Rank and Name, Machinist’s (CWO) George Brewer Gooding.
Unit/Placed in, “Hellship Arisan Maru”.
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.
George is born approx. on March 10, 1910 in Needles, California.
Parents and Siblings, No Record Available.
Spouse, Sylvia (Gross) Gooding.
George enlisted the service in California with service number # 82295.
George was KIA when the Arisan Maru got Torpedoed by the USS Shark not knowing it was a POW ship on Oct. 24,1944, he is honored with a Purple Heart, POW Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Expeditionary Medal, American Campaign Medal, Distinguished Unit Citation, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, WW II Victory Medal.
George 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
Medals Info, https://www.honorstates.org
Philppine Info, http://www.philippine-scouts.org/
Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com
