Odonovan, James J.
Army Major

James J. Odonovan from New York, Albany county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Sunday, October 18, 1942
Death details: Following the Allied surrender on the Bataan Peninsula on April 9, 1942, the Japanese began the forcible transfer of American and Filipino prisoners of war to various prison camps in central Luzon, at the northern end of the Philippines. The largest of these camps was the notorious Cabanatuan Prison Camp. At its peak, Cabanatuan held approximately 8,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war that were captured during and after the Fall of Bataan. Camp overcrowding worsened with the arrival of Allied prisoners who had surrendered from Corregidor on May 6, 1942. Conditions at the camp were poor, with food and water extremely limited, leading to widespread malnutrition and outbreaks of malaria and dysentery. By the time the camp was liberated in early 1945, approximately 2,800 Americans had died at Cabanatuan. Prisoners were forced to bury the dead in makeshift communal graves, often completed without records or markers. As a result, identifying and recovering remains interred at Cabanatuan was difficult in the years after the war. Major James J. O’Donovan entered the U.S. Army from New York and was a battalion executive in the 31st Infantry Regiment in the Philippines during the Japanese invasion. He was wounded twice during the Battle of Bataan, and provided leadership for front-line defensive positions during a four-day battle at Abucay Hacienda, helping three depleted companies withdraw from the peninsula. After the American surrender in April, he was taken prisoner by the Japanese and forced on the Bataan Death March. Eventually, MAJ O’Donovan was interned at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp, where he died of beriberi October 18, 1942. He was buried in the camp cemetery; however, his remains could not be associated with any remains recovered from Cabanatuan after the war. Today, Major O’Donovan is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency