Rank and Name, Private First Class Charles O. Martin.

Unit/Placed in, 31th Infantry Regiment “Polar Bears”.

Arisan Maru

The Arisan Maru was a Hell Ships (former Cargo, used for Transport POW’s to other Camps) sunk on Oct. 24, 1944.

The Arisan Maru, sailed from Manila on October 10, 1944 for Japan. This ship was sunk by the American Submarine, USS Snook (Shark?) with three torpedoes, east of Hong Kong, on October 24, 1944. There were 1800 POWs aboard – 1793 died. Eight men survived this sinking. Two days later, five of the survivors were rescued by a Chinese fishing junk. The Chinese helped them reach American Air Corps forces. Other survivors were recaptured by a Japanese destroyer and taken to Formosa.

This Hell Ship sank in the South China Sea making it the worst naval disaster in the history of the United States.

Charles is born approx. 1919 in Massachusetts.

Stepfather, Thomas H. Kerns.

Mother, Violet L. Kerns.

Both Parents born in Atlantic Islands.

Brother, Joseph Martin.

Charles enlisted the service in Massachusetts with service number # 6149515.

Charles died as a POW when the Transport Ship Arisan Maru was torpedoed on Oct. 24, 1944, he is honored with a Purple Heart, Bronze Star Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Distinguished Unit Citation, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, WW II Victory Medal.

Charles is buried/mentioned at Manila American Cemetery and Memorial Manila, metro Manila, National Capital Region, Philippines.

Walls of the missing.

Thanks to Jean Louis Vijgen, ABMC, https://abmc.gov

P.O.W. info, Wes Injerd and Dwight Rider, http://www.mansell.com/pow-index.html  AirForce, Rolland Swank NavyLog, http://navylog.navymemorial.org Familysearch.com, https://www.familysearch.org

Philippine Scouts Heritage Society,http://www.philippine-scouts.org/

Marines Info Geoffrey Roecker, https://missingmarines.com/   

Medals Info, http://www.honorstates.org    

Hendriks Webdesign, https://hendrikswebdesign.nl/