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HILLSBORO, Ore. – The remains of U.S. Army Private William E. Calkins were laid to rest at Fir Lawn Memorial Park in Hillsboro, Oregon on Sept. 13, 2024 during a memorial service honoring the World War II Soldier who died in a prisoner of war camp in the Philippines in 1942. Private Calkins joined the U.S. Army from Oregon and served in Company B of the 31st Infantry Regiment in the Philippines, and was later captured in Bataan province by Japanese soldiers, who took him along with several thousand American and Filipino soldiers as prisoners.
With full military honors provided by the Oregon Army National Guard Funeral Honors team, Calkins remains were laid to rest at his Mother’s grave at Fir Lawn after being accounted for 82 years after his death. With a strong desire to serve his country, Calkins lied about his age to join the U.S. Army at the age of 16. William Ezra Leon Calkins was born to Joseph and Ruth Calkins on August 22, 1925 and was just 17 years old at the time of his death on Nov. 1, 1942. The Statesman Journal newspaper in Salem, printed the announcement of his death in 1943.
After surviving the infamous Bataan Death March, from April 9 to April 17, in 1942, Calkins and others faced execution by their Japanese capturers if they stopped or fell to the ground during the 65 mile march. Calkins later died of inanition at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province and was buried in Common Grave 704, along with other deceased prisoners. According to the Department of Defense, as many as 11,000 prisoners died during the Bataan Death March and thousands of others died in various prison camps in the Philippines.
Oregon Army National Guard Chaplain (Col). Jacob Scott, Oregon National Guard State Chaplain officiated the memorial service for Private Calkins as family members and others from the community gathered to remember Calkins service to his country.
“American held captive in the Pacific confronted starvation, disease, despair, brutality and death. Behind bars and barbed wire, they waited year after year, looking to the skies and praying for releases or rescue as many died waiting,” Scott said, emphasizing the desperate conditions POWs faced.
In total, more than 2,500 prisoners died in the prison camp from starvation as well as a variety of illnesses, to include malaria, dengue, dysentery, hookworm and other disorders related to malnourishment.
"The Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines occupies 152 acres on a prominent plateau in the capital city. In the center of those peaceful grounds stands a beautiful white marble memorial Chapel. A limestone hemisphere monument features the tablets of the missing, and contains 36,286 names,” Scott said, describing the memorial grounds where so many American perished. “Billy’s name is permanently inscribed on those tablets…but from now on, his name will forever be adorned with a Brass Rosette, signifying that Billy’s remains will now rest in a known grave.”
At the conclusion of WWII, American personnel began to exhume the graves at the Cabanatuan camp, and Private Calkins’s remains along with thousands of others, were then buried at Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines, where they were unidentifiable for more than 70 years. Eventually American troops and Filipino guerrillas began to recapture the island in late 1944. In 2018, Scientists with the Department of Defense’s POW/MIA Accounting Agency and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System conducted anthropological, chromosome, dental and DNA analysis of the remains from Common Grave 704 would eventually identify Private Calkins.
“Part of the Army’s Warrior Creed is the promise that “I will never leave a fallen comrade.” That’s our pledge to each and every service member and their families,” Scott said, detailing the many years and lengthy process to ascertain Calkins remains. “And yet, thanks to the Defense POW and MIA Accounting agency, Billy Calkins was finally accounted for April 17th of 2024.”
Prior to his burial, Calkins’ remains were brought home to his Oregon relatives on September 8 with planeside military honors at the Portland International Airport.
“Part of what today is about is that Private Billy Calkins, U.S. Army is not simply recovered, but remembered—that his family is remembered,” Scott said, closing the ceremony. “And we remember the thousands whose remains have never been found, and thousands more whose identity awaits to be discovered…and we remember.”
Private Calkins military awards include The Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster (posthumous), The Purple Heart (posthumous), Prisoner of War Medal (posthumous), The Good Conduct Medal (posthumous), the American Defense Service Medal with Foreign Service Clasp, the World War II Victory Medal, the Presidential Unit Citation with two Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters, the Combat Infantryman Badge (posthumous), the Philippine Defense Ribbon with Bronze Star and the Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation.
| Date Taken: | 09.13.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 09.13.2024 23:46 |
| Story ID: | 480882 |
| Location: | HILLSBORO, OREGON, US |
| Web Views: | 143 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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