World War II Honoree

Russell Pershing Barker

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Bridgeport, Texas

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Private. On August 1, 1940, he entered the United States Marine Corps from Texas, receiving his combat infantry training at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, California. Served with Company A, 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment stationed at Fort Mills on the Island of Corregidor ‘The Rock’ in the Philippine Islands, Southwest Pacific Theater of Operations. He participated in the Battle of Corregidor (Battle Dates: May 5-6, 1942), captured by the Imperial Japanese Army and Naval forces on the second day of the battle, when Commander General Wainwright capitulated to the enemy forces. His captors transferred him to the mainland after his detainment of two weeks on Corregidor, incarcerated for 29½ months at the Prisoner of War Camp #1 Cabanatuan Nueva Province, Luzon. 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 Eastside Cemetery in Bridgeport, Texas. This Marine, an American Patriot, awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, who so gallantly gave his life for his country.