Lieutenant Colonel Theodore T. Teague,USA
Sergeant William Dennis,USA
Private First Class Peter Larnis,USA
Private First Class Frances Lavelle,USA
On 03 April 1942,the Japanese army launched its final assault on the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines.The battle ended on 09 April 1942,when General Ned King, US Army (USA) surrendered the remaining US and Philippine troops to the Japanese.These soldiers and marines had held out for three months against the Imperial Japanese Army,while almost every other island and nation in the Pacific and Southeast Asia fell to the Japanese. At that point,75,000 soldiers became prisoners of war, approximately 10,000 Americans and 65,000 Filipinos.What followed cannot be called anything other than a war crime — the Bataan Death March.
Once the surrender went into effect,the Japanese gathered the American and Filipino soldiers and began marching them north toward Camp O'Donnell,65 miles away.It is estimated that Japanese guards killed between 7,000-10,000 men during the five-day death march.The majority of those killed were Filipino soldiers.Those who survived the march were held in confinement camps under deplorable conditions.Many died,having suffered from malnutrition,disease, and abuse.At least four Framingham men were victims of this horrific treatment,with three eventually making the ultimate sacrifice.
Image:The LIFE Picture Collection
Image:Department of Defense/Wikimedia Commons
Colonel Theodore T.“Tiger”Teague,USA
Image: US Army
Silver Star Legion of Merit BSM (two awards) Purple Heart
Colonel Theodore Thomas “Tiger” Teague was born in Chicago in 1891.By 1900,he lived in the Nobscot section of Framingham.He joined the Army in 1918 and served in World War I (WWI).Prior to the war,he was employed as a telegrapher/wireless operator with Western Union,which led him to the Army Signal Corps. Following WWI,he remained in the Army,serving at multiple duty stations as he worked his way up the ranks.By 1942,he was a Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) on General Douglas MacArthur’s staff in the Philippines.He survived the Battle of Bataan and the Bataan Death March.He remained a Japanese Prisoner of War (POW) until 28 October 1945.He was confined in eight different camps, with his final stop at the infamous Hoten POW Camp in Mukden, Manchuria.After his release,he was awarded the Silver Star Medal,2 Bronze Star Medals,and a Purple Heart for his actions in the Battle of Bataan and on the Death March.During his career,he was also awarded the Legion of Merit.He retired as a Colonel in May of 1949.He passed away in 1962 at the age of 71 from cirrhosis of the liver,likely due to malnutrition.
Sergeant (SGT) William Dennis,USA
SGT William Dennis was attached to the Army’s 60th Coast Artillery Regiment,which was stationed in the Philippines.He survived the Bataan Death March but succumbed to disease in a Japanese POW Camp.The telegram the family received from the War Office reads in part -- “Your brother Sergeant William Dennis who was previously reported as Missing in Action died in a Japanese prison camp,May 3rd,1942.”
PFC Peter Larnis,USA
PFC Peter Larnis (given name was Peter Laniauskas) was born in 1917.His parents,who resided on Second Street,were both born in Lithuania.Peter enlisted in the Army in October of 1939.At the time of the surrender,he was assigned to the Army’s 809th Engineering Battalion (Aviation) at Nichols Field,Philippines. Peter survived the Death March,which took him to Camp O’Donnell.He was later transferred to Cabanatuan Camp #1.On 16 November 1942,Peter was shot and killed trying to escape.His remains were never recovered.Unfortunately,he was carried as Missing in Action-Likely a POW in Manchuria until 1945 when his parents were officially notified of his 1942 death in the Philippines.
PFC Francis L. Lavelle
Francis Laurence Lavelle was born (1919) and raised in Framingham.His family lived in the Irving Square area.He was a Framingham High School graduate.He enlisted in the Army on the 10th of August in 1940.In late 1940,he was assigned to the Quartermaster Corps (part of the supply specialty) in the Philippines.In May of 1942,the International Red Cross reported him to be a Japanese POW.He survived the Bataan Death March and was held in Camp Olivas,which was in the vicinity of Camp O’Donnell.
On 04 September 1944,Francis was aboard a Japanese freighter known as the SHINYŌ MARU.The SHINYŌ was part of a convoy moving north.By 1944,the likelihood of an Allied invasion of the Philippines was high.To prevent the liberation of Allied prisoners,the Japanese established a maritime route using freighters to move Allied prisoners from the Philippines to other locations in the Japanese empire (such as Formosa,Japan, and Manchuria).These vessels were called "hell ships" because POWs were forced to live in inhumane and unsanitary conditions. The ships were crewed by merchant mariners and Japanese Army soldiers.SHINYŌ MARU was one of these ships.On that fateful day,the submarine USS PADDLE (SS-263) located and attacked the convoy when it was two to three miles off the coast of the Philippines.The merchant ships had been reported to be carrying Japanese troops.After the SHINYŌ was hit by two torpedoes,the freighter captain decided to ground the ship on the beach.Once the ship was hit,the Japanese guards began to machine gun the prisoners.Hand grenades were also thrown into the two holds that contained POWs.Some prisoners were able to escape the holds and jump overboard.The guards continued to shoot prisoners in the water.Japanese soldiers who had left the ship in lifeboats also participated in the killings.No POWs were allowed in the lifeboats.
Of the 750 POWs on board, 668 were killed,either in the torpedo explosions,drowned while swimming ashore or were killed by the guards.Of the 668 deaths,663 were Americans.Eighty-three POWs made it to the beach and were rescued by locals.Of the 83,82 survived and were returned to the Allies.PFC Lavelle was believed to have escaped the ship,but died in the water.
Japanese Motor Vessel Shin’yō Maru
USS Paddle (SS-263)
Images: Wikipedia
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