World War II Honoree

Clyde D. Ehrhardt

Branch of Service

U.S. Army

Hometown

Bellwood, Illinois

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Private 1st Class. A member of the Illinois Army National Guard, who was inducted into Federal Service November 25, 1940 at Maywood, Illinois. Served with Company B, 192nd Tank Battalion attached to the Provisional Tank Group in the Philippine Islands, Southwest Pacific Theater of Operations. While in retreat to the Bataan Peninsula during the Battle of Bataan (Battle Dates: January 7-April 9, 1942), the Japanese forces captured him on the last day of the battle. His captors subjected him to participate in the Bataan Death March, incarcerated for 31½ months at the Prisoner of War Camp #8 Bachrach Garage, Manila Luzon, Philippines. Wednesday, October 11, 1944, he boarded a ‘Hell Ship’ an unmarked merchant vessel, the Japanese Arisan Maru along with 1,781 other American prisoners destined for a Prisoner of War Camp in Japan. Reported Missing in Action, lost at sea Tuesday, October 24, 1944 when the transport came under attack, torpedoed and sunk by a United States Submarine. In remembrance of the Brave, his name is recorded in the Tablets of the Missing, memorialized at the American Cemetery located at Fort Bonifacio in Manila, Philippine Islands. His family has placed a Memorial Marker in his memory at the Rose Lawn Memorial Gardens in Saginaw, Michigan. This Solider, an American Patriot, awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, who so gallantly gave his life for his country.