Death March

[EarlVanDorn]

I was also a neighbor to Samuel T. Derryberry. He was from Ramer, Tennessee some fifteen miles north of Corinth, Mississippi. He was a short man but he had a stout bore structure and frame. Like most all boys who came from the farms he was used to long hours of work. He liked to squirrel hunt as a boy. I will incorperate this in a moment. He joined the army before the war started. He told me that on their way over to the Phillipines the ship sailed with its lights off and kept a zigzag course. He always held the belief that our country must have known that war was inevitable. Mr. Derryberry "his friends called hin T" said that when the enemy planes straffed the camp he would to the edge of the clearing and "keep the tree" on the planes. For those who don't know this term, when you are hunting squirrel especially with a dog, the squirrel will move around to the opposite side of the tree so he can't be seen, requiring a second hunter to walk around the tree and turn him. This came natural to a country boy. He also told me that when the island fell to the enemy, his commanders sent them off to fend for themselves. He told me that living in the wild was the most free time of his life, before or since

[EarlVanDorn]

When asked how he made the death march he told me that he and a buddy managed to find two canteens each, filled them and carried them on their belts. I worked for him long ago. He was as tough, stubborn, and polite as any man I have ever known. This is not a contridiction in terms. He was spiritual and he had grit.

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

My Brother in Law was a survivor of the Bataan Death March.
He would not talk about it at all.

[TejasRose]

My father-in-law was also a survivor of the Bataan Death March. A finer man I’ve never known. He didn’t talk about it much or the 3-1/2 years he was held captive by the Japanese. He just pretty much went on about his life and felt that it was just part of serving his country.

[oldenuff2no]

I lost an uncle I never knew on the march of Bataan. We know very little of what actually happened to him. His name was G C KNOX. He was also an enlisted man before the war started. I have his letters home and pictures of my mom and aunts with him. Over the years I have wondered if anyone was still alive that might have known him there.
They were all true heroes. I salute each and every one of them.

[pops88]

My sister and I had best friends (sisters) in school whose father was a survivor. He was one of the friendliest, happiest people I’ve ever met. He was also a DMV examiner in our small town and everyone prayed to get him for their driving test.

[Redbob]

A friend of mine’s father, another Tennessean, was the only one to have succeeded in escaping from the Bataan Death March. Or rather, he led a group escape.
Gen. Austin Shofner, of Shelbyville.

He wasn’t much given to talking about it, as I recall, only occasionally telling some truly horrible stories, but neither did he make a secret of the fact he despised Japs, each and every one.

http://www.mishalov.com/Shofner.html

[oldenuff2no]

Not knowing what happened to their brother left a huge hole in his sisters and mothers life. Until the day my grandmother died she prayed for her son to come home.
When she was on her death bed I came home from halfway around the world on military hops and went to her bedside in military uniform. I instantly became my uncle G C to her. She died happier but it was really tough on me. They spent decades not knowing what happened to their brother and son. After the war the Army just told them that he didn't survive. We know that he started the march of Bataan and rumors are that he did not finish that mobile slaughter, but we really don't know.