Pendleton County West Virginia

Moats, Herbert Andrew
Army Private

Herbert Andrew Moats, age 21, from Moyers, West Virginia, Pendleton county.

Parents: Frances Moats

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Wednesday, October 15, 1952
Death details: On October 14, 1952, as part of Operation SHOWDOWN, members of the 2nd Battalion of the U.S. 31st Infantry Regiment launched an attack against Hill 598, part of the “Triangle Hill Complex” near Kumhwa, South Korea. As the units moved toward the hill, the men faced dug-in Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) positioned in holes and trenches, slowing their advance. As night fell, enemy mortar and artillery fire intensified, and CCF troops counterattacked in overwhelming force. The enemy’s initial assault was beaten back, but successive waves of CCF troops isolated and destroyed sections of the American defenses; in danger of being surrounded and nearly out of ammunition, the men of the 2nd Battalion were ordered to fall back. After regrouping on October 15, members of the 2nd Battalion attacked Hill 598 again and eventually secured it. During this attack, the 2nd Battalion’s Company F followed Company E to the hill’s crest before pushing out to “Pike’s Peak,” the next hill to the northwest, and then turning toward the east to seize “Sandy Ridge.” The 2nd Battalion again met a CCF counter-attack, which they beat back to secure the salient for that day. Twelve members of Company F and four members of Company E were reported killed or missing following this battle. Private First Class Herbert Andrew Moats entered the U.S. Army from West Virginia and served in Company F, 2nd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He went missing during the attack on Hill 598 on October 15, 1952, though the exact circumstances surrounding his loss are unknown. Private First Class Moats was never reported to be a prisoner of war. He was not identified among remains returned to U.S. custody following the war, and he is still unaccounted-for. Today, Private First Class Moats is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Raleigh Register (1954)

Eye, Ona D.
Army Corporal

Ona D. Eye from West Virginia, Pendleton county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Wednesday, August 12, 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 and food and water supplied 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. Corporal Ona D. Eye joined the U.S. Army Air Forces in West Virginia and served with the 803rd Engineers Battalion in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured in Bataan following the American surrender and died of dysentery on August 12, 1942, at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province. He was buried in a communal grave in the camp cemetery along with other deceased American POWs; however, his remains could not be associated with any remains recovered from Cabanatuan after the war. Today, Corporal Eye is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Alt, Titus L.
Army Technician 4

Titus L. Alt, age 28, from West Virginia, Pendleton county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Sunday, July 19, 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 and food and water supplied 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. Technician Fourth Grade Titus L. Alt entered the U.S. Army from West Virginia and served in the Service Company, 31st Infantry Regiment, which was stationed in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured in Bataan following the American surrender and died of malaria on July 19, 1942, at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province. He was buried in a communal grave in the camp cemetery along with other deceased American POWs; however, his remains could not be associated with any remains recovered from Cabanatuan after the war. Today, Technician Fourth Grade Alt is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Cemetery: Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery

Source: National Archives, American Battle Monuments Commission, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Back To Top