Torka, James
Army Technician 5

James Torka from Bay County Bay City, Michigan .

Parents: Catherine Torka

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Monday, December 21, 1942
Death details: In November 1942, the U.S. Army’s 32nd Infantry Division regained control of Buna, Papua New Guinea, with its goal of neutralizing an enemy threat to Port Moresby and, ultimately, to the Australian mainland itself. The rugged terrain that the soldiers faced was fiercely defended by Japanese troops and included tidal swamplands with a labyrinth of camouflaged trenches and bunkers. In December 1942, when the 32nd Infantry Division was reinforced with Australian soldiers, Buna finally fell to the Allies; however, malaria and other tropical diseases contributed to a high number of casualties and deaths for the 32nd Infantry Division. Technician Fifth Grade James Torka entered the U.S. Army from Michigan and served in Company B of the 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division. He was killed in action on December 21, 1942 near Buna on New Guinea. T5 Torka was buried in an isolated grave near where he fell, but post-war searches failed to locate or identify his remains, and he is still unaccounted-for. Today, Technician Fifth Grade Torka is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Daily Monitor Leader (1943)