Capt. Arthur Vincent Burholt was the son of Judson Burholt and Alice E. Conley-Burholt and was born on September 16, 1908, in Columbus, Ohio. He was the oldest of the couple’s three sons and was known as “Art” to his family and friends. Sometime during this period, the family moved to Port Clinton, where, he attended school and was a 1926 graduate of Port Clinton High School. During this time, his father and brother, Billy, passed away, and his mother married Fred Gottschalk. After high school, he attended Michigan State Normal College in Ypsilanti, Michigan, with his brother, Ralph, and received a degree in 1932.
On February 15, 1933, Arthur joined the Ohio National Guard and he also took a job at Port Clinton High School where he coached basketball, track, and football. On May 1, 1934, he married Virginia Van Rensselaer, and he and his wife resided at 520 East Perry Street in Port Clinton. He was still in the National Guard and was promoted to corporal on February 14, 1936, while in June 1938, he became the high school’s athletic director.
After the German tank divisions rolled through Europe in 1939 and 1940, the Army created the U.S. Armored Forces on July 10, 1940. Included in the force were the National Guard General Headquarters tank battalions. The GHQ battalions which were still considered infantry were called up to create a “buffer” between the armored forces and infantry. This was done to protect the regular army tank battalions from requests from the infantry for tanks and allow them to develop into real fighting forces. If the infantry wanted tanks, the National Guard tank battalions were available to the infantry.
The tank company, on September 19, 1940, was notified it was being called to federal service. Although he was in the National Guard, he registered with Selective Service on October 16, 1940, and named his wife as his contact person. The company’s commanding officer and two of its four lieutenants failed their physicals in October and officers were needed to replace them. Arthur had also gone to Columbus and passed the test to become a second lieutenant. He resigned as an enlisted man on November 23, 1940, and was commissioned a second lieutenant on November 24, 1940. He was granted a one-year leave of absence from Port Clinton High School to go with the tank company to Fort Knox, Kentucky.
The company was inducted into the U. S. Army on November 25, 1940, at 7:00 A.M. Men with families were allowed to resign from service. Over the next two days, the soldiers were given physicals, and five enlisted men were released from federal service after failing their physicals. The remaining men spent the next several days at the armory checking equipment and being issued clothing. Two men, who lived further away, lived at the armory.
An eleven-man detachment, in a convoy, left Port Clinton on November 28 with the company’s 1½-ton truck, one car, one truck that hauled mess equipment, and office equipment and supply room equipment for Ft. Knox, Kentucky. It rained the entire trip and the men spent the night at Fort Thomas, Kentucky. At the fort, they recalled seeing a great number of draftees being trained in the mud and water. They also discovered that Howard Wodrich – who was supposed to ride the train – had fallen asleep in one of the trucks and was an unexpected member of the detail.
It was a cold morning, on November 29, when the remaining 39 members of the company marched east on Perry Street to Madison Street, south on Madison to Second Street, east on Second Street to Fulton Street, and south on Fulton to the New York Central train station. There, they boarded a train that had the company’s two tanks on a flatcar. The train was an hour late leaving Port Clinton. As they left Port Clinton, some men attempted to cheer others up by saying, “The worse part is over.” As they passed familiar Ottawa County landmarks, others said, “Well, we won’t see that for a while.” The train arrived in Toledo at 11:15 AM where it spent another two hours. During this time, the soldiers ate lunch. It then traveled through Fostoria, Carey, Bellefontaine, Urbana, Springfield, Patterson Field, Dayton, Middletown, and arrived in Cincinnati at 6:00 PM It was there that the soldiers had dinner. The train reached Covington, Kentucky at 6:40 PM where it changed train lines and went west through Worthville and Louisville, finally reaching Ft. Knox at 1:00 AM time. During the trip, the soldiers listened to music from portable radios. They also started to learn about each other with three men admitting they got engaged before they left Port Clinton. They arrived at Ft. Knox at 1:00 AM, but they did not get to their barracks until a half hour later and found a hot meal waiting for them.
Their first impression of the base was that it was a mud hole because it had rained continuously for days, and it continued to rain after they arrived. Someone at the base told them that at the fort, “You either wade to your ankles in dust, or mud to your knees.” When the entire battalion arrived at the base, it had a total of eight tanks. The biggest task at Ft. Knox facing the members of the 192nd, was that each company had to get used to the other. During this process of adjustment, the members of the different companies often were involved in fistfights. As time passed, the fights ended and the members of the battalion became friends.
According to information from the time, each company was scheduled to receive 17 tanks, three half-tracks, four motorcycles, two motorcycles with passenger cars, four, two-and-a-half-ton trucks, and a half-ton pickup truck. The battalion was attached to the 69th Armored Regiment, 1st Armored Division, and received its training under the 69th. This was true for the tank crews and reconnaissance units who trained with the regiment’s tanks and reconnaissance units and later trained with their own companies.
A typical day for the soldiers started at 6:15 with reveille, but most of the soldiers were up before this since they wanted to wash and dress. Breakfast was from 7:00 to 8:00 A.M., followed by calisthenics from 8:00 to 8:30. Afterward, the tankers went to various schools within the company. The classes consisted of .30 and .50 caliber machine guns, pistols, map reading, care of personal equipment, military courtesy, and training in tactics. At 11:30 the soldiers stopped what they were doing and cleaned up for mess which was from noon to 1:00 P.M. Afterwards, they attended the various schools to which they had been assigned, such as mechanics, tank driving, and radio operating. At 4:30, the soldiers called it a day and returned to their barracks and put on dress uniforms, and at five held retreat and followed by dinner at 5:30. After dinner, they were off duty, and lights were out at 9:00 P.M., but they did not have to turn in until 10:00 when Taps was played. The officers also attended classes to train for their jobs.
C Company moved into its barracks in December 1940. The barracks were adjacent to the Roosevelt Ridge Training Area. The men assigned to the HQ Company still lived with the C Company since their barracks were unfinished. 25 men lived on each floor of the barracks. The bunks were set up along the walls and alternated so that the head of one bunk was next to the foot of another bunk allowing for more bunks to be placed in the least amount of space allowing for 50 men to sleep on each floor. The first sergeant, staff sergeant, and master sergeant had their own rooms. There was also a supply room, an orderly room – where the cooks could sleep during the day – and a clubroom. Being an officer, Arthur was assigned to the officers’ barracks and had his own room and orderly to clean the room.
During their free time, the soldiers went to the movies, and played on the company’s basketball and later on its baseball team. They also had a bowling league where the companies of the battalion participated against each other and against companies from other units. It is known that Arthur served as the C Company basketball team’s coach. On weekends the soldiers went to Louisville 35 miles to the north of the base or Elizabethtown 16 miles to the south of the base.
For Christmas, 21 members of the company received 4½ day furloughs home, but from available information, Arthur did not appear to be one of them. The base was decorated with lighted Christmas trees along its streets and each night Christmas carols were sung by a well-trained choir that went from barracks to barracks. The sight was said to be beautiful as the soldiers entered the camp from the ridge north of their barracks. The workload of the soldiers was also reduced for the holidays. Christmas dinner consisted of roast turkey, baked ham, candied sweet potatoes, snowflake potatoes, giblet gravy, oyster dressing, cranberry sauce, pickle relish, grapes, oranges, rolls, fruit cake, ice cream, bread, butter, and coffee. After dinner, cigars, cigarettes, and candy were provided. When the men who went home returned 1st Sgt. Andrew Migala – on December 26 – was given the job of picking men to be transferred from the company to the soon-to-be-formed HQ Company. Only three men were picked since a large number of married men had been released from service before the company left Port Clinton. The men picked to be transferred to the company – from all the battalion’s companies – received promotions and because of their ratings received higher pay.
The lack of equipment was the greatest problem the battalion had. Many of the tanks were castoffs from the regular army or pulled from the junkyard at Ft. Knox and rebuilt by the tank companies. The tanks were also restricted in where they could be driven and very little training was done with the infantry. On December 2, each company received four additional tanks. According to information from the time, each company was scheduled to receive 17 tanks, three half-tracks, four motorcycles, two motorcycles with passenger cars, four, two-and-a-half-ton trucks, and a half-ton pickup truck. The one exception was Headquarters Company which had three assigned tanks. The men received training under the direction of the 69th Armored Regiment, 1st Armored Division. This was true for the tank crews and reconnaissance units who trained with the regiment’s tanks and reconnaissance units and later trained with their own companies.
Winter finally arrived on January 4, when the high for the day was 24 degrees and it snowed for the first time. Those on guard duty at night were happy they had been issued long Johns but wished they had on two pairs. It was also in January that the companies had their first target practice and each company spent one week at the firing range learning to use their thirty caliber and fifty caliber machine guns as well as forty-five caliber pistols. This took place at the 1st Cavalry Test range where the tanks could be maneuvered and the guns fired at the same time. All those holding the rank of Private First Class were sent to motorcycle class at the Armored Force where they were taught the functions and duties of a motorcyclist in a garrison and in combat. Ten members of the company were sent to radio school from 8:00 to 11:30 A.M. They also received their government-issued toiletries. Each man received two face towels and one bath towel, a razor, tooth and shaving brushes, and another pair of pants which completed their compliment of clothing.
The entire battalion on January 28, took part in a one-day problem that had to do with the deployment of large units of tanks and to put into practice what they had learned in the classroom. They were up at 5:00 A.M. and reported to the tank parks of the 1st and 13th Armor Regiments. It was a long tough day for all the soldiers, but they all believed they had learned more in that one day than they had learned in an entire week of school. It was also at this time that each company had a tent so they could make minor repairs to their tanks. It was noted that the men from every company seemed to enjoy working on their own tanks. They were also taking the tanks out on the trails and obstacle driving which resulted in the companies developing many good tank crews.
During February – on different dates – four composite tank detachments made of men from all the companies of the battalion left Ft. Knox on problematic moves at 9:00 A.M. The detachments consisted of three motorcycles, two scout cars, sixteen tanks, one ambulance, and supply, fuel, and kitchen trucks. The route was difficult and chosen so that the men could become acquainted with their equipment. They also had to watch out for simulated enemy planes. Bridges were avoided whenever it was possible to ford the water. They received their rations from a food truck.
In late March 1941, the entire battalion was moved to new larger barracks at Wilson Road and Seventh Avenue at Ft. Knox. The barracks had bathing and washing facilities in them and a day room. The new kitchens had larger gas ranges, automatic gas heaters, large pantries, and mess halls. One reason for this move was the men from selective service were permanently joining the battalion. Arthur was promoted to First Lieutenant on May 18, 1941.
Each company was made up of three platoons of thirty men and each company had the same number of tanks assigned to it. The one exception was Headquarters Company which had three assigned tanks. The battalion finally received all its tanks and the soldiers were told to, “beat the hell out of them.”
On June 14 and 16, the battalion was divided into four detachments composed of men from different companies. Two detachments were sent out on each date on a technical maneuver – under the command of the various company commanders – for a three-day tactical road march to Harrodsburg, Kentucky, and back. The purpose of the maneuver was to give the men practice at loading, unloading, and setting up administrative camps to prepare them for the Louisiana maneuvers. Each tank company traveled with 20 tanks, 20 motorcycles, 7 armored scout cars, 5 jeeps, 12 peeps (later called jeeps), 20 large 2½-ton trucks (these carried the battalion’s garages for vehicle repair), 5, 1½-ton trucks (which included the companies’ kitchens), and 1 ambulance.
The detachments traveled through Bardstown and Springfield before arriving at Harrodsburg at 2:30 P.M. where they set up their bivouac at the fairgrounds. The next morning, they moved to Herrington Lake east of Danville, where the men swam, boated, and fished. The battalion returned to Ft. Knox through Lebanon, New Haven, and Hodgenville, Kentucky. At Hodgenville, the men were allowed to visit the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln.
At the end of June, the battalion found itself at the firing range and appeared to have spent the last week there. According to available information, they were there from 4:00 A.M. until 8:30 A.M. when they left the range. They then had to clean the guns which took them until 10:30 A.M. One of the complaints they had about the firing range was that it was so hot and humid that when they got back from it that their clothes felt like they had stood out in the rain. Right after July 4, the battalion went on a nine-day maneuver. Twelve of the battalion’s tanks were sent to Rock Island, Illinois, to be overhauled but were returned before the battalion went to Louisiana. It was on July 1, 1941, he was promoted to captain.
The 192nd Tank Battalion was sent to Louisiana, in the late summer of 1941, to take part in maneuvers. About half of the battalion left Ft. Knox on September 1 in trucks and other wheeled vehicles and spent the night in Clarksville, Tennessee, where they spent the night. By 7:00 A.M. the next morning, the detachment was on the move. On the second day, the soldiers saw their first cotton fields which they found fascinating. They spent the night in Brownsville, Tennessee, and were again on the move the following morning at 7:00 A.M. At noon, the convoy crossed the Mississippi River which they found amazing, and spent the night in Clarksdale, Mississippi. At noon the next day, the convoy crossed the lower part of Arkansas and arrived at Tallulah, Louisiana, where, they washed, relaxed, and played baseball against the locals. It also gave them a break from sitting on wooden benches in the trucks. The remaining soldiers, the tanks, and other equipment were sent by train and left the base on September 3. When they arrived at Tremont, Lousiana, the men, and trucks who had driven to Louisiana were waiting for them at the train station.
The battalion was assigned to the Red Army, attached to the Fourth Cavalry, and stationed at Camp Robinson, Arkansas. Two days later it made a two-day move, as a neutral unit, to Ragley, Louisiana, and was assigned to the Blue Army. The battalion’s bivouac was in the Kisatchi Forest where the soldiers dealt with mosquitoes, snakes, wood ticks, snakes, and alligators.
During the maneuvers, tanks held defensive positions and usually were held in reserve by the higher headquarters. For the first time, the tanks were used to counter-attack, in support of infantry, and held defensive positions. Some men felt that the tanks were finally being used like they should be used and not as “mobile pillboxes.” The maneuvers were described by other men as being awakened at 4:30 A.M. and sent to an area to engage an imaginary enemy. After engaging the enemy, the tanks withdrew to another area. The crews had no idea what they were doing most of the time because they were never told anything by the higher-ups. A number of men felt that they just rode around in their tanks a lot.
While training at Ft. Knox, the tankers were taught that they should never attack an anti-tank gun head-on. One day during the maneuvers, their commanding general threw away the entire battalion doing just that. After sitting out a period of time, the battalion resumed the maneuvers. The major problem for the tanks was the sandy soil. On several occasions, tanks were parked and the crews walked away from them. When they returned, the tanks had sunk into the sandy soil up to their hauls. To get them out, other tanks were brought in and attempted to pull them out. If that didn’t work, the tankers brought a tank wrecker to pull the tank out from Camp Polk.
It was not uncommon for the tankers to receive orders to move at night. On October 1st at 2:30 A.M., they were awakened by the sound of a whistle which meant they had to get the tanks ready to move. Those assigned to other duties loaded trucks with equipment. Once they had assembled into formations, they received the order to move, without headlights, to make a surprise attack on the Red Army. By 5:30 that morning – after traveling 40 miles in 2½ hours from their original bivouac in the dark – they had established a new bivouac and set up their equipment. They camouflaged their tanks and trucks and set up sentries to look for paratroopers or enemy troops. At 11:30, they received orders and 80 tanks and armored vehicles moved out into enemy territory. They engaged the enemy at 2:38 in the afternoon and an umpire with a white flag determined who was awarded points or penalized. At 7:30 P.M., the battle was over and the tanks limped back to the bivouac where they were fueled and oiled for the next day.
The one good thing that came out of the maneuvers was that the tank crews learned how to move at night. At Ft. Knox this was never done. Without knowing it, the night movements were preparing them for what they would do in the Philippines since most of the battalion’s movements there were made at night. The drivers learned how to drive at night and to take instructions from their tank commanders who had a better view from the turret. A number of motorcycle riders from other tank units were killed because they were riding their bikes without headlights on which meant they could not see obstacles in front of their bikes. When they hit something they fell to the ground and the tanks following them went over them. This happened several times before the motorcycle riders were ordered to turn on their headlights.
Snake bites were also a problem and at some point, it seemed that every other man was bitten by a snake. The platoon commanders carried a snake bite kit that was used to create a vacuum to suck the poison out of the bite. The bites were the result of the nights cooling down and snakes crawling under the soldiers’ bedrolls for warmth while the soldiers were sleeping on them.
There was one multicolored snake – about eight inches long – that was beautiful to look at, but if it bit a man he was dead. The good thing was that these snakes would not just strike at the man but only struck if the man forced himself on it. When the soldiers woke up in the morning they would carefully pick up their bedrolls to see if there were any snakes under them. To avoid being bitten, men slept on the two-and-a-half-ton trucks or on or in the tanks. Another trick the soldiers learned was to dig a small trench around their tents and lay rope in the trench. The burs on the rope kept the snakes from entering the tents. The snakes were not a problem if the night was warm.
They also had a problem with the wild hogs in the area. In the middle of the night while the men were sleeping in their tents they would suddenly hear hogs squealing. The hogs would run into the tents pushing on them until they took them down and dragged them away.
What made the maneuvers worse was that the rainy season started and the men found themselves living in it. On one occasion the battalion was bivouac near a canal and the next morning the men found themselves in water over their shoes trying to dig ditches for drainage. The members of B Company captured a medium size alligator in their bivouac and pulled it around at the end of a leash made from a rope.
The food was also not very good since the air was always damp which made it hard to get a fire started. Many of their meals were C ration meals of beans or chili that they choked down. Washing clothes was done when the men had a chance. They did this by finding a creek, looking for alligators, and if there were none, taking a bar of soap and scrubbing whatever they were washing. Clothes were usually washed once a week or once every two weeks.
After the maneuvers, the battalion members expected to return to Ft. Knox but received orders to report to Camp Polk, Louisiana. It was on the side of a hill the battalion learned that they had been selected to go overseas. Those men who were married before their companies were federalized, 29 years old or older, or whose National Guard enlistments were about to end, were allowed to resign from federal service. Officers too old for their rank, including the 192nd’s commanding officer, were also released. The enlisted men and some officers were replaced by men from the 753rd Tank Battalion. Both new and old members of the battalion were given leave home to say their goodbyes. They returned to Camp Polk and prepared for duty overseas.
The decision to send the battalion overseas appeared to have been made well before the maneuvers. According to one story, the decision for this move – which had been made on August 15, 1941 – was the result of an event that took place in the summer of 1941. A squadron of American fighters was flying over Lingayen Gulf, in the Philippines, when one of the pilots, who was flying at a lower altitude, noticed something odd. He took his plane down and identified a flagged buoy in the water and saw another in the distance. He came upon more buoys that lined up, in a straight line for 30 miles to the northwest, in the direction of Taiwan which had a large radio transmitter. The squadron continued its flight plan south to Mariveles and returned to Clark Field. When the planes landed, it was too late to do anything that day.
The next day, when another squadron was sent to the area, the buoys had been picked up by a fishing boat – with a tarp on its deck covering the buoys – which was seen making its way to shore. Since communication between the Air Corps and the Navy was difficult, the boat escaped. It was at that time the decision was made to build up the American military presence in the Philippines.
Many of the original members of the battalion believed that the reason they were selected to be sent overseas was that they had performed well on the maneuvers. The story was that they were personally selected by General George S. Patton who had commanded the tanks of the Blue Army – which included the 192nd – to go overseas. It is true that Patton praised the battalion. and the 191st Tank Battalion, for their performance during the maneuvers, but there is no evidence that he personally selected the 192nd for duty in the Philippines.
The fact was that the battalion was part of the First Tank Group which was headquartered at Ft. Knox and operational by June 1941. During the maneuvers, they even fought as part of the First Tank Group. Two soldiers who wrote newspaper articles for their local newspapers – one man was from Ohio and the other from Illinois – both mentioned the First Tank Group in January 1941. Available information indicates that the tank group had been selected to be sent to the Philippines early in 1941. Besides the 192nd, the group was made up of the 70th and 191st Tank Battalions – the 191st had been a National Guard medium tank battalion while the 70th was a Regular Army medium tank battalion – at Ft. Meade, Maryland. The 193rd was at Ft. Benning, Georgia, and the 194th was at Ft. Lewis, Washington. The 192nd, 193rd, and 194th had been National Guard light tank battalions. It is known that the military presence in the Philippines was being built up at the time, so in all likelihood, the entire tank group had been scheduled to be sent to the Philippines.
On August 13, 1941, Congress voted to extend federalized National Guard units’ time in the regular Army by 18 months. On August 15, the 194th received its orders to go overseas. The buoys being spotted by the pilot may have sped up the transfer of the tank battalions to the Philippines with only the 192nd and 194th reaching the islands, but it was not the reason for the battalions going to the Philippines. It is also known that the 193rd Tank Battalion was on its way to the Philippines when Pearl Harbor was attacked and the battalion was held there. The 70th and 191st never received orders for the Philippines because the war with Japan had started. Some documents from the time show the name of the Provisional Tank Group in the Philippines as the First Provisional Tank Group.
With the release of officers who were too old for their ranks, Arthur was given the job of S-3 or Staff Officer for Operations. Many of the members of the battalion returned home to say their goodbyes. When they returned to Camp Polk, they once again found themselves living in tents. During the time, it rained almost every day and most of the men always seemed to be wet. After the companies were brought up to strength with replacements, the battalion was equipped with new tanks and half-tracks with came from the 753rd Tank Battalion and the 3rd Armor Division.
The company went west by train on October 20 to San Francisco, California. One train carried the tankers while a second train following the first carried the company’s tanks. At the end of the second train were a freight car and a passenger car that some of the tankers rode. When they arrived at San Francisco, California, where they were ferried, on the U.S.A.T. General Frank M. Coxe, to Ft. McDowell on Angel Island.
On the island, they received inoculations and physicals. Those members of the battalion who were found to have treatable medical conditions remained behind on the island and were scheduled to rejoin the battalion at a later date. Some men were simply replaced by men who had been sent to the island as replacements. It is believed these men came from the 757th Tank Battalion which was stationed at Fort Ord, California, south of San Francisco.
The 192nd was boarded onto the U.S.A.T. Hugh L. Scott and sailed on Monday, October 27. During this part of the trip, many tankers had seasickness, but once they recovered they spent much of the time training in breaking down machine guns, cleaning weapons, and doing KP. They arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii, on Sunday, November 2, and had a four-day layover. That evening the entire battalion had a turkey dinner. The soldiers were given shore leave so they could see the island. During this time they visited pineapple ranches, coconut groves, and Waikiki Beach which some said was nothing but stones since it was man-made.
On Thursday, November 6, the ship sailed for Guam but took a southerly route away from the main shipping lanes and a blackout was enforced at night. It was at this time the ship was joined by the U.S.S. Louisville and, the transport, U.S.A.T. President Calvin Coolidge. The ships headed west following a zig-zag pattern. The night of Sunday, November 9, the ships crossed the International Dateline, and when the soldiers awoke it was Tuesday, November 11.
During this part of the voyage, the soldiers spent their time attending lectures, playing craps and cards, reading, writing letters and sunned themselves on deck. Other men did the required work like turning over the tanks’ engines by hand and the clerks caught up on their paperwork. In addition, there was always KP. On Saturday, November 15, smoke from an unknown ship was seen on the horizon. The Louisville revved up its engines, its bow came out of the water, and it took off in the direction of the smoke. It turned out that the unknown ship was from a friendly country. Two other intercepted ships were Japanese freighters hauling scrap metal to Japan.
When they arrived at Guam on Sunday, November 16, the ships took on water, bananas, coconuts, and vegetables. Although they were not allowed off the ship, the soldiers were able to mail letters home before sailing for Manila the next day. At one point, the ships passed an island at night and did so in total blackout. This for many of the soldiers was a sign that they were being sent into harm’s way. The blackout was strictly enforced and men caught smoking on deck after dark spent time in the ship’s brig. Three days after leaving Guam the men spotted the first islands of the Philippines. The ships sailed around the south end of Luzon and then north up the west coast of Luzon toward Manila Bay.
During the trip, Arthur took home movies of the battalion on the ship. It is known he mailed the film home, but it is not known if he mailed it from Guam or after the battalion arrived in the Philippines.
The ships entered Manila Bay, at 8:00 A.M., on Thursday, November 20, and docked at Pier 7 later that morning. One thing that was different about their arrival was that instead of a band and a welcoming committee waiting at the pier to tell them to enjoy their stay in the Philippines and see as much of the island as they could, a party came aboard the ship – carrying guns – and told the soldiers, “Draw your firearms immediately; we’re under alert. We expect a war with Japan at any moment. Your destination is Fort Stotsenburg, Clark Field.” At 3:00 P.M., as the enlisted men left the ship, a Marine was checking off their names. When someone said his name, the Marine responded with, “Hello sucker.” Those who drove trucks drove them to the fort, while the maintenance section remained behind at the pier to unload the tanks. The rest of the battalion rode a train to the base.
At the fort, they were greeted by Gen. Edward P. King Jr. who apologized that the men had to live in tents along the main road between the fort and Clark Field. He made sure that had what they needed and that they all received Thanksgiving dinner – stew thrown into their mess kits – before he went to have his own dinner. If they had been slower leaving the ship, they would have had a complete turkey dinner. Ironically, November 20 was the date that the National Guard members of the battalion had expected to be released from federal service.
The members of the battalion pitched the ragged World War I tents in an open field halfway between the Clark Field Administration Building and Fort Stotsenburg. The tents were set up in two rows and five men were assigned to each tent. There were two supply tents and meals were provided by food trucks stationed at the end of the rows of tents. The area was near the end of a runway used by B-17s for takeoffs. The planes flew over the tents at about 100 feet blowing dirt everywhere and the noise from the engines as they flew over was unbelievable. At night, they heard the sound of Japanese reconnaissance planes flying over the airfield.
The 192nd arrived in the Philippines with a great deal of radio equipment to set up a radio school to train radiomen for the Philippine Army. The battalion also had a large number of ham radio operators and shortly after arriving at Ft. Stotsenburg, they set up a communications tent that was in contact with the United States within hours. The communications monitoring station in Manila went crazy attempting to figure out where all these new radio messages were coming from. When they were informed it was the 192nd, they gave them frequencies to use. Men were able to send messages home to their families that they had arrived safely.
The day started at 5:15 with reveille and anyone who washed near a faucet with running water was considered lucky. At 6:00 A.M. they ate breakfast followed by work – on their tanks and other equipment – from 7:00 A.M. to 11:30 A.M. Lunch was from 11:30 A.M. to 1:30 P.M. when the soldiers returned to work until 2:30 P.M. The shorter afternoon work period was based on the belief that it was too hot to work in the climate. The term “recreation in the motor pool” that they borrowed from the 194th Tank Battalion meant they actually worked until 4:30 in the afternoon.
At Ft. Stotsenburg, the soldiers were expected to wear their dress uniforms. Since working on the tanks was a dirty job, the battalion members wore coveralls to do the work on the tanks. The 192nd followed the example of the 194th Tank Battalion and wore coveralls in their barracks area to do work on their tanks, but if the soldiers left the battalion’s area, they wore dress uniforms everywhere; including going to the PX. In addition, the khaki uniforms they had been issued also turned out to be a heavy material which made them uncomfortable to wear in the tropical heat.
For recreation, the soldiers spent their free time bowling or going to the movies on the base. They also played horseshoes, softball, badminton, played baseball, or threw footballs around during their free time. On Wednesday afternoons, they went swimming. Men were given the opportunity to be allowed to go to Manila in small groups. Many men wrote home and told their families about how hot the weather was, the kind of food they were eating, about the countryside, and about the Filipinos.
It was during this time that Arthur wrote a letter home on November 29. He told his wife that the company was always on duty and was ready for any emergency. He also stated the company was fully armed and had enough fuel for the tanks if they immediately were needed somewhere. He also told her that the tanks were placed around Clark Field to provide fire if paratroopers were used.
He also told his wife that he and some of the other officers went on a mountain climbing trip. Each man carried a bolo knife, loaded pistol for protection against hostile natives and cobras and pythons.
The group took four hours to reach the summit and when they did, they found it occupied by natives known as Bulugas (the dirty ones). The natives were friendly, but they did not speak English. In general, Burholt called the natives friendly but shy, and that they would hide in the tall grass when a peep (later jeep) came along. He also stated that on November 25, the members of the battalion celebrated the first anniversary of the battalion organization. His wife did not receive the letter on December 8.
Ten days before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the reconnaissance pilots reported that Japanese transports were milling around in a large circle in the South China Sea. On December 1, the tankers were ordered to the perimeter of Clark Field to guard against Japanese paratroopers. The194th guarded the northern half of the airfield and the 192nd guarded the southern half. At all times, two members of each tank remained with their tanks and were fed from food trucks.
It was the men manning the radios in the 192nd’s communications tent who were the first to learn of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 8. Major Ted Wickord, the battalion’s commanding officer, Gen. James Weaver, and Major Ernest Miller, the CO of the 194th Tank Battalion, read the messages of the attack. The officers of the 192nd were called to the tent and informed of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Wickord called the officers of the 192nd to the tent and informed them of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
informed his men that Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor. To an extent, the news of the war was no surprise to the men, and many had come to the conclusion it was inevitable. The remaining members of the tank crews, not with their tanks, went to their tanks at the southern end of the Clark Field. The battalion’s half-tracks joined the tanks and took up positions next to them.
Around 8:00 A.M., the planes of the Army Air Corps took off and filled the sky. All morning long American planes could be seen in every direction. At noon the planes landed and were lined up in a straight line to be refueled near the pilots’ mess hall. While the planes were being worked on, the pilots went to lunch. At 12:45 in the afternoon on December 8, 1941, just ten hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the tankers lived through the Japanese attack on Clark Field.
The tankers were eating lunch when they saw planes approaching the airfield from the north. Many of the men believed they were American planes and had enough time to count 54 planes in formation. As they watched, what appeared to be raindrops – because they shimmered in the sun – appeared under the planes. With the thunderous explosions of the bombs exploding on the runways, the tankers knew that the planes were Japanese. The smoke and dust from the bombs blotted out the sun and made it impossible for the tankers to see more than a few feet. One bomb hit the mess hall where the pilots were eating. The bombers were quickly followed by Japanese fighters that sounded like angry bees to the tankers as they strafed the airfield. The tankers watched as American pilots attempted to get their planes off the ground. As they roared down the runway, Japanese fighters strafed the planes causing them to swerve, crash, and burn. Those that did get airborne were barely off the ground when they were hit. The planes exploded and crashed to the ground tumbling down the runways. The Japanese planes were as low as 50 feet above the ground and the pilots would lean out of the cockpits so they could more accurately pick out targets to strafe. The tankers said they saw the pilots’ scarfs flapping in the wind.
While the attack was going on, the Filipinos who were building the 192nd’s barracks took cover. After the attack, they went right back to work on the barracks. This happened several times during the following air raids until the barracks were destroyed by bombs during an air raid. According to the members of the battalion, it appeared the Filipino contractor really wanted to be paid; war or no war.
When the Japanese were finished, there was not much left of the airfield. The soldiers watched as the dead, dying, and wounded were hauled to the hospital on bomb racks, trucks, and anything that could carry the wounded was in use. When the hospital filled, they watched the medics place the wounded under the building. Many of these men had their arms and legs missing. That night, since they did not have any foxholes, the men used an old latrine pit for cover since it was safer in the pit than in their tents. The entire night they were bitten by mosquitoes. Without knowing it, they had slept their last night on a cot or bed, and from this point on, the men slept in blankets on the ground.
The next morning the decision was made to move the battalion into a tree-covered area. Those men not assigned to a tank or half-track walked around Clark Field to look at the damage. As they walked, they saw there were hundreds of dead. Some were pilots who had been caught asleep, because they had flown night missions, in their tents during the first attack. Others were pilots who had been killed attempting to get to their planes. The tanks were still at the southern end of the airfield when a second air raid took place on the 10th. This time the bombs fell among the tanks of the battalion at the southern end of the airfield wounding some men.
The company, on December 12, was sent to the Barrio of Dau so it would be close to a highway and railroad and protect them from sabotage. From there, the company was sent to join the other companies of the 192nd just south of the Agno River. On December 23 and 24, the company was in the area of Urdaneta. The tankers made an end run to get south of Agno River after the main bridge had been destroyed. As they did this, they ran into Japanese resistance early in the evening. They successfully crossed the river in the Bayambang Province. It was at this time that he had the opportunity to send a telegram home. He said, “We are all O.K. Merry Christmas to all. Don’t worry, Mom. We are all o.k. Love Art.” On December 25, the tanks of the battalion held the southern bank of the Agno River from Carmen to Tayung, with the tanks of the 194th holding the line on the Carmen-Alcala-Bautista Road.
The tank battalions were given the job – on December 26 – of holding the line against enemy armor and major thrusts until 5:00 A.M. on December 27. Maj. Ernest Miller – being the senior officer – was given authority to withdraw both tank battalions before 5:00 A.M. if he felt it was necessary. The tanks held the line but withdrew at 7:30 P.M. before the bridges they needed to cross were blown up at 11:30 P.M. that night. The 192nd and part of the 194th fell back to form a new defensive line the night of December 27 and 28. Arrangements had been made for the tanks to pick up their rations at Tarlac Depot. From there they fell back to the south bank of the BamBan River which they were supposed to hold for as long as possible. The tankers found their tanks being used as “mobile pillboxes.” The tanks were at Santo Tomas near Cabanatuan on December 28 and 29 serving as a rear guard against the Japanese.
On the night of December 31, the tanks were stationed on both sides of the Calumpit Bridge when they received conflicting orders, from Gen. MacArthur’s chief of staff, about whose command they were under and to withdraw from the bridge. The defenders were attempting to stop the Japanese advance down Route 5 which would allow the Southern Luzon Forces to withdraw toward Bataan. General Wainwright was unaware of the situation. Because of the orders, there was confusion among the Filipinos and American forces defending the bridges over the Pampanga River, and about half the defenders withdrew. Due to the efforts of the Self-Propelled Mounts, the 71st Field Artillery, and a frenzied attack by the 192nd Tank Battalion the Japanese were halted.
From January 2 to 4, the 192nd held the road open from San Fernando to Dinalupihan so the southern forces could escape. At 2:30 A.M., the night of January 5, the Japanese attacked Remedios in force and used smoke as cover. This attack was an attempt to destroy the tank battalions. At 5:00 A.M., the Japanese withdrew having suffered heavy casualties. On the night of January 6, the tanks withdrew into the peninsula with the 192nd holding its position so that the 194th could leapfrog past it, cross the bridge, and then cover the 192nd’s withdrawal over the bridge. The 192nd was the last American unit to enter Bataan before the engineers blew up the bridge at 6:00 A.M.
The next day, the battalion was between Culo and Hermosa and assigned a road to enter Bataan which was worse than having no road. The half-tracks kept throwing their rubber tracks and members of the 17th Ordnance assigned to each battalion had to re-track them in dangerous situations. After daylight, Japanese artillery fire was landing all around the tanks. A composite tank company was formed under the command of Capt. Donald Hanes, B Co., 192nd. Its job was to protect the East Coast Road north of Hermosa open and to stop Japanese tanks from attempting to use it to overrun the next defensive line that was forming. While in this position, the tanks were under constant enemy artillery fire. The rest of the tanks were ordered to bivouac south of the Abucay-Hacienda Road. When word came that a bridge was going to be blown up, all the tanks were ordered out of the area, which included the composite company. This could have resulted in a catastrophe, but the Japanese did not take advantage of the situation.
The tanks bivouacked south of the Pilar-Bagac Road and about two kilometers from the East Coast Road. It had almost been one month since the tank crews had a rest and the tanks had maintenance work done on them by the 17th Ordnance. It was also on this day that the tank platoons were reduced to three tanks per tank platoon. The men rested and the tanks received the required maintenance. Most of the tank tracks had worn down to bare metal and the radial engines were long past their 400-hour overhauls. It was at this time the tank battalions received these orders which came from Gen. Weaver: “Tanks will execute maximum delay, staying in position and firing at visible enemy until further delay will jeopardize withdrawal. If a tank is immobilized, it will be fought until the close approach of the enemy, then destroyed; the crew previously taking positions outside and continuing to fight with the salvaged and personal weapons. Considerations of personal safety and expediency will not interfere with accomplishing the greatest possible delay.”
While Arthur was fighting the Japanese in the Philippines, his wife received several letters from him. In a letter dated January 17, 1942, he wrote:
“It’s been a week since I last wrote to you. I’m still O.K. so don’t worry about me. Keep your chin up and a smile on your face.
“We are putting up a good fight, and if any aid comes to us from home, I’m sure everything will work out for the best. Lt. Harold Collins has been promoted to captain. I haven’t received any letters from you since November 3, but am writing with the hope that some letters will arrive.
“I have no use for money now. There are no places to buy anything and besides that, there is nothing to buy. About the only use, I have for money is paying for washing out what few clothes I have left.
“I am certainly glad for your sake that the government didn’t allow us to bring our wives. No matter how much I miss you, I still will rather have you safe in the good old U. S. A. than subjected to the bombings that the people in the Philippines have been subjected to. If you pray a little extra hard, I’m sure that I will come home.
“Brother Ralph should be plenty busy at Douglas, at least I hope so because it sure would be a great sight to see a few American planes come over and give us a lift. Strange as it may seem, I will want to carry on and continue to make my career in the army, so get ready for some good old army post-life when I get back.”
He also asked that his wife give his regards to the Port Clinton school superintendent, the school board, and everyone he knew.
“Tell them that so far, everyone from Port Clinton is still o.k.”
He also told his wife he misses the local newspaper and that, “strange that it may seem. I still want to carry on and continue to make my career the army.”
In a letter, his wife received dated January 21, 1942, that she received at the same time, Arthur wrote that the day before they heard a radio broadcast.
“Somewhere in the Philippines, we heard a radio broadcast telling of the plane’s crash in which Carol Lombard was killed. Also heard some music which really sounded good after hearing only planes and artillery fire for such a long time. Too bad about Lombard, but I guess it must have been her time.”
He also stated.
“I can assure you that our outfit is very, very far from being out of action. We can, and will continue to give the Japs plenty to worry about. All we need is a little additional aid from the United States, and the government will not have to worry about the Philippines.
Like the other defenders of Bataan, Burholt believed General MacArthur’s claim that aid was coming, “Still very much o.k. and still fighting Japs. We are looking forward to the day when aid will arrive. Keep people back home plugging for increased production and the enlargement of our armed forces.”
Arthur also told his wife, “There isn’t much I can tell you of what is going on over here, but if you listen to the San Francisco broadcasts you will get a pretty good picture of where we are and what we are doing.”
“Don’t pay any attention to the Japanese broadcasts as they have already reported over the radio three different times that our battalion has been wiped out.”
In another letter dated January 28, 1942, he wrote:
“Beefy” said “we are still safe. Had a pretty tough week, but everyone came through o.k. Weather is getting hot, but as a whole, everyone in command is in pretty good physical condition.
“Went to communion in the field this morning and prayed that all of you at home were o.k. I keep worrying that something will happen to you, or that you are sick and I would never know anything about it. I’ll be back soon so don’t worry about me. Keep praying and I know that I’ll come out o.k.
I hear by radio that they really are really expanding the armed force at Sandusky is good news.”
On February 3, 1942, Arthur was sent to the west coast of Bataan as S-3 of his battalion. His job was to coordinate the tanks in action against the Japanese. He would remain in the area until February 11. During this time, he commanded the tanks in action after action against the Japanese at the Anyasan River. The terrain was not suitable for tanks, but through his efforts, the tanks were able to support the troops. During the Battle of the Pockets, Arthur was awarded a Silver Star.
The 192nd unlike other units had arrived in the Philippines just before the start of the war, so they did not have the opportunity to stockpile food. The soldiers were hungry and began to eat everything they could get their hands on to eat. The Carabao were tough, but if they were cooked long enough they could be eaten. They also began to eat horse meat provided by the 26th U.S. Cavalry. During this time the soldiers ate monkeys, snakes, lizards, horses, and mules. To make things worse, the soldiers’ rations were cut in half again on March 1, 1942. This meant that they only ate two meals a day. The Japanese also were dropping surrender leaflets with a picture of a scantily clad blond on them. They would have been more successful at getting the Americans to surrender if the picture had been a hamburger since the men were so hungry that they most likely would have surrendered for a good meal.
The amount of gasoline in March was reduced to 15 gallons a day for all vehicles except the tanks. This would later be dropped to ten gallons a day. It was during this time that Gen Wainwright wanted to turn the tanks into pillboxes. Gen Weaver pointed out to Wainwright that they did not have enough tanks to effectively do this, and if they did, they soon would have no tanks. Gen. Weaver suggested to Gen. Wainwright that a platoon of tanks be sent to Corregidor, but Wainwright declined.
On April 3, 1942, the Japanese launched an attack supported by artillery and aircraft. The artillery barrage started at 10 AM and lasted until noon and each shell seemed to be followed by another that exploded on top of the previous shell. At the same time, wave after wave of Japanese bombers hit the same area dropping incendiary bombs that set the jungle on fire. The defenders had to choose between staying in their foxholes and being burned to death or seeking safety somewhere else. As the fire approached their foxholes those men who chose to attempt to flee were torn to pieces by shrapnel. It was said that arms, legs, and other body parts hung from tree branches. A large section of the defensive line at Mount Samat was wiped out. The next day a large force of Japanese troops came over Mt. Samat and descended down the south face of the volcano. This attack wiped out two divisions of defenders and left a large area of the defensive line open to the Japanese.
During this time, on April 5, which was Easter Sunday, Arthur had the chance to send a telegram to his wife. In it he said:
“THE TANK CORPS IS STILL VERY MUCH IN ACTION. WE ARE STILL VERY MUCH O.K.”
It was the evening of April 8 that Gen. King decided that further resistance was futile, since approximately 25% of his men were healthy enough to fight, and he estimated they would last one more day. In addition, he had over 6,000 troops who were sick or wounded and 40,000 civilians who he feared would be massacred. His troops were on one-quarter rations, and even at that ration, he had two days of food left. He also believed his troops could fight for one more day. Companies B and D, 192nd, and A Company, 194th, were preparing for a suicide attack against the Japanese in an attempt to stop the advance. At 6:00 P.M. the tank battalion commanders received this order: “You will make plans, to be communicated to company commanders only, and be prepared to destroy within one hour after receipt by radio, or other means, of the word ‘CRASH’, all tanks and combat vehicles, arms, ammunition, gas, and radios: reserving sufficient trucks to close to rear echelons as soon as accomplished.”
It was at 10:00 P.M. that the decision was made to send a jeep – under a white flag – behind enemy lines to negotiate terms of surrender. The problem soon became that no white cloth could be found. Phil Parish, a truck driver for A Company realized that he had bedding buried in the back of his truck and searched for it. The bedding became the “white flags” that were flown on the jeeps. At 11:40 P.M., the ammunition dumps were destroyed. At midnight Companies B and D, and A Company, 194th, received an order from Gen. Weaver to stand down. At 2:oo A.M. April 9, Gen. King sent a jeep under a white flag carrying Colonel Everett C. Williams, Col. James V. Collier, and Major Marshall Hurt to meet with the Japanese commander about terms of surrender. (The driver was from the tank group.)
Shortly after daylight Collier and Hunt returned with word of the appointment. It was at about 6:45 A.M. that tank battalion commanders received the order “crash.” The tank crews circled their tanks. Each tank fired an armor-piercing shell into the engine of the tank in front of it. They also opened the gasoline cocks inside the tank compartments and dropped hand grenades into the tanks. Most of the company waited in their bivouac for the Japanese to make contact, while others attempted to reach Corregidor which had not surrendered.
As Gen. King left to negotiate the surrender, he went through the area held by B Company and spoke to the men. He said to them, “Boys. I’m going to get us the best deal I can. When you get home, don’t ever let anyone say to you, you surrendered. I was the one who surrendered.”
Gen. King with his two aides, Maj. Wade R. Cothran and Captain Achille C. Tisdelle Jr. got into a jeep carrying a large white flag. They were followed by another jeep – also flying another large white flag – with Col. Collier and Maj. Hurt in it. As the jeeps made their way north they were strafed and small bombs were dropped by a Japanese plane. The drivers of both jeeps and the jeeps were provided by the tank group and both men managed to avoid the bullets. The strafing ended when a Japanese reconnaissance plane ordered the fighter pilot to stop strafing.
At about 10:00 A.M. the jeeps reached Lamao where they were received by a Japanese Major General who informed King that he reported his coming to negotiate a surrender and that an officer from the Japanese command would arrive to do the negotiations. The Japanese officer also told him that his troops would not attack for thirty minutes while King decided what he would do. After a half-hour, no Japanese officer had arrived from their headquarters and the Japanese attack had resumed. King sent Col. Collier and Maj. Hunt back to his command with instructions that any unit in line with the Japanese advance should fly white flags.
After this was done a Japanese colonel and interpreter arrived, and King was told the officer was Homma’s Chief of Staff who had come to discuss King’s surrender. King attempted to get assurances from the Japanese that his men would be treated as prisoners of war, but the Japanese officer – through his interpreter – accused him of declining to surrender unconditionally. At one point King stated he had enough trucks and gasoline to carry his troops out of Bataan. He was told that the Japanese would handle the movement of the prisoners. The two men talked back and forth until the colonel said through the interpreter, “The Imperial Japanese Army are not barbarians.” King found no choice but to accept him at his word.
Unknown to Gen. King, an order attributed to Gen. Masaharu Homma – but in all likelihood from one of his subordinates – had been given. It stated, “Every troop which fought against our army on Bataan should be wiped out thoroughly, whether he surrendered or not, and any American captive who is unable to continue marching all the way to the concentration camp should be put to death in the area of 200 meters off the road.”
On April 9, 1942, Arthur became a Prisoner of War with the surrender of Bataan. Arthur and his company were ordered to go to Mariveles at the southern tip of Bataan. They were allowed to drive their trucks there. When they reached the outskirts of Mariveles, the POWs were ordered from their trucks and herded into a schoolyard where they remained for hours.
He was placed into a detachment of 100 POWs that was guarded by six to eight guards and ordered to march. The first five miles were extremely hard because they were uphill. The beatings and killings started almost at the same time as the march started. One guard would beat a POW while five minutes later another guard would give the POW a cigarette.
As the POWs made their way north, the Filipinos filled containers with water and placed them along the road. The POWs could not stop but many were able to scoop water into their canteens. By doing this the Filipinos saved a great many lives. The POWs also could see them flashing the “V” for victory sign under their folder arms. The guards were assigned to march a certain distance so they often made the POWs march at a faster pace so they could finish their assigned section. Those men who were sick had a hard time keeping up and if they fell out were bayoneted or shot. When the distance was covered, the column was stopped and allowed to rest and the guards were replaced because the guards were being replaced. The new guards wanted to complete their part of the march as fast as possible, so the POWs were again marched at a fast pace.
The further north they marched the more bloated dead bodies they saw. The ditches along the road were filled with water, but many also had dead bodies in them. The POWs’ thirst got so bad they drank the water. Many men would later die from dysentery. The column of POWs was often stopped and pushed off the road and made to sit in the sun for hours. While they sat there, the guards would shake down the POWs and take any possession they had that they liked. When they were ordered to move again, it was not unusual for the Japanese who past them in trucks to entertain themselves by swinging at the POWs with their guns or with bamboo poles.
The men were ordered to move again and had no idea that they had begun what they called “the march.” Like the other prisoners, Arthur went days without food and water. The death march had one lasting effect on Arthur, that effect was that his hair turned completely gray. It is known, that at one point on the march, he collapsed from exhaustion and fell to the ground. Two members of his company, Pvt. Lacey Prater and Cpl. Charles Everett, carried him between them for nine kilometers so he could regain his strength.
It appears that during the march Capt. Russell Thorman, also of HQ Company, and Capt. Burholt decided to attempt to reach Corregidor. How they reached the island is not known. It is known that the tankers were assigned to the 4th Marines and assigned to defend Skipper Hill which faced Bataan but it is not known what Arthur did.
The Japanese began shelling Monkey point on the night of May 5 in preparation for the landing. The men on the island watched as Japanese barges began concentrating at various points off Bataan. The barges began to make their way toward Corregidor, and the island’s remaining guns began shelling them. It was said that one of the island’s mortar batteries got so hot that the crew had to stop firing to let the mortar cool down. Another gun turned blue from the continuous firing and its breach warped and would not open. When the Japanese landed, the defenders pushed them from the beach at Monkey Point three times. Anti-aircraft guns from Ft. Hughes were firing on the Japanese as they landed. The shells exploded above the barges killing many. When the final assault on the island took place. The first tank to land on the island was one of the tanks abandoned by Danny’s tank platoon.
The official surrender of the island was at noon on May 6, but many units had surrendered earlier in the morning. The Japanese herded them onto an area covered with concrete known as the 92nd Garage which they had hastily surrounded with barbed wire. The POWs were told if they left the area without a guard that they would be shot. The only POWs not to be sent there were the men who were hospitalized in the Malinta Tunnel. The area was said to be approximately 500 feet wide and 1500 feet long and was located between the beach and cliffs along Corregidor’s southern shore.
The Japanese put the POWs into detachments of 1000 men with a colonel in charge of each detachment. While they were on the concert slab, the Japanese soldiers took whatever they wanted from the POWs. They were not fed for three days. When they were fed, they were fed rice. Each POW was given a number which was painted on the back of his shirt or his pants if he didn’t have a shirt. The Filipino POWs were put on one side of the slab and separated from the Americans by an imaginary line.
Open slit trenches were dug for the POWs to use as latrines. The surface of the latrines crawled with life and flies and other insects were everywhere which helped to spread disease.
The POWs were put to work by the Japanese cleaning up debris on the island and the POWs were used to resume construction of the airfield that was being built on the island. Any ordnance left on the island was collected and the POWs loaded the captured food fMalinta Tunnel on barges that took it to Manila. The POWs supplemented their meals with canned food they found while cleaning the debris or stealing it while it was being loaded onto barges.
For two weeks, the POWs were held in the garage area without any shade and with little water. To get off the beach, POWs volunteered to bury the dead. This allowed them to hunt for food and water. The Japanese finally allowed the POWs to run a water line to a reservoir two miles from the garage. When this was done, the POWs stood in line for four to six hours to fill their canteens.
The POWs were loaded onto barges and taken to a point off Luzon where they had to jump into the water and swim to shore. Once on shore, they were taken to a pier where they filled craters from bombs with rocks. When they were finished they formed 100 men detachments and ordered them to march. They feared the same thing was in store for them that had happened on the march out of Bataan. They were surprised when they marched at a reasonable pace and were given breaks. They marched to Bilibid Prison where he remained until sometime between May 26 and May 28.
At some point during this time, he and the other POWs were marched to the train station. From there, they rode the train to Calumpit, disembarked, and marched to Cabanatuan #3. The first 2,000-man detachment left on the 26 and the last left on the 28. The POWs were marched to the train station and put into steel boxcars that they rode to the barrio of Cabanatuan. There, they were organized into 100 men detachments and marched to Camp 3. The guards warned them that anyone who fell to the ground and did not get up would be shot.
During the march, the first time a POW fell to the ground and the guard aimed his gun at the man, the man was able to get up and rejoin the formation. This appeared to have happened several times. Finally, a POW fell, and even after the guard aimed his gun at the man he did not get up. Instead of shooting the man, the guard raised his arm and had a red flag on it. A truck pulled up to the man and he was put on the back of the truck. Being that other POWs saw this, it wasn’t long until a good number of POWs fell to the ground and were unable to get up. Those still marching figured these men wanted to ride to the camp.
The camp was actually three camps. Camp 1 was where most of the men who were captured on Bataan and took part in the death march were held. Camp 2 did not have an adequate water supply and was closed. It later reopened and housed Naval POWs. Camp 3 was where most of those men captured when Corregidor and Ft. Drum surrendered were taken.
After all the POWs had arrived at Camp 3, there were approximately 6,000 POWs in the camp. The first group of POWs who arrived on May 26 was assigned barracks in the north sector of the camp. The group that arrived on May 27 was assigned barracks in the center sector of the camp, and the final group that arrived on May 28, was given barracks in the south sector of the camp. When they arrived, the camp was not finished and there was no fence on the north side of the compound.
Four POWs walked away from the camp on May 30. After they escaped, the men realized that they had no place to go, so they attempted to surrender themselves to the Japanese. The Japanese tied them to posts and left them to hang in the sun. They also beat the POWs with boards. The Japanese also showed the men water but would not give them any to drink. It was said that their hands were tied behind their backs and boards tied between their legs in such a way that they were forced to crouch.
The next day, while the POWs were eating dinner, the Japanese marched the men to where the prisoners were eating. They had the men dig their own graves and gave each man a cigarette and water. They also offered blindfolds to the men. All the men took a blindfold except one. That man spat at the Japanese before they shot him. After they were shot, the men fell backward into the graves. When one man who had survived the execution attempted to crawl out of the grave, a Japanese officer shot him with his pistol. He next shot each man to make sure they were dead.
The first meal the POWs received was an onion soup that had no onions on it or carrots in it. After the initial meal, the daily meal for the POWs was squash, mongo beans, and greens (which were the tops of native sweet potatoes) for soup, and rice. They also received Carabao meat about once a week. Other sources state a whistle weed soup with rice in it was the main meal. Men in the camp reported that most meals were 1½ cups of rice and a watery soup.
The American officers convinced the Japanese, on June 8, to allow them to hand out punishments for minor offenses. The POWs organized themselves into administration groups on June 14. Since the Army had the largest number of POWs, it was divided into Groups I and II while Group III was Naval personnel. An Army major was the adjutant for both Groups I and II and there were officers that did various jobs under him. Each group had a number of officers who dealt with the enlisted men. Thorman and Burholt were in Group II and they were two of seven officers assigned to administer the group.
On June 21 the Japanese initiated the “Blood Brother” rule. The POWs were placed in groups of ten men. The men worked together, lived in the same barracks, and slept together. If one man of the group escaped from the camp, the other nine would be executed. To prevent escapes, the day before this took effect, the POWs organized a patrol that walked the inside perimeter of the camp fence. The POWs went out on work details.
On June 17, trucks left the camp on a lumber detail. The trucks were ambushed by Filipino guerrillas resulting in three POWs in one truck being wounded. The fourth POW from the truck was not found. One of the three wounded men later died.
The first church services were held in the camp on June 28. To improve morale among the POWs, on June 29, the officers organized activities for the men. Softball teams, basketball teams, volleyball teams, and ping-pong teams were formed as well as singalong groups to provide entertainment. The POWs were joined by 151 civilians in the camp on July 6. The Japanese handed out a limited number of shoes, shirts, trousers, and blankets on July 17. It is not known how it was determined who would receive any of the clothing.
POWs during this time were sent out on details and returned to the camp. On July 14, 100 POWs were sent to Manila. 26 sick POWs were transferred to Camp 1 on July 20. 360 POWs left the camp, on July 24, for a work detail in Manila. Another group of 150 men was sent there on July 30. Dysentery was a real problem in the camp and to slow the spread of dysentery, a program was started to catch flies on August 17. Any POW who turned in a full milk can of flies received two biscuits and a few cigarettes. They also dug deep latrines, which were 18 feet deep, to slow the spread of disease.
On September 1, 198 POWs were transferred to the Manila detail which was followed by another 120 men on September 8. Also on that date, 120 returned to the camp from Field Labor Detail. Another detachment of 198 men on September 1 was sent to Manila. One hundred POWs left the camp on an unnamed work detail on September 23, followed by another 100 POWs the next day. Another 32 men were sent to the detail at Manila on September 28 followed by 119 POWs the next day. It should be mentioned that during this time Virginia Burholt joined the Women’s Auxiliary Corps and left for Des Moines, Iowa on September 2 for training.
The transfers continued in October. On October 4, 374 POWs were sent to Manila and were joined by 526 POWs from Camp 1. The Japanese gave physicals to 344 POWs who they referred to as “producers” and were sent to Japan. (The term producer meant the POWs had training in areas that the Japanese wanted to exploit.) Before they left the camp, Col. Mori, the Japanese Commanding Officer of the camp gave a speech to them and said, “You men will be taken to a better place, will have better food, and you will meet your friends from Wake and Guam Islands.” On October 5, 1942, another 676 POWs were transferred to Manila. They marched to Camp 1 and were joined by 123 men from that camp. From available information, it appears that a total of 1700 POWs were sent to Manila. The Japanese intended to give each man 2 bananas, 2 egg sandwiches, 5 biscuits, 2 rice balls, and 1 roll. The only problem was they did not have enough to go around. The POWs were taken to Manila to be sent to Japan.
The POWs remaining in the camp reorganized the POWs still there and created Group I made up of Army personnel and Group II made up of Navy personnel. It was at this time that the Japanese began the transfer of sick POWs to Camp 1 with 20 men being sent to the hospital there on October 14 and another 10 men being transferred there the next day. On October 21, 322 POWs, from Group I, were sent to Camp 1 followed by another 15 sick POWs on October 23. Another 297 POWs were sent to Manila to the work detail there o October 26. The POWs still at Camp 3 on October 27 received word that they were all going to be sent to Camp 1. The 74 sick POWs in the camp were sent to the hospital at Camp 1 on October 28. On October 29, 1,126 POWs boarded trucks and rode to Camp 1. The next day, the remaining 775 POWs were taken by truck to the camp. Camp 3 officially went out of existence on October 30, 1942.
At Camp 1, the Japanese announced to the POWs that on October 14, 1942, the daily food ration for each POW would be 550 grams of rice, 100 grams of meat, 330 grams of vegetables, 20 grams of fat, 20 grams of sugar, 15 grams of salt, and 1 gram of tea. At some point, 50 grams of mongo beans replaced some of the rice. In addition, sick POWs also received an additional 50 grams of meat. In reality, the POWs noted that the meals were wet rice and rice coffee for breakfast, Pechi green soup and rice for lunch, and Mongo bean soup, Carabao meat, and rice for dinner.
The barracks in the camp were built to house 50 POWs, but most had between 60 to 120 POWs in them. The POWs slept on bamboo slats, without mattresses, bedding, or mosquito netting. Many quickly became ill. The POWs were assigned to barracks and divided into groups of ten men. This meant that the members of their group lived together, went out on work details together, and would be executed together since they were Blood Brothers. Officers were assigned to barracks with other officers. Rice was the main food given to the POWs fed to them as “lugow” which meant “wet rice.” During their time in the camp, they received few vegetables and almost no fruit. Once in a while, they received bread. If they received fish it was rotten and covered with maggots.
The camp hospital was composed of 30 wards. The ward for the sickest POWs was known as “Zero Ward” which got its name because it had been missed when the wards were counted. Each ward had two tiers of bunks and could hold 45 men but often had as many as 100 men in each. The sickest men slept on the bottom tier and died because their bodies were so malnourished that they could not fight the diseases the men had. While a prisoner, Arthur was credited with saving the life of Pvt. Charles Chaffin. Chaffin was suffering from a bad case of malaria, and Arthur somehow got him the quinine that saved his life.
The Japanese selected 1300 POWs to be sent to Japan and on November 2, they started to process the men by organizing them into 10 men squads. Three were found to be too ill and were sent to the camp hospital. Each POW received a pair of shoes, an undershirt, and a suit of blue denim. The POWs were told to put on their best clothing and marched to a ball field where they were made to strip naked and issued Japanese clothing.
The POWs were organized in groups on November 11. Group I was made up of all the enlisted men who had been captured on Bataan. Group II was the POWs who had come from Camp 3, and Group III was composed of all Naval and Marine personnel from both Camps 1 and 3 and any civilians in the camp. It was also at this time that an attempt was made to stop the spread of disease. The POWs dug deep drainage ditches, sump holes for only water, and the garbage began to be buried. The grass in the camp was also cut. 100 POWs worked on Sunday, November 15 digging latrines and sump holes. Since Sunday was a day off, Lt. Col. Curtis Beecher, U.S.M.C., made sure each man received 5 cigarettes. On November 16, a Pvt. Peter Lanianuskas was shot trying to escape. Two other POWs were tried by the Japanese for being involved in the escape attempt. One man received 20 days in solitary confinement and the other 30 days.
The camp hospital was made up of multiple buildings with one building known as “Zero Ward” because it was missed by the Japanese when they counted barracks. The name soon meant the place where the sickest POWs were sent there to die. Nearly every prisoner was sick from something with the big killer being dysentery. Those who were extremely ill were put in Zero Ward. There were two rolls of wooden platforms around the perimeter of the building. The sickest POWs were put on the lower platform which had holes cut into it so they could relieve themselves. When it became full, the worst cases were put under the building on the ground. It was recalled that even before the men had died, maggots crawled in their mouths, ears, and on their bodies. Instead of providing medicine, the Japanese put up a fence around the ward to isolate the dying men and would not go near it.
The POWs had the job of burying the dead. To do this, they worked in teams of four men. Each team carried a litter of four to six dead men to the cemetery where they were buried in graves containing 15 to 20 bodies. Since the water table was high, a POW held the body down in the grave with a pole until it was covered with dirt. The death rate remained at 9 POWs a day into November.
Fr. Bruttenbruck, a German Catholic priest, came to the camp – assisted by Mrs. Escoda – with packages from friends and relatives in Manila on November 12. There was also medicine and books for the POWs. The POWs started a major clean-up of the camp on November 14 and deep latrines, sump holes for water only, and began to bury the camp’s garbage. Pvt. Peter Laniauskas was shot while attempting to escape on November 16. Two other POWs were put on trial by the Japanese for aiding him. One man received 20 days in solitary confinement while the other man received 30 days in solitary confinement. Pvt. Donald K. Russell, on November 20, was caught trying to reenter the camp at 12:30 A.M. He had left the camp at 8:30 P.M. and secured a bag of canned food by claiming he was a guerrilla. He was executed in the camp cemetery at 12;30 P.M. on November 21. The Japanese gave out a large amount of old clothing – that came from Manila – to the POWs on November 22. On November 23, the Japanese wanted to start a farm and needed 750 POWs to do the initial work on it. It was noted that there were only 603 POWs healthy enough to work.
The Japanese wanted the farm detail started which became one of the largest details in the camp. On November 23, they wanted 750 POWs to start work on the farm. The problem was there were only 603 POWs in the camp who were healthy enough to work. It was also one of the most brutal details. At some point, almost every POW in the camp worked the detail. The POWs would have to go to a shed each morning to get tools. As they left the shed, the Japanese guards thought it was great fun to hit them over their heads. The detail was under the command of “Big Speedo” who spoke very little English. When he wanted the POWs to work faster, he told the POWs “speedo.” Although he was known to have a temper, the POWs thought he was fair.
Another guard was “Little Speedo” who was smaller and also used “speedo” when he wanted the POWs to work faster. He punished the POWs by making them kneel on stones. “Smiley” was a Korean guard who always had a smile on his face but could not be trusted. He was the meanest of the guards and beat men up for no reason. He liked to hit the POWs with the club. Any prisoner who he believed was not working hard enough got knocked over with it. Any prisoner who he believed was not working hard enough got knocked over with it. Each morning, after arriving at the farm, the POWs went into a tool shed to get their tools. As they left the shed, the guards hit them on their heads.
Before going to work each day, the POWs had breakfast a half hour before dawn and at dawn, the men went to work. Each morning, after arriving at the farm, the POWs went into a tool shed to get their tools. As they left the shed, the guards hit them on their heads. This was considered the most abusive of the work details with the POWs receiving the worst beatings. Another guard, “Smiling Sam” would tell the POWs he was taking a break and then turned his back to them. While he was on his break, they could rest or steal food. Before he ended his break he warned them that his break was over and when he turned around, they were all working. Men who worked near the camp came back at about 11:30 AM for a tin of rice and then returned to work again to finish out a 10-hour day. After they had supper, there wasn’t much for the POWs to do. The Red Cross had sent books, but the Jap censors took them away a few days after they arrived.
His wife received a telegram from the War Department on December 7, 1942.
“Information received indicates that your husband, Capt. Arthur Vincent Burholt, infantry, is now a prisoner of war of the Japanese government in the Philippine Islands. Letter will Follow.”
Fr. Bruttenbruck returned on December 10 without proper authorization from the authorities in Manila so he was turned away. He had brought a truckload of medicine and food for the POWs. It was estimated by the POWs that he spent $300.00 for fuel to make the trip. He returned on December 24 with two truckloads of presents for the men and a gift bag for each. This time he was allowed into the camp. The next day, Christmas, the POWs received 2½ Red Cross boxes. In each box milk in some form, corn beef, fish, stew beef, sugar, meat and vegetable, tea, and chocolate. The POWs also received bulk corn beef, sugar, meat and vegetables, stew, raisins, dried fruit, and cocoa which they believed would last them three months. The POWs also were given four days off from work.
Several days after receiving the telegram, his wife received a letter from the War Department.
Virginia Burholt
Des Moines Ia
The Provost Marshal General directs me to inform you that you may communicate with your husband, postage free, by following the inclosed instructions:
It is suggested that you address him as follows:
Capt. Arthur V. Burholt, U.S. Army
Interned in the Philippine Islands
C/O Japanese Red Cross, Tokyo, Japan
Via New York, New York
Packages cannot be sent to the Orient at this time. When transportation facilities are available a package permit will be issued you.
Further information will be forwarded you as soon as it is received.
Sincerely
Howard F. Bresee
Colonel, CMP
After receiving the message, Virginia called Arthur’s mother and told her that he was a Prisoner of War. This was also the first news that anyone in Port Clinton received on any member of the tank company.
On January 11, the POWs watched and heard the explosions as Japanese dive bombers bombed and strafed something about 30 kilometers away. They later heard a barrio was attacked killing 102 men, women, and children and wounding 60. On the 13th, the commissary supplies ended. According to the Japanese, this was because guerrillas had burned down half of Cabanatuan which included the warehouse where the supplies were stored. The Japanese issued toilet kits to the POWs on January 14 that had to be shared by four POWs. It was about this time that Elmer contracted malaria, beriberi, and dysentery. According to medical records kept at the camp, he was admitted to the camp hospital on January 14, 1943. So far, no discharge date has been found. On January 18, the same area was bombed again by the Japanese. The Japanese issued Red Cross Boxes to the POWs on January 24 which had to be shared by two POWs. 1200 POWs left the camp on a work detail on January 27.
During this time multiple work details left the camp and returned each day. Some details were small while others had 1255 to 1450 POWs on them. The POWs received Christmas telegrams on February 7. The POWs watched the Marx Brothers’ movie “Room Service” on the 11th and many Japanese propaganda news clips. It was recorded on February 12 that there had not been a death in the camp in eight days. Three POWs died the next day. The Japanese also ordered that the POWs turn in all radios to them. It is not known if they received any. The Japanese installed a radio in the hospital so the POWs could hear their version of the war. During February they heard that the Russians were driving the Germans from Russia but Japan would continue to fight on its own. They also heard the Allies were winning the European War and that there had been a battle in the Marshall Islands. POWs who did not have blankets were issued a blanket by the Japanese on February 22. A program was started to stop the spread of dysentery. For every full milk can of flies, the POWs turned in, they received cigarettes in return. It was noted that on March 3, 12 million flies had been turned in and 320 rats had been turned in.
In the camp, he and Capt. Harold Collins was credited with organizing plays for the men to see and take part in as actors. These shows allowed the POWs an escape from the misery of their daily lives.
Arthur next went on a work detail to Camp McKinley on December 12, 1942, where they appeared to collect junk, left from the fighting, as scrap metal. From there, on January 21, 1943, the POWs were sent to Nielson Airfield to build runways. During the time at the airfield, the POWs leveled the ground and received frequent beatings with pick handles. They also received beatings with iron bars, bayonets, and clubs. When a rule was violated, the POWs stood at attention for six to nine hours. They also were made to do pushups and stay on their hands and toes for long periods of time. If none of these was done to them, they had heavy weights hung from their ears.
The detail again moved, on October 25, 1943, and sent to Camp Murphy to build more runways. But, it appears that Burholt remained at Nielson Field until well into 1944. He may have been in a POW detachment finishing up the work at the airfield. It is known that during his time as a POW, Arthur became close friends with Fr. Mathias Zerfas an American Army Chaplain from Twin Lakes, Wisconsin.
During his time on the detail, Arthur was given the job of mess officer. This meant that he had control over the food for all the POWs. It was said that no man on the detail ever complained that he showed favoritism to anyone and that he made sure that every POW received the same amount of food.
While Arthur was on the detail, he developed a cyst that could not be treated by the medical staff on the detail. Medical records indicate that Burholt was admitted to the medical ward at Bilibid Prison on May 20, 1944, with a cyst in his mouth. He remained in the ward until he was discharged on June 15 and sent to Cabanatuan.
It is known that he wrote a postcard to his wife on July 15, 1944, and told her to “Keep your chin up.” She did not receive the card until the third week in January 1945. The week of August 13 several postcards were received, his wife and brother, Ralph, both received cards from him. He wrote to his wife. On it, he said, “Today is my 33rd birthday.” Saying this meant he had written the card on September 16 almost a year earlier. He also said that he had not received any mail since he left the U.S.
On September 21, 1944, the POWs were finishing work for the day when they heard the sound of planes, but the sound of these planes was different from the sound of Japanese planes. They looked up and saw a formation of 80 planes fly over, but the planes were too high for them to see any insignias. The planes seemed to agitate the Japanese so the POWs whispered to each other that they may be American. After entering the camp, they got their answer as they watched a dogfight directly above the camp. Some of the planes flew low over the camp and on the planes they saw the U.S. Navy insignias. A loud wild cheer came out of the mouths of thousands of POWs. When one of the Japanese planes involved in the dogfight crashed to the ground in flames, another wild cheer went up. As they watched, wave after wave of American planes flew over the camp. Even the hospital patients crawled out of their beds to get a look at the planes. Next, they heard the explosions of anti-aircraft shells over Clark Field. After the attack ended many of the POWs sobbed. Many of the POWs believed this would end the transfer of POWs to Japan. Not long after this, 150 guards left the camp by truck for duty at other places. The POWs heard a rumor from the guards that Americans were on Mindanao Island, but it turned out the rumor was false.
In October, Burholt’s name appeared on a list of POWs selected to be transferred to Bilibid Prison. Six trucks arrived a the camp and spent the night of October 17 at the camp. The next morning the POWs were fed corn cakes and rice for breakfast and were inspected at 7:30 A.M. The POWs were loaded onto the six trucks with 50 men put on each one. At 11:00 A.M. as they made their way to Bilibid Prison, the POWs saw two large formations of American planes on their way to bomb a Japanese fortification at Nichols Field and the Port Area of Manila. It was the fifth or sixth day in a roll that the POWs had seen American planes. This made the ride uncomfortable since they were packed so tightly that they had to stand. At 11:00 A.M. they were on their way to the prison, the POWs saw two large formations of American planes which were the fifth or sixth straight day they had seen American planes. The trucks stopped and the POWs were fed, but they were not allowed off the trucks. The POWs made their way to the side of the truck to urinate. They arrived at Bilibid at 4:00 P.M.
Bilibid Prison was the processing center for POWs being sent to Japan or other occupied countries. He was given a physical and declared healthy enough to be sent to Japan. On December 7, the Japanese gave orders to the medical staff at Bilibid to make a list of POWs healthy enough to survive a trip to Japan. Arthur’s name was put on the list.
On December 12, 1944, roll call was taken and the names of the men selected for transport to Japan were called. Arthur’s name was on this list. At 4:00 a.m. on the morning of December 13, the POWs were awakened for roll call. At 7:00 A.M. they lined up and their names were checked on rosters. This took almost two hours. After roll call, the POWs were allowed to roam the facility. At 11:30 A.M., the POWs were assembled, formed into detachments of 100 men, and marched to Pier 7 in Manila. Marching through the city, they could see the destruction done by the attacks done by American planes. When they reached the harbor, they saw hulks of ships that had been strafed and bombed. After arriving at the pier, the POWs were allowed to sit down and did not board the ship until 5:00 P.M.
The high-ranking officers were the first put into the Oryoku Maru’s aft hold. Being the first one meant that they would suffer many deaths. Around the perimeter of the hold were two tiers of bunks for the POWs. The heat was so bad that men soon began to pass out.
One survivor said, “The fist fights began when men to pass out. We knew that only the front men in bay would be able to get enough air.” The POWs who were closer to the hatch used anything they could find to fan air toward those further away from it.
The ship sailed as part of the MATA-37. Inside the holds, the temperature was near 100 degrees. The cries for air began as the men lost discipline, so the Japanese threatened to cover the holds and cut off all air. After the ship sailed, the POWs could tell they were in open water from the wave swells. The ships sailed for Subic Bay to pick up Japanese civilians and reached the bay at 2:30 in the morning.
At 10:00 P.M., the Japanese interpreter threatened to have the guards fire into the holds unless the POWs stopped screaming. Some of the POWs fell silent because they were exhausted, and others because they had died. One major of the 26th Cavalry stated the man next to him had lost his mind. Recalling the conversation he had with the man he said, “Worst was the man who had gone mad but would not sit still. One kept pestering me, pushing a mess kit against my chest, saying, ‘Have some of this chow? It’s good.’ I smelled of it, it was not chow. ‘All right’ he said, ‘If you don’t want it. I’m going to eat it.’ And a little later I heard him eating it, right beside me.”
The Japanese covered the holds and would not allow the slop buckets to be taken out of the holds. Those POWs who were left holding the buckets at first asked for someone else to hold them for a while. When that did not work, they dumped the buckets on the men around them.
As daylight began to enter the hold as morning came, the POWs could see men who were in stupors, men out of their minds, and men who had died. The POWs in the aft hold which also had a sub-hold put the POWs who were out of their minds into it. On the side of the holds, water had condensed on the walls so the POWs tried to scrape it off the wall for a drink. The Japanese did allow men who had passed out to be put on deck, but as soon as they revived they went back into the holds. The Japanese would not allow the bodies of the men who had died to be removed from the holds.
The POWs received their first meal at dawn. Meals on the ship consisted of a little rice, fish, some water, and three-fourths of a cup of water that was shared by 20 POWs. It was 8:00 A.M., off the coast of Luzon, and the POWs had just finished eating breakfast when they heard the sound of guns. At first, they thought the gun crews were just drilling, because they had not heard any planes. It was only when the first bomb hit in the water and the ship shook that they knew it was not a drill.
At first, it seemed that most of the planes were attacking the other ships in the convoy. Commander Frank Bridgit had made his way to the top of the ladder into the hold and sat down. He gave the POWs a play-by-play of the planes attacking, “I can see two planes going for a freighter off our starboard side. Now two more are detached from the formation. I think they may be coming for us.”
The POWs heard the change in the sound of the planes’ engines as they began their dives toward the ships in the convoy. Several more bombs hit the water near the ship causing it to rock Explosions were taking place all around the ship. In an attempt to protect themselves, the POWs piled baggage in front of them. Bullets from the planes were ricocheted in the hold causing many casualties.
Lt. Col. Elvin Barr of the 60th Coast Artillery came up to Maj, John Fowler of the 26th Cavalry on the cargo deck and said, “There’s a hole knocked in the bulkheads down there. Between 30 and 40 men have already died down there. “ Barr would never reach Japan. The attack by 30 to 50 planes lasted for about 20 to 30 minutes. When the planes ran out of bombs they strafed. Afterward, the planes flew off, returning to their carrier, and there was a lull of about 20 to 30 minutes before the next squadron of planes appeared over the ships and resumed the attack. This pattern repeated itself over and over during the day.
In the hold, the POWs concluded that the attacking planes were concentrating on the bridge of the ship. They noted that the planes had taken out all the anti-aircraft guns leaving only its .30 caliber machine guns to defend the ship.
At 4:30 P.M., the ship went through the worse attack on it. It was hit at least three times by bombs on its bridge and stern. Most of the POWs, who were wounded, were wounded by ricocheting bullets and shrapnel from exploding bombs. During the attack Chaplain William Cummings, who was a Catholic priest, led the POWs in the Our Father. As they prayed, the bombs that exploded near the ship sent torrents of water over the ship. Bullets from the planes hit the metal plates, of the haul, at an angle that prevented most of them from penetrating the haul.
Somewhere on the ship, a fire started, but it was put out after several hours. The POWs lived through seven or eight attacks before sunset. Overall, six bombs hit the ship. One hit the stern of the ship killing many POWs.
At dusk, the ship raised anchor and headed east. It turned south and turned again this time heading west. The next turn it made was north. It headed in this direction for a good amount of time before dropping anchor at about 8:00 P.M. The POWs figured out that they had just sailed in a circle. What had happened is that the ships had been hit during the attack and the ship could not be steered.
Sometime after midnight, the POWs heard the sound of the Japanese civilians being evacuated from the ship. During the night, the POW medics were ordered onto the deck to treat the Japanese wounded. One medic recalled that the dead, dying, and wounded were everywhere.
The ship reached Subic Bay at 2:30 in the morning and steamed closer to the beach where its anchor was dropped. At 4:00 A.M., the POWs were told that they would disembark at daybreak at a pier. The moaning and muttering of POWs who were losing their minds kept the POWs up all night. That night 25 POWs died in the hold.
At 4:00 A.M., the Japanese interpreter yelled into the hold that in two or three hours, the ship would dock at the pier and the POWs would be taken ashore. When daylight came, the interpreter shouted that the first 35 men would be taken ashore. Suddenly, he looked up and shouted, “Planes, many planes!” As the POWs were abandoning the ship the planes returned and continued the attack. The ship bounced in the water from the explosions. Chief Boatswain Clarence M. Taylor who was in the water said, “I saw the whole thing. A bomb fell, hit near the stern hatch, and debris went flying up in the air.”
In the hold, the POWs crowded together. Chips of rust fell on them from the ceiling. After the raid, they took care of the wounded before the next attack started. In the hold another chaplain, Father John Duffy, began to pray, “Father forgive them. They know not what they do.”
The Japanese guards and interpreter had abandoned the ship, but the ship’s captain remained on board. He told the POWs – with his limited English – that they needed to get off the ship to safety. The POWs made their way over the side and into the water. As they swam to shore, the Japanese fired at them, with machine guns, to prevent them from escaping.
Four of the planes flew low over the water above the POWs. The POWs waved frantically at the planes so they would not be strafed. The planes banked and flew lower over the POWs. This time the pilots dipped their wings to show that they knew the men in the water were Americans. A half-hour later, the ship began to really burn, and the bodies of the dead could be seen on the decks. The Japanese sent out a motorboat with a machine gun and snipers on it. The POWs attempting to escape were hunted down and shot. It is believed that as many as 30 men died in the water.
There was no real beach, so the POWs climbed up on a seawall and found the Japanese Naval Landing Party had set up a machine gun and had just laid flat to rest when the gun opened fire on them. Those who came ashore were warned to stay in the water but only did so when one man climbed up on the seawall and was wounded. There were also Japanese snipers in wait to shoot anyone who attempted to escape.
The POWs were gathered together and marched to the tennis court at Olongapo Naval Station. The tennis court was about 500 yards from the beach. The surviving POWs were herded onto a tennis court. When roll call was taken, it was discovered that 329 of the 1,619 POWs had been killed during the attack. While they were sitting there, four American planes flew over the men looking them over. The planes circled and three dipped their wings to the men. The Japanese packed 1300 of the POWs on the court with 100 wounded POWs taking up a great amount of room at one end. They could barely sit down and only lay down by lying partially on another man. During this time, the POWs were not fed but did receive water.
While the POWs were at Olongapo, a Japanese officer, Lt. Junsaburo Toshio, told the ranking American officer, Lt. Col. E. Carl Engelhart, that those too badly wounded to continue the trip would be returned to Bilibid. Fifteen men were selected and loaded onto a truck. They were taken into the mountains and never seen again. POWs who died on the tennis courts were buried in a bomb crater near the beach.
The POWs remained on the tennis court for nine days. During their time on the courts, American planes attacked the area around them. The men watched as the fighter bombers came in vertically releasing bombs as they pulled out of the dives. On several occasions, the planes dove right at the POWs dropped their bombs and pulled out. The bombs drifted over the POWs and landed away from them exploding on contact. Since the POWs had no place to hide, they watched and enjoyed the show. They believed that the pilots knew they were Americans but had no way of knowing if this was true. But what is known is that not one bomb was dropped on them even though they could be seen from the planes.
On the evening of December 16, the Japanese brought 50-kilo bags of rice for the POWs. About half of the rice had fallen out of the bags because of the holes. Each POW was given three spoons of raw rice, and a quarter of a spoon of salt.
At about 8:00 AM on the morning of December 22, 22 trucks arrived at the tennis court. Rumors flew on where they were going to be taken. At about 4:00 PM, a Taiwanese guard told the POWs, in broken English, “No go Cabanatuan. Go Manila; maybe Bilibid.” The guard knew as little as the POWs.
On December 21, the POWs were taken by truck to San Fernando, Pampanga, arriving there about four or five in the afternoon. Once there, they were put in a movie theater which the POWs saw as a dungeon since it was pitch black.
During their time at San Fernando, Pampanga, the POWs lived through several air raids. The reason for the air raids was the barrio was military headquarters for the area. Most of the civilians had been moved out of the barrio. Many of the Americans began to believe they had been taken there so that they would be killed by their own countrymen. On December 23, at about 10:00 PM, the Japanese interpreter came and spoke to the ranking American officer about moving the POWs. The Japanese loaded the seriously ill POWs into a truck. Those remaining behind believed they were taken to Bilibid. The remaining POWs were moved to a trade school building in the barrio.
After 10:00 AM on December 24, the POWs were taken to the train station. The POWs saw that the station had been hit by bombings and that the cars they were to board had bullet holes in them from strafing. 180 to 200 were packed into steel boxcars with four guards. The doors of the boxcars were kept closed and the heat in the cars was terrible. Ten to fifteen POWs rode on the roofs of the cars along with two guards. The guards told these POWs that it was okay to wave to the American planes.
On December 25, the POWs disembarked at San Fernando, La Union, at 2:00 AM. They walked two kilometers to a schoolyard on the southern outskirts of the barrio and were held, in a schoolhouse, from December 25 and 26. On the morning of December 26, the POWs were marched to a beach. During this time the prisoners were allowed one handful of rice and a canteen of water. The heat from the sun was so bad that men drank seawater. Many of those men died.
The POWs, on December 27, were marched to the wharf. Once there, they jumped into barges and were ferried to two ships. Arthur and the other POWs were put on the Brazil Maru. The ship arrived safely at Formosa arriving there on December 31. During the time at Takao. Formosa, the POWs remained in the holds. From January 1 through the 5, they received one meal a day and not enough water. On January 6, all the POWs were put in the forward hold of the Enoura Maru and their meals were increased to two a day.
The morning of January 9 the POWs were eating their first meal when the machine guns on the ship began to fire. Bombs began exploding in the water around the ship resulting in the ship rocking from the explosions. The bombs continued to fall closer and closer to the ship until it was hit.
One bomb exploded in the corner of the forward hold killing 285 POWs. Arthur was wounded during the attack by the fighter planes. One wound damaged his spine resulting in his being unable to walk. This is where the available information gets jumbled. According to 1st Lt. Jacques Merrifield’s report that was written after the war, Capt. Arthur Burholt died on January 27, 1945. Apparently, Capt. James Conn’s record of POWs’ deaths gave January 20, 1945, as his date of death. But since he was buried in a mass grave on a beach in Taiwan, his date of death had to occur sometime between January 9 and January 11. It is believed he actually died on January 10.
The Japanese left the dead in the holds so the POWs stacked the bodies under the hatch so they would be the first thing the Japanese smelled and saw when they looked into the hold. The Japanese organized a burial detail on January 11 and the corpses of 438 POWs were removed from the ship, put on a barge, and taken to shore. The POWs assigned to this detail were too weak to lift the bodies, so ropes were tied to their legs and the bodies were dragged to shore and buried in a mass grave on the beach. Later on the same day, the POWs from the forward hold were moved to another hold.
Capt. Arthur Burholt died during the attack on the Enoura Maru on January 10, 1945. After the attack on January 11, a burial detail was organized and a barge was tied to the ship so that the bodies of the dead could be loaded on it. When the barge took the dead to shore, the POWs were too weak to carry them, so ropes were tied to the legs and they were dragged to shore and buried in a mass grave on Nakasu Beach. Records indicate that it took 10 POWs and 60 Japanese soldiers two days to bury the dead in no logical order. The Japanese also sent this message to the International Red Cross.
“NLT. International Red Cross GENEVA JU/81, ST/9. For your reference, we report that 918 American prisoners of war were killed by enemy airplanes while en route from a POW internment camp in the PHILLIPINES to JAPAN by ship.”
This was followed by a document with the names and serial numbers of the dead. JU/81 in the statement was the Japanese death report.
After the liberation of Bilibid Prison, Franz Weisblatt. a newspaper correspondent for the United Press International, who had been liberated wrote to Art’s mother that he was with Art from October to December 1944 and that Art was in a group of 100 POWs transferred to Japan. In his account, he stated that the POWs were issued wool clothing which appeared to indicate they were being sent to Manchuria. He stated that Burholt was among the 1200 POWs who had survived the sinking of the ship in Subic Bay with 300 drowning. He also stated the Burholt was very thin but in excellent condition and exercised each day.
He also sent a letter to Arthur’s wife and said in it. “I believe that you know that “Art” went to Japan on December 13, 1944, boat and arrived there safely according to information that we were able to pick up at Bilibid before we left there on Feb 4, this year.
“Art and I were very good friends and we spent a lot of time together while he was in Bilibid awaiting the trip to Japan. We were mess-mates at one time early in ’44 when he returned from the Lipa detail. Needless to say, I thought the word of your husband. He was a splendid example of a man and an excellent officer. His men respected him. When he was mess officer at Lipa–and this is a very, very important job in a prison camp–he was fair to all and played no favorites. His camp is the only one, excepting one, that no complaints about the food were received from. I am in a position to know as I received reports from all camps. The men would tell me of conditions when they arrived at Bilibid because I was a civilian and a reporter. Art did a swell job and you should be proud of him. Furthermore, he did an outstanding job during the war when he was with his tank company. He did not tell me this of course but I got this information from men and officers in the tank outfit.
“When Art left Manila he was in good physical condition and his morale was very high. Nothing the Japs can do to him will break his spirit–be sure of that.
“Nothing that I can say at this time can ease the ache in your heart but be sure that Art will manage to come through all right. He has kept his balance and his mental outlook on the whole mess is not bitter at all. That means a lot as regards his future welfare when he is released.
“As soon as I get my leg fixed I am going back to the Pacific area. I am confident that I will be shaking Art by the hand in the not-too-distant future. Keep up your courage and you know that Art is thinking of you always. He showed me a picture of you and read me some excerpts from your letters. Keep writing him. He does look forward to your mail.
“My very best regards to you, Virginia. Please call on me for anything that you may want to know. Please pass this word to Art’s friends.
“Sincerely, Franz Weisblatt”
In a letter Major (Rev.) John A. Wilson, a Catholic chaplain, wrote to the parents of Capt. Robert Sorensen, who was also from Port Clinton, in December 1946, he mentioned Art. This is what he said about him.
“There was another officer from Port Clinton who was one of my best friends. His name was Capt. Arthur Burholt. Art and I lived most of the imprisonment in the Philippines. Bob had gone to Japan early in the imprisonment. Art and I were separated October 1, 1944, and we left on different boats. To my mind, Art was one of the finest American officers I have ever met. He was a leader and an officer whose first concern was always his men. His good humor and wit plus his generosity and thoughtfulness were qualities that endeared him to all. I was never more happy than when I was serving the men of the 192nd. Indeed, the officers and men were the real heroes of the war, especially the men of the 192nd.”
After the War Department received the names of the men who died in the sinking of the Oryoko Maru and the Enoura Maru, Arthur’s wife received the news of his death from the department.
“THE SECRETARY OF WAR DEEPLY REGRETS TO INFORM YOU THAT YOUR HUSBAND CAPT. ARTHUR V. BURHOLT WAS KILLED IN ACTION IN THE PACIFIC AREA 15 DECEMBER 44 WHILE BEING TRANSPORTED ABOARD A JAPANESE VESSELL=
CONFIRMING LETTER FOLLOWS=
=EDWARD F WITSELL ACTING
ADJUTANT GENERAL OF THE ARMY
The Sandusky Register Star reported on July 7, 1945, that three members of the 192nd from Port Clinton had died on December 15, 1944. One of those it reported as having been killed was Capt. Arthur V. Burholt. It was reported by the Port Clinton Herald and Republican on September 21, 1945, that Arthur had be awarded the Purple Heart posthumously.
A letter was sent to his wife about the sinking of the Oryoku Maru. As additional information became available a second letter was mailed out correcting his date of death. It is not known when his date of death was officially confirmed by the War Department.
The bodies of those who had died on the Enoura Maru were buried in a mass grave on a beach on Formosa. On January 19, 1946, the location of the grave was discovered and marked. According to records compiled by Remains Recovery Team #9, 311 remains were recovered from the grave. The first remains were removed from the grave from May 27 to May 30. The grave was described as being 18 feet wide, 15 feet deep, and 75 feet long. On the 27th, 20 sets of remains were recovered from the grave. The next day another 25 sets of remains were recovered. Another 242 sets of remains were recovered from the grave on May 29. The final 24 sets of remains were recovered on May 30. In total, 311 sets of remains were recovered.
The remains were held in a remains recovery warehouse in Kiirun, Formosa until the decision was made to attempt to identify the remains. Those remains that were not identified were buried in the Punch Bowl at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii. Since his remains were not identified, Capt. Arthur V. Burholt’s name appears on the Tablets of the Missing at the American Military Cemetery at Manila. After the war, Arthur’s family had a headstone placed in Riverview Cemetery in Port Clinton in memory of him.
On February 23, 1945, Virginia Burholt was notified that her husband had posthumously been awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action for his actions at the Anyasan River during the Battle of Bataan. His wife who was in the WACs held the rank of captain and remarried in the 1950s.
It needs to be mentioned that the Defense Department announced that it will exhume the graves of the men who died on the Oryoku and Brazil Marus. To do this, families will be contacted for the purpose of collecting DNA.
