Arriola, Francisco Badilla

Rank and Name, Private First Class Frank Badilla Arriola.

Unit/Placed in, 31st Infantry Regiment.

Camp O’Donnell

Alvin survived the Death March and the horrific conditions at Camp O’Donnell. about 1500 American and 22,000 Filipino prisoners of war died at Camp O’Donnell from starvation, disease and the brutal treatment received at the hands of the captors during the few months it was open.

Arisan Maru

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

The Arisan Maru, sailed from Manila on October 11, 1944 for Japan. This ship was sunk by the American submarine, USS Shark with three torpedoes, on November 24, 1944. There were 1800 POWs aboard – nine 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.

Frank is born approx. on 17 May, 1916 in Tucson, Arizona.

Father, Francisco Arriola.

Mother, Mariana (Badilla) Arriola.

Sister(s), Carlota, Anita and Maria E. Arriola.

Brother(s), Enrique B. and Manuel B. Arriola.

Frank enlisted the service in Arizona with service number # 6296528.

Frank was KIA when the Arisan Maru was Torpedoed, he tried to escape and the Japanese guards shot him on Oct 24, 1944, he is honored with a Purple Heart, Bronze Star Medal, Combat Infantry Badge, Marksmanship Badge, Good Conduct Medal, American Campaign Medal, Army Presidential Unit Citation, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, WW II Victory Medal.

Frank 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, WW2-Pacific Website.

Air Force Info, Rolland Swank.

ABMC Website, https://abmc.gov

Navy Info, http://navylog.navymemorial.org

POW Info, http://www.mansell.com Dwight Rider and Wes injerd.

Family Info, https://www.familysearch.org

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

Info, https://www.pacificwrecks.com/

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