Vinal F. Sayre, age 27, from South Dakota, Brookings county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: October 24, 1944
Death details: Killed in action
Source: National Archives, findagrave.com, American Battle Monuments Commission
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Captain Sayer was my mother’s first cousin. He was the only child or Dorr and Jennie (Stevens) Sayre. He was a POW on the Arisan Maru, a Japanese hell ship. The Arisan Maru was sunk. There were 1800 POWs on board. All but 8, including Capt. Sayre, perished. The ship was sunk by the American submarine, the USS Snook with 3 torpedoes. According to my great aunt Jennie, Vinal’s mother, the United States didn’t know there were POWs on the hell ship when they torpedoed it.