Pvt. Joe Maria Sanchez was born on November 15, 1907, in El Paso, Texas, to Jesus Sanchez and Marisol Castaneda-Sanchez. It is known that he had two sisters and five brothers. In 1930, he was living in San Antonio, Texas, working as a waiter. At some point, he moved to Los Angeles, California, and married. When the Selective Service Act took effect, he registered and named his wife, Lillian Lamore-Sanchez, as his contact person. He also gave his address as 1161 Townsend Avenue, Los Angeles. The couple was the parents of two sons and two daughters, and he worked for a stationery company. He was inducted into the U.S. Army on March 29, 1941, but it is not known where he did his basic training. It is known he trained as a cook. He became a member of the 194th Tank Battalion on Angel Island and was assigned to A Company. According to Col Ernest Miller, the commanding officer of the battalion, Joe was assigned to the battalion because his commanding officer want to get rid of him.
The 194th had received orders on August 14 for duty overseas. The story that Col. Ernest Miller, in his book Bataan Uncensored, told was that the decision to send the battalion overseas was the result of an event that took place in the summer of 1941. In the story, 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 used by the Japanese military. 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 – which was seen making its way to shore. Since communication between the Air Corps and 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.
On August 18, Miller stopped in Brainerd to see his family after receiving his orders at Ft. Knox. When asked, he informed the Brainerd Daily Dispatch that the battalion was being sent overseas, but he did not disclose where they were being sent. He later flew to Minneapolis and then flew to Ft. Lewis. The reality was there were only three places that tanks could be used., and they were Alaska, Hawaii, and the Philippines. Alaska was eliminated since the battalion’s B Company had been sent there.
The fact was that the battalion was part of the First Tank Group which was headquartered at Ft. Knox and operational by June 1941. Available information suggests that the tank group had been selected to be sent to the Philippines early in 1941. Besides the 194th at Ft. Lewis, the group was made up of the 70th and 191st medium tank battalions at Ft. Meade, Maryland. The 70th was regular Army while the 191st had been a National Guard tank battalion. It was also made up of the 193rd Tank Battalion at Ft. Benning, Georgia, and the 192nd at Ft. Knox, Kentucky. 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 long before the 194th received its orders.
On August 13, 1941, Congress voted to extend federalized National Guard units’ time in the regular Army by 18 months. That same day, Major Ernest Miller was ordered to fly to Ft. Knox. The next day, he received orders that the 194th was being sent overseas. Two days later, on August 15, the rest of 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 sailing to Hawaii, on its way to the Philippines, when Pearl Harbor was attacked. After it arrived in Hawaii, the battalion was held there. The 70th and 191st never received orders for the Philippines because of the war. Some military documents from the time also show the name of the Provisional Tank Group in the Philippines as the First Provisional Tank Group a variation on First Tank Group.
The battalion rode a train to Ft. Mason, and from there it was ferried to Angel Island on the U.S.A.T. General Frank M. Coxe. During this time the tanks’ guns and other weapons had cosmoline put on them to prevent rust. During this time, special permission was given for families to travel to Angel Island and visit with the members of the battalion. The original sailing date was September 5, but the ship had to be put in drydock for repairs. The soldiers boarded the S.S. President Calvin Coolidge at 3:00 P.M. on September 8 and at 9:00 P.M. it sailed. The ship arrived at Honolulu, Hawaii, at 7:00 A.M. on Saturday, September 13. The soldiers were allowed off the ship, but they needed to be back on board before the ship sailed at 5:00 P.M. After it sailed, it took a southerly route away from the main shipping lanes where it was joined by the heavy cruiser, the U.S.S. Astoria, an unknown destroyer, and the U.S.S. Guadalupe a replenishment oiler. Several times during this part of the voyage smoke was seen on the horizon. Each time, the cruiser revved its engines and took off in the direction of the smoke. All the ships it intercepted belonged to friendly countries.
The ships crossed the International Dateline on Tuesday, September 16, and the date became Thursday, September 18. On Friday, September 26, the ships entered Manila Bay at about 7:00 in the morning. The soldiers remained on board and disembarked at 3:00 P.M. and were taken by bus to Fort Stotsenburg. The battalion’s maintenance section, remained behind at the pier, with 17th Ordnance, to unload the tanks and reattach the tanks’ turrets which had been removed so the tanks would fit in the ship’s hold.
Upon arriving at the fort, they were greeted by General Edward P. King Jr. who apologized that they had to live in tents and receive their meals from food trucks until their barracks were completed on November 15. He informed the battalion he had learned of their arrival just days before they arrived. After he was satisfied that they were settled in, he left them. After spending three weeks in tents, they moved into their barracks on October 18, the barracks were described as being on stilts with walls that from the floor were five feet of a weaved matting called sawali This allowed the men to dress. Above five feet the walls were open and allowed for breezes to blow through the barracks making them more comfortable than the tents. There were no doors or windows. The wood that was used for the support beams was the best mahogany available. For personal hygiene, a man was lucky if he was near a faucet with running water.
The days were described as hot and humid, but if a man was able to find shade it was cooler in the shade. The Filipino winter had started when they arrived, and although it was warm when they went to sleep by morning the soldiers needed a blanket. They turned in all their wool uniforms and were issued cotton shirts and trousers which were the regular uniform in the Philippines. They were also scheduled to receive sun helmets.
A typical workday was from 7:00 to 11:30 A.M. with an hour and a half lunch. The afternoon work time was from 1:30 to 2:30 P.M. At that time, it was considered too hot to work, but the battalion continued working and called it, “recreation in the motor pool.” Tank commanders studied books on their tanks and instructed their crews on the 30 and 50 caliber machine guns. The tankers learned to dismantle the guns and put them together. They did it so often that many men could take the guns apart and assemble them while wearing blindfolds. They never fired the guns because Gen. King could not get Gen. MacArthur to release ammunition for them.
For the next several weeks, the tankers spent their time removing the cosmoline from their weapons. They also had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with their M3 tanks. None of them had ever trained in one during their time at Ft. Lewis. In October, the battalion was allowed to travel to Lingayen Gulf. This was done under simulated conditions that enemy troops had landed there. Two months later, enemy troops would land there.
It is known that they were paid at least once after arriving which was confusing since they were paid in pesos and centavos. Many men at first at to learn how much things cost in a new currency.
At the end of the workday, the men had free time. The fort had a bowling alley and movie theaters. The men also played softball, horseshoes, and badminton. Men would also throw footballs around. On Wednesday afternoons, the men went swimming. Once a month, men put their names for the chance to go into Manila. The number of men allowed on these trips was limited. Other men were allowed to go to Aarayat National Park where there was a swimming pool that was filled with mountain water. Other men went canoeing at the Pagsanjan Falls and stated the scenery was beautiful.
The 192nd Tank Battalion arrived in the Philippines on November 20th. With its arrival, the Headquarters for the Provisional Tank Group was formed. It was at this time that Major Ernest Miller had the opportunity to transfer Joe to the tank group. It is not known what he did with the tank group.
On December 1, the tank battalions were ordered to their positions at Clark Field. Their job was to protect the northern half of the airfield from paratroopers. The 192nd Tank Battalion guarded the southern half while the 194th protected the northern half. Two crewmen remained with the tanks at all times and received their meals from food trucks.
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. From this time on, two tank crew members remained with each tank at all times and were fed from food trucks.
It was the men manning the radios in the 192nd Tank Battalion’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 192nd’s commanding officer, Gen. James Weaver, and Major Ernest Miller, the CO of the 194th, read the messages of the attack. Both battalion COs ordered their officers to have the half-tracks join the tanks at Clark Field. Their job was to engage Japanese paratroopers if they landed. The HQ Companies remained behind in their bivouacs.
Around 8:00 A.M., the planes of the Army Air Corps took off and filled the sky. 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, he lived through the Japanese attack on Clark Field. The tankers were eating lunch when planes approached the airfield from the north. At first, they thought the planes were American and counted 54 planes in formation. They then saw what looked like raindrops falling from the planes. It was only when bombs began exploding on the runways that the tankers knew the planes were Japanese. 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.
When the Japanese were finished, there was not much left of the airfield. The soldiers watched as the dead, the dying, and the wounded were hauled to the hospital on bomb racks, trucks, and anything else, 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. One of the results of the attack was that the transfer of D Company, to the 194th, was never completed. The company fought with the 194th but retained its designation of being part of the 192nd. That night, most men slept under their tanks since it was safer than sleeping in their barracks. They had no idea that they had slept their last night in a bed.
The next day, 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 tank battalions remained at the airfield for several days. The 194th was ordered to move toward Manila at night without lights, while the 192nd remained at the airfield. On December 20th the 192nd was ordered to proceed north to Lingayen Gulf to relieve the 26th Cavalry, Philippine Scouts. Because of logistics problems, the B and C Companies soon ran low on gas. When they reached Rosario, there was only enough gas for one tank platoon, from B Company, to proceed north to support the 26th Cavalry.
Lt. Ben Morin’s platoon approached Agoo when it ran head-on into a Japanese motorized unit. The Japanese light tanks had no turrets and sloped armor. The shells of the Americans glanced off the tanks. Morin’s tank was knocked out and his crew was captured. During this engagement, a member of a tank crew, Pvt. Henry J. Deckert, was killed by enemy fire and was later buried in a churchyard. On December 23rd and 24th, the battalion was in the area of Urdaneta. The bridge they were going to use to cross the Agno River was destroyed and the tankers made an end run to get south of the river. As they did this, they ran into Japanese resistance early in the evening. They successfully crossed the river in the Bayambang Province.
On December 25th, 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 tanks held the position until 5:30 in the morning on December 27th. The tankers were at Santo Tomas near Cabanatuan in the day, and at San Isidro south of Cabanatuan on December 28th and 29th.
On January 1, conflicting orders, about who was in command, were received by the defenders who were attempting to stop the Japanese advance down Route 5 and allowing the Southern Luzon Forces to withdraw toward Bataan. General Wainwright was unaware of the orders since they came from Gen. MacArthur’s chief of staff. Because of the orders, there was confusion among the Filipinos and American forces defending the bridge over the Pampanga River about withdrawing from the bridge with half of the defenders withdrawing. 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., on January 6, the Japanese attacked Remedios in force using smoke which was an attempt by the Japanese to destroy the tank battalions. That night the tanks withdrew into the peninsula with the 192nd holding its position so that the 194th Tank Battalion 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.
On the night of January 7, the tank battalions were covering the withdrawal of all troops around Hermosa. Around 6:00 A.M., before the bridge had been destroyed by the engineers, the 192nd crossed the bridge. The next day, the battalion was between Culo and Hermosa and assigned a road to enter Bataan on which was worse than having no road. The half-tracks kept throwing their rubber tracks and members of 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 the next day. Its job was to protect the East Coast Road north of Hermosa open and to stop Japanese tanks 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, 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 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 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.”
The battalions were sent to cover the junctions of the Back Road and East Road with the Abucay-Hacienda Road on January 25. While holding the position, the 45th Infantry, Philippine Scouts, fought its way to the position at 3:00 A.M. One platoon was sent to the front of the column of trucks that were loading the troops. The tanks provided heavy fire so that the infantry could withdraw and inflicted heavy losses on the Japanese.
The tanks on January 26, held a position a kilometer north of the Pilar-Bagac Road with four self-propelled mounts. It was at 9:45 A.M. that they were warned by the Filipino that a large Japanese force was coming. When the enemy appeared, they opened up with all they had. The Japanese withdrew at 10:30 A.M. after losing 500 of 1200 men. It appears that during this battle, Joe was hit in the leg at the knee with shrapnel. He was taken to Hospital #2 on Bataan.
It is known that Joe’s wound was bad enough that he was sent to Corregidor for medical treatment and was still a patient on the island when it was surrendered on May 6, 1942. He was still a patient on the island when it surrendered on May 6, 1942. When the POWs were transferred from the island and taken to Bilibid Prison, Joe remained at the prison after the other POWs were sent to Cabanatuan POW Camp 3. He spent the rest of the war at Bilibid.
His wife received this message from the War Department in May 1942.
“Dear Mrs. Sanchez:
“According to War Department records, you have been designated as the emergency addressee of Private Joe M. Sanchez, 39,214,85, who, according to the latest information available, was serving in the Philippine Islands at the time of the final surrender.
“I deeply regret that it is impossible for me to give you more information than is contained in this letter. In the last days before the surrender of Bataan, there were casualties which were not reported to the War Department. Conceivably the same is true of the surrender of Corregidor and possibly other islands of the Philippines. The Japanese Government has indicated its intention of conforming to the terms of the Geneva Convention with respect to the interchange of information regarding prisoners of war. At some future date, this Government will receive through Geneva a list of persons who have been taken prisoners of war. Until that time the War Department cannot give you positive information.
“The War Department will consider the persons serving in the Philippine Islands as “missing in action” from the date of surrender of Corregidor, May 7, 1942, until definite information to the contrary is received. It is to be hoped that the Japanese Government will communicate a list of prisoners of war at an early date. At that time you will be notified by this office in the event that his name is contained in the list of prisoners of war. In the case of persons known to have been present in the Philippines and who are not reported to be prisoners of war by the Japanese Government, the War Department will continue to carry them as “missing in action” in the absence of information to the contrary, until twelve months have expired. At the expiration of twelve months and in the absence of other information the War Department is authorized to make a final determination.
“Recent legislation makes provision to continue the pay and allowances of persons carried in a “missing” status for a period not to exceed twelve months; to continue, for the duration of the war, the pay and allowances of persons known to have been captured by the enemy; to continue allotments made by missing personnel for a period of twelve months and allotments or increase allotments made by persons by the enemy during the time they are so held; to make new allotments or increase allotments to certain dependents defined in Public Law 490, 77th Congress. The latter dependents generally include the legal wife, dependent children under twenty-one years of age, and dependent mother, or such dependents as having been designated in official records. Eligible dependents who can establish a need for financial assistance and are eligible to receive this assistance the amount allotted will be deducted from pay which would otherwise accrue to the credit of the missing individual.
“Very Truly yours
J. A. Ulio (signed)
Major General
The Adjutant General”
What is known about life at Bilibid is that meals consisted of one-half to three-quarters of a mess kit of rice twice a day. The food was often contaminated which resulted in the prisoners getting dysentery. The POWs slept on concrete floors without mosquito netting and many POWs came down with malaria. For clothing, each of the POWs received two g-strings and two pairs of socks. Although the POWs did receive medical supplies, there was never enough to treat the sick. It was said that they received just enough to prolong the suffering.
From September through December, the Japanese began assigning numbers to the POWs. The Lima Maru sailed in September, but it is not known if POW numbers were assigned to the men on the ship. The first men known to receive POW numbers were the men on the Nagato Maru which sailed for Japan in September. It is not known when, but Joe received the number I-07275 which was his POW no matter where he was sent in the Philippines. The letter “I” may have stood for Imperial or it simply may have simply meant the POW was being held in the Philippines.
It is known that Joe was admitted to the hospital at the prison in October 1942. It was at that time that his right leg was amputated below the knee. After the surgery, he was assigned to Ward 9. He was again readmitted to the hospital on November 13, 1943, and was discharged on January 1, 1944, and sent to what was termed“Well Cripples.” He was readmitted to the hospital later the same day and remained there until he was discharged on April 8th to the Well Cripples for a second time. It was during this time that he made himself a peg leg.
Joe is credited by Sgt. Ken Porwoll with saving his life. Porwoll remained at the prison after being left behind when his POW detachment was sent to Japan. He was considered too ill to be sent to Japan. Joe paid another POW to care for Porwoll. Why he did this was that one time, before the war, Porwoll caught Joe, who was on duty, drunk and did not report him. Joe was repaying Porwoll.
On September 21, 1944, the first American planes in almost three years flew over the prison. The POWs cheered. Many of the POWs believed that this would end the transfer of POWs to Japan. It didn’t. When the Americans didn’t arrive, the POWs soon began to ignore the planes as they flew over. Like the other prisoners, he only had rumors of the advancing American forces. The one story the prisoners heard was those men who were still at Cabanatuan had been liberated by American forces at the end of January 1945. They hoped that this would soon happen to them. On February 2, the last American POW died in the prison of dysentery.
The night of February 2nd, the POWs heard a series of detonations that lasted for over an hour to the southeast at 10:30 P.M. There were some small ones and big ones too that we mixed together. The POWs heard the echoes of explosions all night long. The POWs began to believe that it was just a matter of days before they were free. On February 3 was a normal day for the POWs who went around performing their chores. They told each other the latest rumors as they ate their evening meal. It was at that time that six American planes flew over the compound flying very low and very slow. At 6:00 P.M. they took part in an evening roll call. At 6:30, they heard the sound of artillery in the distance. Then they heard heavy machine-gun fire which got closer and closer and closer. All hell broke loose and there was light artillery fire or fire from tanks, heavy machine-gun and light machine-gun fire, rifle fire, and pistol fire all coming from the north and east of the prison. At 10:30 P.M., the electricity went out. The POWs heard the sound of guns and the ammunition dumps going up. The sound of moving tanks, artillery fire, small arms explosions continued until 2:00 A.M. when everything got quiet except for heavy artillery that could be heard in the distance.
On the morning of February 4, the POWs talked about what they had heard. They also noticed that the Japanese guards seemed to be getting ready to leave. The senior American medical officer was called to the Japanese commanding officer’s office and told that they were freeing the POWs, but he also told them to stay inside the prison. Before the camp commandant left, he posted a typed document stating the Japanese were releasing the POWs.
“1. The Japanese army is now going to release all prisoners of war and internees here on its own accord.
“2. We are assigned to another duty and shell be here no more.
“3. You are at liberty to act and live as free persons but you must be aware of probable dangers if you go out.
“4. We shall leave here foodstuffs, medicines, and other necessities of which you may avail yourselves for the time being.
“5. We have arranged to put signboard at the front gate bearing the following context: ‘Lawfully released prisoners of war and interests are
quartered here. Please do not molest them unless they make positive resistance.’”
The POWs had posted guards to prevent anyone from leaving the prison. They recalled that the windows of the buildings were boarded up and it was 6:00 PM on the evening of February 4 when the POWs heard the sound of rifle butts hitting the wooden shutters of the barred windows. As it turned out, the Americans had completely surrounded the prison and had been trying to get into it to see what was inside. One rifle butt knocked a small rectangular hole from a window and a hand and then a dirty face appeared in the opening. At first, the POWs thought the soldiers were Germans because of their helmets and uniforms. One finger on the hand of the soldier in the window was nervously on the trigger when the face of the soldier showed he recognized the men inside the prison as Americans. It was only when the soldier spoke to them in English that the POWs knew that they had been liberated. He asked, “How the hell do you get in there?” A POW responded, “How the hell do you get out of here? We’ve been trying to find that out for three years!” According to the former POWs, there wasn’t a dry eye among the POWs or the liberating troops. The freed POWs asked the men about how things were in the States, but as it turned out, their liberators hadn’t been home since 1942 and previously had fought on New Guinea.
The POWs remained in the prison since the possibility existed that the Japanese may attempt to retake the prison. The 37th Infantry Division from Ohio came to the compound and visited the POWs. They were followed by 148th Infantry, 7th Division. The Americans gave their cigarettes and K rations to the former POWs and seemed unable to do enough for them. They even gave the former POWs their whiskey, beer, and cigars that the Filipinos had given them. Many tears were shed by both the POWs and the liberating troops. At 9:00 P.M. on February 5, there was gunfire on three sides of the prison so the decision was made to move the former POWs to the Ang Tibay shoe factory on the outskirts of Manila. The members of the 148th Infantry carried POWs out on litters and they were evacuated in ambulances and on jeeps. The soldiers also helped the weak onto trucks and made sure that all the POWs were out of Bilibid. The move was completed by 11:35 P.M. after all the former POWs had been moved to a brewery where they drank beer.
On February 6, the former POWs were ordered back to Bilibid since it had better sanitary facilities. When they got there, they found it had been looted and much of their personnel effects were gone. They received their first American food that morning which was canned ham and eggs, cereal milk, K biscuits, butter, jam, and coffee with milk and sugar. The former POWs who were seriously ill and needed better medical treatment were sent to Santo Tomas on February 9. On the 10th, more men were sent there while those men not able to make the trip were sent to Quezon Institute while the remainder were transferred to the 12th Replacement Battalion.
Once they were behind American lines, the kitchens were kept open for them so they could eat whenever they wanted. From there, the former POWs were taken by plane to Leyte and boarded a landing barge there. They were amazed by the barge since they had not existed when they were fighting on Bataan. The barge took them to the ship that was taking them back to the States. The men boarded the S.S. Monterey that sailed on February 24. During the trip home, a dance was held on the ship and those men who were well enough danced. The ship arrived in San Francisco on March 16 and trucks and ambulances were waiting at the dock to take them to Letterman General Hospital where they received additional medical treatment.
Joe was promoted to Corporal and returned to the United States. After his artificial leg was replaced, the one he had at Bilibid ended up in a medical museum. Joe M. Sanchez died on February 4, 1986, in Castroville, California.
