Photo By Scott Sturkol | A scene from the Mass of Christian Burial Service for Sgt. Jack Hohlfeld is shown Aug....... read more read more
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A scene from the Mass of Christian Burial Service for Sgt. Jack Hohlfeld is shown Aug. 26, 2024, at St. Patrick Parish in Onalaska, Wis.
Hundreds of people attended a special Mass for Hohlfeld at St. Patrick Parish in Onalaska and the graveside service in La Crosse, Wis., as well.
Hohlfeld was born in Hamburg Township in Vernon County just outside Stoddard, Wis. When he was 13 years old, his family moved to Centerville, just north of Holmen.
As a young adult, Jack lived for a brief time in both Trempealeau and La Crosse before moving to California. He volunteered to enlist and was sworn into the Army at Fort MacArther, Calif., in 1938. Hohlfeld was assigned to the Philippines as a member of Headquarters Squadron, 24th Pursuit Group, U.S. Army Air Corps.
When the Japanese began their attack on the Philippines on Dec. 8, 1941, the 24th Pursuit Group rapidly became combat ineffective. Its soldiers were rushed to the Bataan Peninsula where Hohlfeld fought as an infantryman, eventually becoming a POW upon its surrender.
Hohlfeld survived the Bataan Death March and entered the infamous Cabanatuan Japanese POW camp. On Dec. 26, 1942, Hohlfeld died and was placed into Common Grave 811 with five other service members who passed in that 24-hour period. It wasn't until recently he was fully identified from that gravesite and brought back to Wisconsin.
Soldiers from the 86th Training Division at Fort McCoy supported the funerary team for the service and members of the Fort McCoy Garrison team also supported the event.
Fort McCoy’s motto is to be the “Total Force Training Center.”
Located in the heart of the upper Midwest, Fort McCoy is the only U.S. Army installation in Wisconsin.
The installation has provided support and facilities for the field and classroom training of more than 100,000 military personnel from all services nearly every year since 1984.
Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” on Flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/fortmccoywi, and on X (formerly Twitter) by searching “usagmccoy.”
Also try downloading the My Army Post app to your smartphone and set “Fort McCoy” or another installation as your preferred base. Fort McCoy is also part of Army’s Installation Management Command where “We Are The Army’s Home.”
| Date Taken: | 09.05.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 09.05.2024 14:19 |
| Story ID: | 480167 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 401 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Photo Story: America remembers Bataan Death March veteran Sgt. Jack Hohlfeld with special service, Part 1, by Scott Sturkol, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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