This B-24 Liberator, 42-52286, and crew were assigned to the 747^th Squadron of the 456^th Bomb Group. The aircraft was damaged by a fighter and crashed near Rome, Italy on February 17, 1944. On July 20, 1949 two members of Lt Bessler’s crew were buried in Section E Site 44 at the Zachary Taylor National Cemetery

2/Lt Harry W. Bessler, Pilot    Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery

T/Sgt Erwin M Rahe, Radio Operator   Zachary Taylor National Cemetery

S/Sgt Joseph L Caruso, Engineer    Zachary Taylor National Cemetery

In Memory of
U.S. Army Air Force Second Lieutenant
Harry W. Bessler
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Minnehaha County
May 19, 1920 - February 17, 1944
Killed in Action over Subiaco, Italy

Harry “Bill” Bessler was born on May 19, 1920, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to Harry and Mabelle Bessler.  Bill worked for his father doing electrical contracting for about one year.

In May of 1939, Harry Bessler enlisted in the army in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, before the Selective Service was implemented. Trained in the Air Corps, Bessler served within the continental United States through December 14, 1943.  Harry Bessler married Ava McDonald in Sacramento, California, in August of 1943.  On December 15, 1943, Bessler was shipped overseas to serve our country in Italy.

Second Lieutenant Bessler was the pilot of a B-24 Liberator bomber and took part in a bombing mission south of Rome.  His plane was damaged during the mission and crashed near Subiaco, Italy, which is approximately thirty miles east of Rome.  On February 17, 1944, Second Lieutenant Harry W. Bessler was reported missing in action.  On May 18, 1945, the Adjutant General officially declared Second Lieutenant Harry W. Bessler dead after he’d been missing in action for over a year.  A portion of the Adjutant General’s letter that was sent to Mrs. Harry Bessler’s wife read as follows:

I regret the necessity for this message but trust that the ending of a long period of
uncertainty may give at least some small measure of consolation.  An appraisal of
the sacrifice made by your husband in the service of his country compels in us
feelings of humility and respect.  May Providence grant a measure of relief from
the anguish and anxiety you have experienced during these many months.

Lt. Bessler’s plane was not found until several years later, and he was still at the controls. Although Lt. Bessler went down with his plane, most of his crew was able to parachute to safety. Second Lieutenant Harry W. Bessler will always be remembered and respected for his courage and the sacrifice that he made for his country.

This entry was respectfully submitted by Brandee J. Soles, Senior, Sioux Falls Christian High School, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, April 5, 2002.  Information for this entry was provided by South Dakota Veterans Bonus Records and by E. Warren Bessler, Louisville, Kentucky, cousin of Harry Bessler.

This B-29 Superfortress, 42-24828, “Lil Spook,” and crew were assigned to the 484^th Squadron of the 505^th Bomb Group. On May 26, 1945, the aircraft was lost over Tokyo while participating in one of the largest air operations in the history of the world. Japanese records indicate that the crewmen were buried in the Koishikawa Army Cemetery after removal from the wreckage. Eleven of the twelve crewmen were buried in Section E Site 175-177 on October 13, 1949 at the Zachary Taylor National Cemetery.

1/Lt Helfert, William F, Pilot

1/Lt Bickford, Russell E, Copilot                                   

Sgt Campbell, Ivan H, Radio Operator                          

Capt Petersen, Robert L, Observer                               

Sgt Coz, Edward G, Tailgunner                                      

Sgt Neely, Joseph H Jr, Central Fire Control                                    

Sgt Pearce, Herbert C, Left Gunner                              

F/O Purcell, John E, Navigator                                       

S/Sgt Van Cleve, Harold A, Engineer                            

2/Lt Weakley, Thomas B, Bombardier                          

Sgt McQuade, William J, Right Gunner    .

2/Lt Brimeyer, Joseph L, Radar Operator     KIA

This B-24 Liberator, 42-7643, “Ballsafire,” and crew were assigned to the 700^th Squadron of the 445^th Bomb Group. The aircraft was lost on the group’s March 16, 1944 mission to Friedrichshafen, Germany possibly due to mechanical trouble. On September 24, 1949 three members of the crew were buried in Section E Site 122 at the Zachary Taylor National Cemetery.

2/Lt McCoy, Daniel F, Bombardier

S/Sgt Monnett, James R, Gunner

2/Lt Teasdale, Clark A, Copilot

1/Lt Raroha, Richard A, Pilot      POW

2/Lt Williams, James J, Navigator    Buried in the family cemetery in Texas

T/Sgt Fermyn, Charles J, Engineer   POW

T/Sgt Martin, Andrew J, Radio Operator     Lorraine American Cemetery

S/Sgt Fertig, Richard W, Gunner     POW

S/Sgt Schaich, Wilfred J, Gunner     POW

S/Sgt Radtke, Earl P, Gunner     KIA

Cpl Spradlin, Lloyd I            9/15/1942       

Pfc Snead, Edward H           9/16/1942       

Pfc Lyons, Howard F           9/15/1942                         

                                 Cpl Lloyd Spradlin

Cpl Lloyd Spradlin survived the Bataan Death March but died of dysentery in Cabantuan prison, an infamous hell-hole of a prison camp run by the Japanese. He enlisted when he was 18, and only had 2 months left of his tour of duty when the war broke out in the Pacific and the Bataan Peninsula was overrun by the Japanese. These men held out under insurmountable obstacles and fought a delaying action that has all but been forgotten.

                   Pfc Edward H. Snead

CAPTIVITY

After being surrendered as part of the Bataan Defense Force on April 9, 1942, the 31st Infantry Regiment played no further role as a unit during World War II. The regiment lived on, however, in the spirit of those who endured 42 months of captivity under exceptionally brutal conditions in the Philippines, Formosa, Manchuria, and Japan and in the actions of those who continued to evade or resist the Japanese as members of scattered guerilla bands in the mountains and jungles of the Philippines. Although much has been written about both aspects of the era, it would be inaccurate to characterize

individual actions after Bataan’s surrender as actions of the 31st Infantry Regiment. Instead, this chapter is devoted primarily to honoring those known to have died in captivity. Their number, far exceeding the regiment’s battle casualties, speaks volumes about their circumstances.

Practically all members of the 31st Infantry entered captivity malnourished and

sick. Because General MacArthur first decided to defend Luzon at Lingayen Gulf and several beaches south of Manila, his staff had not pre-stocked supplies of food, fuel, and medicine on the Bataan Peninsula or developed the bastion for a protracted defense. In consequence, American and Filipino troops who fought there went on half rations in early January and their portions became ever smaller and less nourishing through April. Most medicines ran out by early February, leaving soldiers to cope with the combined weakening effects of gradual starvation and diseases ranging from malaria and diptheria

to dysentery and vitamin deficiency diseases. Thus, those who fought at Bataan went into captivity seriously weakened. Their captors did all they could to worsen their condition.

THE DEATH MARCH

Those who trusted Japanese pledges of decent treatment if they accepted

surrender were immediately disabused of that hope. The Bataan garrison’s survivors, over 60,000 men, were marched 68 miles under a blazing sun, denied potable water and relief stops, and subjected to extreme brutality and summary executions by scornful, sadistic Japanese guards. About 1600 of that number were members of the 31st Infantry, most of whom survived the march. Filipino civilians who tried to give them food or water along the way were bayoneted or beheaded.

Once at Camp O’Donnell, thousands of men from hundreds of units were

crammed into a former Philippine Army training center. Sanitation facilities were sparse and quickly overwhelmed. There was no medicine and what passed for food was seriously deficient in caloric content. Brutality and summary executions at the hands ofJapanese guards continued unabated. The number of men who died in captivity in May 1942 exceeded the number who died in combat and it would still be several years before the survivors would be liberated.

THE CAMPS

Those captured at Corregidor did not experience the Death March. They were generally better fed and healthier since the island was better provisioned and its defenders did not have to live in malarial jungles. A week or so after the island surrendered on May 6, 1942, they were taken by barge to Manila and marched through the city’s streets to Bilibid, a pre-war high security prison. After being screened, most prisoners were taken by train from Bilibid to Cabanatuan in central Luzon.

Around the same time, most of those captured at Bataan and held initially at

Camp O’Donnell were moved to Cabanatuan. Some suspected of having information of value to the Japanese were held at Bilibid. Other men were sent there later from various labor details or were too ill to be moved. Men who were particularly resistant to the Japanese at Bilibid or were captured in underground organizations were taken to the old Spanish dungeons under Fort Santiago. No known survivors emerged. Others were sent to prison work camps on the islands of Mindanao and Palawan or were taken to work

details at places like Nichols Field to extend the runway. There, the sadistic brutality of Japanese guards was unsurpassed as a number of prisoners were beaten to death for sport. At Palawan, the Japanese guard force slaughtered the prisoners when it became clear that they could not be removed before American troops landed on the island.

THE HELL SHIPS

In 1944, when Japan recognized that American forces would soon land on Luzon and Mindanao, the two largest islands of the Philippines, they crammed thousands of men, including most surviving officers, into the unventilated holds of unmarked “hell ships”. Those too weak or too sick to be of value as slave labor in Japanese mines and construction projects were left behind to die at Cabanatuan and other camps. On the hell ships, hundreds of men had only a single bucket among them for sanitation and had nowhere to lie down or escape the suffocating heat and stench. Many died standing. Three of the hell ships carrying members of the 31st Infantry, the Shinyo Maru, Arisan Maru, and Oryoku Maru were sunk by the US Navy, sending men who had

endured three years of starvation, illness, and maltreatment to watery graves. The Shinyo Maru departed Mindanao on September 3, 1944 with 750 American POWs. It was torpedoed by the USS Paddle four days later, killing 668 of the Americans aboard. The Arisan Maru departed Manila on October 10, 1944 with 1800 American POWs. It was torpedoed by the USS Snook, killing 1795 of the Americans aboard. The Oryoku Maru departed Manila on December 13, 1944 with 1800 American POWs aboard. It was sunk two days later near Subic Bay by American carrier planes. Angry Japanese guards shot men trying to escape from the sinking ship’s hold and shot still more as they struggled in the water. Those who made it to shore were recaptured and taken to Japan aboard two other hell ships departing the Philippines on December 27 and January 2. Of the 1800 who started the hellish journey with the Oryoku Maru on December 13, 1426 died.

SLAVE LABOR CAMPS

For prisoners who made it to Formosa, Manchuria, and Japan, conditions were sometimes better and sometimes not. The unaccustomed cold weather added to men’s misery, costing many weakened men their lives. At other places, mine cave-ins and other forms of industrial accidents took more lives. Some were subjected to secret biological warfare experiments in Manchuria and others were killed by the American atomic bombings of Japanese cities where they were performing slave labor.

.

THE CABANATUAN ROSTER

By the time liberation came, more than a thousand members of the 31st Infantry Regiment had perished. Among the dead were most of the regiment’s officers and senior NCOs. While at Cabanatuan POW Camp, Lieutenant Colonel Jasper Brady and Major Marshall Hurt covertly compiled a roster of those who had served with the regiment during the war. It covers the period December 8, 1941 through October 10, 1944, when Brady and Hurt were taken from Cabanatuan to be transported to Japan. It lists names, ranks, service numbers, hometowns, combat wounds, decorations earned, next of kin, and pending awards and disciplinary action. For those who died in combat or captivity before Brady and Hurt were taken to their deaths aboard the Arisan Maru, the circumstance and place of burial is annotated. Given the conditions under which the roster was prepared, it is remarkably legible and thorough. There are, however, some inevitable gaps, such as the hometowns or next of kin of men who died before the roster was begun. Because the

roster was compiled from the memories of leaders incarcerated at Cabanatuan, some spellings of names may also be inaccurate.

The night before Brady and Hurt were to leave Cabanatuan, they hid the roster under one of the barracks buildings. Brady left instructions with several men left behind that the information must get back into US hands. Brady annotated the roster, “825 known dead as POWs by late 1944” and signed his name and service number on the front inside cover. The roster was recovered by the 6th Ranger Battalion during Cabanatuan’s

liberation and was eventually given to Anne Brady, Jasper Brady’s widow. With the aid of survivors, she further annotated the roster to indicate the deaths of 330 others who died aboard hell ships or in Japanese work camps. Roughly half of the regiment’s strength on the day the war began died in captivity or a total of 1,155 men that could be somewhat accounted for.

                Pfc Howard F. Lyons

Died in a Japanese Prisoner Of War Camp in the Philippine Islands.