World War II Honoree

Doyle R. Armstrong

Branch of Service

U.S. Army

Hometown

Houston, Texas

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: First Lieutenant. Inducted into the United States Army August 3, 1939 at Dallas, Texas. Following his infantry training, he was deployed to the Philippine Islands, and based at Camp John Hay in Baguio City, Luzon Island. Served in Headquarters Company, 31st Infantry Regiment attached to the Philippine Army Division. His unit participated in the Battle of the Philippines, the conquest of the Philippine Islands by the Imperial Japanese Army and Naval Forces (Battle Dates: December 8, 1941-May 6, 1942). Soldiers of the Thirty-First in the Battle of Bataan covered the withdrawal of American and Philippine forces to the Bataan Peninsula. Captured on 9 April in the Bataan Battle, while retreating to the Bataan Peninsula. As a prisoner, his captors subjected him to participate in the Bataan Death March, incarcerated in an unstated Prisoner of War Camp, Luzon Island. On October 11, 1944 he boarded the Japanese ‘Hell Ship’ Arisan Maru, destined for Japan. Reported Missing in Action or buried at sea October 24, 1944 when the transport was torpedoed and sunk by a U.S. Submarine. In remembrance of the brave, his name is permanently inscribed in the tablets of the missing, memorialized at Manila American Cemetery and Memorial Location: Fort Bonifacio, Manila, Philippine Islands. This American Patriot received the following decorations posthumously: Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster and the Purple Heart. The Bronze Star awarded for Bravery, Act of Merit and Meritorious Service, and the Purple Heart for his ultimate sacrifice.