During 1941, Pvt. Mike Wepsiec sent this postcard from Detroit where he and other members of the 192nd were picking up trucks. – Courtesy of Mike Wepsiec
Wepsiec Detroit Postcard
Postcard sent home to his parents by Pvt. Mike Wepsiec, B Co., 192nd, – after returning from a furlough to Camp Polk -the card was written as his company waited for the train to leave for San Francisco. From there, they sent to the Philippine Islands. – Courtesy of Mike Wepsiec
Wepsiec Train Postcard
Letter from 2nd Lt. Arthur Holland to George Smith and his wife. Smith was released from service because of hearing loss.
Holland Letter P 1a
Holland Letter P 1b
Holland Letter P 2a
Holland Letter P 2a
Holland Letter P 2b
Holland Letter P 3a
Holland Letter P 3a
Holland Letter P 3b
AllenLetter2a
AllenLetter2b
AllenLetter1b
This letter was sent by Ben Morin to his friend, George Smith, as the 192nd made its way to San Francisco. George Smith had been a member of B Company but was released from federal service, in August of 1941, due to hearing loss.
Morin Letter Gs Envelope 001
1st. Sgt. Ben Morin wrote this letter to George Smith
Morin Letter Gs P1 001
Morin Letter Gs P2 001
Morin Letter Gs P3 001
Morin Letter Gs P4 001
The last communique from General Wainwright.
Courtesy of the Kindell Family
The last communique from General Wainwright.
Courtesy of the Kindell Family
Letter to the parents of Sgt. William Kindell on his status.
Kindell MIA
Letter from 2nd Lt. Ben Morin, B Co., 192nd Tank Battalion
Morin Pow Letter
Letter dictated by Laprade Brown as he lay dying at Bilibid Prison.
Laprade Brown Letter P1
LaPrade Brown died on March 29, 1943, five days after this letter was dictated.
Laprade Letter P2
Letter received by LaPrade Brown’s mother notifying her of his death at Bilibid Prison.
Courtesy of the Illinois National Guard
Letter received by LaPrade Brown’s mother notifying her of his death at Bilibid Prison.
Courtesy of the Illinois National Guard
A second letter to Leona Dugger, the mother of LaPrade Brown, written in 1945 by General Douglas MacArthur.
Courtesy of the Illinois National Guard
A second letter to Leona Dugger, the mother of LaPrade Brown, written in 1945 by General Douglas MacArthur.
Courtesy of the Illinois National Guard
Humphreypc1
Humphreypc1
Radio message from Pvt. A.L. Humphrey while he was a POW at Osaka #6-B in Japan.
Humphreypc2
Letter Pvt. Bill Hauser, B Co., 192nd Tank Battalion, was allowed to send to his parents.
Hauser Letter
Original message Pvt. Bill Hauser broadcast over shortwave radio by the Japanese.
Hauser Radio Message
Notebook kept by Sgt. Lewis Wallisch of HQ Company, 192nd Tank Battalion
Courtesy of the Wallisch Family
Notebook 1 C
Sgt. Lewis Wallisch cookbook
Cookbook 2
Sgt. Lewis Wallisch’s POW recipes
Cookbook 4
Cookbook 3a
Cookbook 3
Cookbook 4a
Sgt. Lewis Wallisch Pow shortwave radio message
Wallisch Pow Message
After the war, Elmer Bensing of D Company wrote down the rules the prisoners were expected to follow on the Hell Ships. – Courtesy of the Bensing Family
Bensing POW Rules
Bensing POW Rules
Bensing POW Rules
POW letter written by Lewis Wallisch. – Courtesy of the Wallisch Family
Lewis Wallisch POW Letter
Record of trip to the Philippines
page1
p2
p3
POW card sent by Sgt. Lewis Wallisch to his parents while he was a POW at Cabanatuan #3 – Courtesy of the Wallisch family
POW_Card_3b
A second POW postcard Lewis Wallisch sent to his parents. This time he was at Cabanatuan #1 -Courtesy of the Wallisch family
POW_Card_2b
Speech made by the Japanese commanding officer telling the POWs at Hanawa the war was over.
speech1
speech2
Telegram sent to the parents of Sgt. Jim Bashleben by the Adjutant General after it was learned that he was alive in Fukuoka Camp 17. – Courtesy of Jim Bashleben
Western Union
Telegram the parents of Pvt. Steve Gados received saying he was on his way home.
Gados Telegram
Telegram PFC Bill Hauser’s father received about Bill’s radio broadcast.
Hauser Broadcast Telegram
Telegram telling the family of Pvt. William Kindell that he had been liberated.
Kindell Freed Telegram
Letter to S/Sgt. William Kindell from President Truman
Truman Letter
Telegram received by the parents of Sgt. Ray Peterson, B Co.
Peterson R Wounded
Letter the Peterson family received when it was learned that Sgt. Robert Peterson had been transferred to Japan
Peterson Transferred to Japan
Letter to Sgt. Robert Peterson’s parents on his status as Missing in Action.
Peterson MIA Letter P1
Peterson MIA Letter P2
POW letter from T/5 Rogers Taylor to his mother.
Tayler POW Letter P1
Tayler POW Letter P2
Notification that T/5 Rogers Taylor was heard on shortwave radio from Japan
Taylor Radio Broadcast
Lt. Col. Ted Wickord’s account of the bridge building detail.
BridgeDetail1
BridgeDetail2
BridgeDetail3
Allen’s 192nd Mukden Roster – Page
Allen’s 192nd Mukden Roster – Page 4
Allen’s 192nd Mukden Roster – Page 5
Allen’s 192nd Mukden Roster – Page 7
Allen’s 192nd Mukden Roster – Page 8
Allen’s 192nd Mukden Roster – Page 9
February 1942 Letter by Sgt. Albert Allen, C Company
AllenLetter1
AllenLetter1b
February 12th, Albert Allen Letter to his parents
Letter2a
Letter2b
Telegram notifying the family of Cpl Thomas Davenport, C Co. 192nd, that he was dead.
DavenportTelegram
First letter received by the Davenport family on the death of Cpl. Thomas Davenport, C Co.
DavenportDeathNotice Jun 45
Second Letter informing the Davenport family that Cpl. Thomas Davenport, C Co., was dead.
Davenport KIA Jun 45
Third letter on the death of Cpl. Thomas Davenport.
Davenport Jan 46
Letter informing the Davenport family that the remains of Cpl. Thomas Davenport were buried at Military Cemetery #2 at Manila.
Davenport Burial May 46
Telegram on the remains of Cpl. Thomas Davenport
DavenportHome1
This is part of a document by Lt. William Gentry, C Co., 192nd. The account is of C Co., 192nd’s, tank battle.
Gentry 1
Gentry 2
Gentry 3
Gentry 5
Gentry 6
Gentry 7
Gentry 8
Letter to Pvt. Charles Giamalva from his mother written at the end of the war.
GiamalvaC2
Note dropped to liberated POWs from B-29
Food Drop Note
Affidavit given by Charles Riedmiller about his treatment as a Prisoner of War
Reidmiller, Charles affidavit.1
Reidmiller, Charles affidavit.2
Reidmiller, Charles affidavit.3
Reidmiller, Charles affidavit.4
Reidmiller, Charles affidavit.5
Reidmiller, Charles affidavit.6
Reidmiller, Charles affidavit.7
Reidmiller, Charles affidavit.8
Reidmiller, Charles affidavit.9
Reidmiller, Charles affidavit.10
Telegram stating that Sgt. Lewis Brittan, HQ Co., 192nd, was a Prisoner of War
Brittan Telegram
Postcard the family of Sgt. Lewis Britttan, HQ Co. 192nd, received after he was heard on a shortwave radio broadcast.
Postcard & Broadcast
POW card sent by PFC James Carter from Cabanatuan #1.
Carter POW Card 1
Carter POW Card 2
Pvt Marcus Lawson’s Christmas Eve 1941 telegram.
Lawson Telegram 1941
Card confirming Pvt. Marcus Lawson was a Prisoner of War.
Lawson POW
POW letter from Pvt. Marcus Lawson, D Co., from Cabanatuan #1
Lawson Letter Camp 1
First letter from Pvt. Marcus Lawson from Tanagawa POW Camp in Japan.
Lawson Letter May 44
Second letter from Pvt. Marcus Lawson from Tanagawa POW Camp in Japan.
Lawson Letter Jan 45
The first telegram the family of Pvt. Marcus Lawson received that he had been liberated from the Japanese.
Lawson Liberated Telegram 1
Second telegram confirming that Sgt. Marcus Lawson had been liberated.
Lawson Liberated Telegram
Telegram from the War Department that S/Sgt. Marcus Lawson was being returned to the United States.
Lawson Telegram Coming Home
POW sent from Cabanatuan to his parents.
Lemke POW C1
Lemke POW C2
Second POW postcard sent by T/4 Steve Lemke from Cabanatuan #1.
Lemke POW C3
Lemke POW C4
Letter the family of T/4 Steve Lemke A Co., 194th Tank Battalion, stating he had died in the sinking of the Arisan Maru.
Lemke_Steve_Dead
The following pages are a record of men from Minnesota who died as POWs – Courtesy of Roger Mansell
IMG_0001
IMG_0002
IMG_0003
IMG_0004
IMG_0005
IMG_0006
IMG_0007
IMG_0008
IMG_0009
IMG_0010
IMG_0011
IMG_0012
IMG_0013
IMG_0014
IMG_0015
IMG_0016
IMG_0017
IMG_0018
IMG_0019
Letter from Ken Porwoll to his mother from Niigata #5-B – Courtesy of the Porwoll family
KP38
KP39
Sgt Ken Porwoll POW postcard from Cabanatuan #3 to his mother.
POW Card 9 7 43
Sgt. Ken Porwoll POW card from Cabanatuan #3.
POW Card 12 10 43
POW Card 12 11 43
POW Card 1 25 45
POW Card 45
Affidavit given by Charles Riedmiller, 192nd Tank Battalion, about his treatment as a Prisoner of War.
Reidmiller, Charles affidavit.1
Reidmiller, Charles affidavit.2
Reidmiller, Charles affidavit.3
Reidmiller, Charles affidavit.4
Reidmiller, Charles affidavit.5
Reidmiller, Charles affidavit.6
Reidmiller, Charles affidavit.7
Reidmiller, Charles affidavit.8
Reidmiller, Charles affidavit.9
Reidmiller, Charles affidavit.10
Letter the Shewmaker family received from the War Department about mistreatment of Prisoners of War. –
Letter to Shewmaker family
Letter sent to the step-mother of 2nd Lt. Edwin Miller, HQ Co., 194th Tank Battalion, that his remains were interred at the new American Military Cemetery at Manila per his father’s request.
Miller Internment Letter
Pvt. Bernard Johnson was killed in the sinking of the Oryoku Maru on Dec, 15, 1944. This was the telegram his mother received from the War Department telling her of his death.
Bernard Johnson KIA Telegram
This flyer was dropped to the former POWs by American planes after the war.
POW Flyer
Record on the death of PFC Clyde Ehrhardt on the Arisan Maru – October 24, 1944.
NA Form 13164 Ehrhardt
Letter received by the Schweinsberg family declaring Pvt. Fred Schweinsberg dead.
Letter 1 Schweinsberg
The second letter received by the Schweinsberg family correcting his date of death.
Letter 2 Schweinsberg
Lewis Wallisch’s Last Letter Home Before Leaving for the Philippine Islands
Lewis Wallisch’s Last Letter Home Before Leaving for the Philippine Islands
Lewis Wallisch’s Last Letter Home Before Leaving for the Philippine Islands
Lewis Wallisch’s Last Letter Home Before Leaving for the Philippine Islands
Lewis Wallisch’s Last Letter Home Before Leaving for the Philippine Islands
Lewis Wallisch’s Last Letter Home Before Leaving for the Philippine Islands
Lewis Wallisch’s Last Letter Home Before Leaving for the Philippine Islands
Lewis Wallisch’s Last Letter Home Before Leaving for the Philippine Islands
Lewis Wallisch’s Last Letter Home Before Leaving for the Philippine Islands
Lewis Wallisch’s Last Letter Home Before Leaving for the Philippine Islands
Lewis Wallisch’s Last Letter Home Before Leaving for the Philippine Islands
Lewis Wallisch’s Last Letter Home Before Leaving for the Philippine Islands
Record of POWs who died on Gapan Bridge Detail.
Gapan Deaths
Message to Caroline Bardowski that her son, Zenon, had been heard in a shortwave propaganda message.
Bardowski Telegram 1
Second part of telegram to the mother of Sgt. Senon Bardowski.
Bardowski Telegram 2
POW postcard from Sgt. Zenon Bardowski to his mother.
PC1a
Second side of POW postcard from Sgt. Zenon Bardowski to his mother.
PC1b
A second POW postcard from Sgt. Zenon Bardowski to his mother.
PC2a
The message side of the second POW postcard from Sgt. Zenon Bardowski.
PC2b
Directions on sending mail to POWs.
Mail DIrections
Letter that families received about benefits they were entitled to as families of a POW.
Benefits