Virginia Virginia

Beasley, James B.
Army Corporal

James B. Beasley, age 49, from Virginia, Norfolk county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Wednesday, November 25, 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 James B. Beasley joined the U.S. Army from Virginia and served in the 59th Coast Artillery Regiment in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured on Corregidor Island following the American surrender and died of pellagra on November 25, 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 Beasley is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Cemetery: Tablets of the Missing at Manila American

Source: National Archives, American Battle Monuments Commission; Virginia Military Dead database, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Overbey, Evans E.
Army Private

Evans E. Overbey from Virginia, Wise county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Thursday, November 19, 1942
Death details: On June 1, 2016, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Private Evans E. Overbey, missing from World War II. Private Overbey, who entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from Virginia, served with the 93rd Bombardment Squadron, 19th Bombardment Group (Heavy), located at Clark Field on the island of Luzon when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine islands in 1942. With its aircraft destroyed, the unit joined forces with American and Filipino infantry units fighting in the Battle of Bataan. Following the Allied surrender to the Japanese on April 9, the surviving members of Private Overbey’s squadron were captured and began the Bataan Death March. Private Overbey was taken to Camp Cabanatuan, where he died of pellagra on November 19, 1942, and was buried in a camp cemetery. Following the war, American Graves Registration Service personnel exhumed those buried at Cabanatuan cemeteries and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military cemetery near Manila for identification. In 1947, these remains were exhumed in an attempt to identify them; however, Private Overbey’s remains could not be identified and were reburied as “unknowns” in the Manila American Cemetery. In 2014, the U.S. Army exhumed ten graves associated with Cabanatuan Common Grave 717 where Private Overbey was believed to have been buried following his death. These remains were brought to the DPAA laboratory in Hawaii where U.S. analysts used modern forensic techniques to eventually identified Private Overbey from among the collective remains.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Elliott, Roland C.
Navy Quartermaster 3rd class

Roland C. Elliott from Virginia.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Tuesday, September 29, 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. Quartermaster Third Class Roland Charles Elliott joined the U.S. Navy from Virginia amd was serving aboard the minesweeper USS Finch (AM-9) in Manila Bay when the Japanese attacked the Philippines. The minesweeper continued to operate in Manila Bay until March 1942, when it ran out of fuel. The majority of the ship’s crew, including Petty Officer Elliott, were ordered to Corregidor Island, which they helped defend against Japanese forces until the Allied surrender. After the surrender, Petty Officer Elliott was taken to Cabanatuan, where he died of dysentery on September 29, 1942. 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, Petty Officer Elliott is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Source: Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Lucas, Perry A.
Army Technical sergeant

Perry A. Lucas from Virginia, Nansemond county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Thursday, August 13, 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. Technical Sergeant Perry A. Lucas entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from Virginia and served with the 698th Ordnance Company in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured on Corregidor Island following the American surrender on May 6, 1942, and died of malaria and dysentery on August 13, 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, Technical Sergeant Lucas is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Campbell, William T.
Army Private

William T. Campbell from Virginia, Amherst county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Saturday, August 8, 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. Private William T. Campbell joined the U.S. Army from Virginia and served in Company C, 1st Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured in Bataan following the American surrender and died of diphtheria on August 8, 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, Private Campbell is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Cemetery: Manila American Cemetery

Source: National Archives, American Battle Monuments Commission; Virginia Military Dead database

Lawson, John H.
Army Private

John H. Lawson from Virginia, Lee county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Thursday, August 6, 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. Private John H. Lawson entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from Virginia and served with the 93rd Bombardment Squadron, 19th Bombardment Group, in the Pacific during World War II. The unit arrived in the Philippines in October 1941 and was stationed at Clark Field on Luzon Island. Two days before the Japanese attack, the 93rd began to move its B-17 Flying Fortresses to Del Monte Air Field on Mindanao Island. When the Japanese attacked the Philippines on December 8, 1941, half of the 93rd Squadron’s B-17s that had not relocated to Del Monte were destroyed on the ground at Clark Field. In late December, the few surviving aircraft were ordered to Australia, while the air crews and ground personnel who remained in the Philippines were ordered to the Bataan Peninsula to fight as infantry. Private First Class Lawson was with his unit when Allied Forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese on April 9, 1942, and participated in the Bataan Death March. He was interned in the Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province and died of dysentery on August 6, 1942. 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, Private First Class Lawson is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Wilson, Charles M.
Army Private

Charles M. Wilson, age 28, from Virginia, Montgomery county.

Service era: World War II
Military history: 31 Infantry Regiment

Date of death: Tuesday, July 14, 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. Private Charles M. Wilson joined the U.S. Army from Virginia and was a member of Company K, 31st Infantry Regiment in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured in Bataan following the American surrender on April 9, 1942, and died of malaria and dysentery on July 14, 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, Private Wilson is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Ferguson, George F.
Army Sergeant

George F. Ferguson from Virginia, Smyth county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Tuesday, June 30, 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. Sergeant George F. Ferguson joined the U.S. Army in Virginia and served with the Quartermaster Corps in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured in Bataan following the American surrender and died of malaria and dysentery on June 30, 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, Sergeant Ferguson is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Rose, Joseph D.
Army Staff sergeant

Joseph D. Rose from Virginia, Richmond county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Wednesday, June 10, 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. Staff Sergeant Joseph D. Rose entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from Virginia and served with the 28th Bombardment Squadron, 19th Bombardment Group in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured in Bataan following the American surrender on April 9, 1942, and died of malaria on June 10, 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, Staff Sergeant Rose is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Sexton, Talmage Johnson
Army Private 1st class

Talmage Johnson Sexton from Virginia, Grayson county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Unknown
Death details: On July 11, 1950, the U.S. Army’s 21st Infantry Regiment, which had arrived in Korea six days earlier, was placed in defensive positions near the town of Chochiwon, South Korea. The regiment was not at full strength and lacked artillery and anti-tank weapons. That day, they were attacked by North Korean forces and were forced to withdraw to avoid being surrounded, as well as to buy time until they could be reinforced and resupplied. Corporal Talmage Johnson Sexton, who joined the U.S. Army from Virginia, served with I Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was captured by enemy forces north of Chochiwon on July 12, and was forced to march to the Apex prison camps in North Korea. He died of exhaustion and exposure while still en route to the camps, and his companions were not allowed to stop long enough to bury him. His remains were not recovered or identified following the ceasefire. Today, Corporal Sexton is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

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