member of Company B, 192nd Tank Battalion while its members were training at Fort Knox, Kentucky. He continued to train with the company on maneuvers in Louisiana. After the maneuvers the 192nd was sent to Camp Polk, Louisiana. There they were informed that they were being sent to the Philippine Islands.

John went with his company to the Philippine Islands and lived through the bombing of Clark Field. He took part in the delaying action on the Bataan Peninsula. When the Philippines fell to the Japanese, John became a Prisoner of War. He first worked on the docks of Manila loading and unloading ships. He was then sent to Cabanatuan for four months.

While a POW at Cabanatuan, a camp orchestra was organized. John was an accomplished trumpet player and became a member of the camp orchestra. To help break the routine of the camp, the orchestra played on Wednesday and Saturday nights.

As part of their propaganda campaign, the Japanese would broadcast the performances to the rest of the Philippines. During one of the broadcasts, John was allowed to ask anyone listening to contact his aunt in California. As it turned out, a short wave radio operator heard the broadcast and contacted his aunt. She in turn contacted John's mother and told her that he was alive and a prisoner in the Philippine Islands. This was the first news that his family had received from him since the surrender.

On October 5, 1942, John was sent to Japan on the Tottori Maru. The trip took 37 days before the prisoners disembarked at Osaka. In Japan, he was sent to Kawasaki where he worked as a riveter at the Shibaura Electric Works. The camp was designated Tokyo #3B. The POWs lived in a baseball stadium. The prisoners worked nine hour days for the equivalency of two cents for the entire day.

Life as a POW in Japan meant meals for the prisoners that consisted mostly of cereal and soup. At the camp where John was held, very few prisoners were beaten by the guards. But if they did poor work, they received no food that day.

On May 1, 1944, the camp was closed. John and the other POWs were transferred to other camps. At this time, it is not known what camp he was held in after Tokyo #3B. John remained a POW until he was liberated by American Forces in September of 1945. While John was a POW, his wife remarried.

John returned to Chicago but would move to Maine. There, he remarried and raised a family. The one affect of his time as a POW was his belief in good food. John M. Pimperal passed away on July 6, 2001.