Rank and Name, Pay Clerk John Francis Athey.
Unit/Placed in, No Record.
Camp no record
The Imperial Japanese began their Invasion in the Philippines on 8 Dec 1941.
The Army resorted to fighting together among Filipino forces when compelled to surrender on 9 Apr 1942.
Pay Clerk became a POW and was imprisoned at Pow Camp no record, he survived the Bataan Death March, but died shortly after it.
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.
John is born approx. on 22 July 1922 in Middle Fork Township, Iowa.
Father, Elmer E. Athey.
Mother, Ethel P. (Forsythe) Athey.
Sister(s), Mary L. Athey.
Spouse, Thelma Athey.
John enlisted the service in Iowa with service number # 80766.
John 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, POW Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal, Expeditionary Medal, American Campaign Medal, Navy & Marine Presidential Unit Citation, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, WW II Victory Medal.
John 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
Philippine Info, http://www.philippine-scouts.org/
Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com
