Marchel D. Easley (1913 Texas) a resident of Henderson County, Texas, enlisted as a Private (S/N 06275812) in the U.S. Army Infantry on 07 June 1941 at Fort Jay, Governors Island, New York. He was single, had completed Grammar school. He had been employed as a driver in civilian life. Marchel had been an enlisted man, Regular Army and was within 3 months of his discharge when he re-enlisted.
With war with Japan looming on the horizon, Private Easley was assigned to Company I, 31st Infantry Regiment and sent to the Philippines. He arrived aboard the USAT Washington in August 1941 and was stationed in Manila.
War with Japan broke out on 08 December 1941. By the middle of December the 31st Infantry Regiment was transferred to the Bataan Peninsula as part of War Plan Orange. The 31st Infantry was in some of the fiercest fighting with the Japanese Fourteenth Army on Bataan.
20 January 1942 Abucay, Bataan
"On January 20, the 31st and 45th Infantry Regiments renewed their attacks, but the effort was impossible to synchronize in the thick jungle terrain. Companies and sometimes platoons fought alone along trails and across the deep ravines segmenting the battlefield. As the 3d Battalion moved forward on the morning of the 20th, M Company fired 80 rounds of its precious 81mm mortar ammunition to keep the Japanese pinned down while I and L Companies advanced across a cane field. Unfortunately, it was too little to keep the Japanese pinned down long enough for the 3d Battalion to get across the field.
Private Burt Ellis, a medic with I Company, was hit in both legs by a burst of machine gun fire. Corporal Marchel D. Easley tried to rescue him, but was cut down by a burst from the same gun that got Ellis. Easley was dead and no one could reach Ellis, an agonizing situation for a unit whose medics risked so much to help wounded infantrymen. Moving far to the left, L Company attacked the grove from which Easley and Ellis had been shot."
Source: The Birth of the 31st Infantry Regiment and Beyond, chapter 6, page 24.
After the war his body was not recovered. Corporal Marchel D. Easley is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing - United States Army and Army Air Forces at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
He also has a cenotaph in Leagueville Cemetery, Leagueville, Henderson County, Texas.
With war with Japan looming on the horizon, Private Easley was assigned to Company I, 31st Infantry Regiment and sent to the Philippines. He arrived aboard the USAT Washington in August 1941 and was stationed in Manila.
War with Japan broke out on 08 December 1941. By the middle of December the 31st Infantry Regiment was transferred to the Bataan Peninsula as part of War Plan Orange. The 31st Infantry was in some of the fiercest fighting with the Japanese Fourteenth Army on Bataan.
20 January 1942 Abucay, Bataan
"On January 20, the 31st and 45th Infantry Regiments renewed their attacks, but the effort was impossible to synchronize in the thick jungle terrain. Companies and sometimes platoons fought alone along trails and across the deep ravines segmenting the battlefield. As the 3d Battalion moved forward on the morning of the 20th, M Company fired 80 rounds of its precious 81mm mortar ammunition to keep the Japanese pinned down while I and L Companies advanced across a cane field. Unfortunately, it was too little to keep the Japanese pinned down long enough for the 3d Battalion to get across the field.
Private Burt Ellis, a medic with I Company, was hit in both legs by a burst of machine gun fire. Corporal Marchel D. Easley tried to rescue him, but was cut down by a burst from the same gun that got Ellis. Easley was dead and no one could reach Ellis, an agonizing situation for a unit whose medics risked so much to help wounded infantrymen. Moving far to the left, L Company attacked the grove from which Easley and Ellis had been shot."
Source: The Birth of the 31st Infantry Regiment and Beyond, chapter 6, page 24.
After the war his body was not recovered. Corporal Marchel D. Easley is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing - United States Army and Army Air Forces at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
He also has a cenotaph in Leagueville Cemetery, Leagueville, Henderson County, Texas.
Marchel D. Easley (1913 Texas) a resident of Henderson County, Texas, enlisted as a Private (S/N 06275812) in the U.S. Army Infantry on 07 June 1941 at Fort Jay, Governors Island, New York. He was single, had completed Grammar school. He had been employed as a driver in civilian life. Marchel had been an enlisted man, Regular Army and was within 3 months of his discharge when he re-enlisted.
With war with Japan looming on the horizon, Private Easley was assigned to Company I, 31st Infantry Regiment and sent to the Philippines. He arrived aboard the USAT Washington in August 1941 and was stationed in Manila.
War with Japan broke out on 08 December 1941. By the middle of December the 31st Infantry Regiment was transferred to the Bataan Peninsula as part of War Plan Orange. The 31st Infantry was in some of the fiercest fighting with the Japanese Fourteenth Army on Bataan.
20 January 1942 Abucay, Bataan
"On January 20, the 31st and 45th Infantry Regiments renewed their attacks, but the effort was impossible to synchronize in the thick jungle terrain. Companies and sometimes platoons fought alone along trails and across the deep ravines segmenting the battlefield. As the 3d Battalion moved forward on the morning of the 20th, M Company fired 80 rounds of its precious 81mm mortar ammunition to keep the Japanese pinned down while I and L Companies advanced across a cane field. Unfortunately, it was too little to keep the Japanese pinned down long enough for the 3d Battalion to get across the field.
Private Burt Ellis, a medic with I Company, was hit in both legs by a burst of machine gun fire. Corporal Marchel D. Easley tried to rescue him, but was cut down by a burst from the same gun that got Ellis. Easley was dead and no one could reach Ellis, an agonizing situation for a unit whose medics risked so much to help wounded infantrymen. Moving far to the left, L Company attacked the grove from which Easley and Ellis had been shot."
Source: The Birth of the 31st Infantry Regiment and Beyond, chapter 6, page 24.
After the war his body was not recovered. Corporal Marchel D. Easley is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing - United States Army and Army Air Forces at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
He also has a cenotaph in Leagueville Cemetery, Leagueville, Henderson County, Texas.
With war with Japan looming on the horizon, Private Easley was assigned to Company I, 31st Infantry Regiment and sent to the Philippines. He arrived aboard the USAT Washington in August 1941 and was stationed in Manila.
War with Japan broke out on 08 December 1941. By the middle of December the 31st Infantry Regiment was transferred to the Bataan Peninsula as part of War Plan Orange. The 31st Infantry was in some of the fiercest fighting with the Japanese Fourteenth Army on Bataan.
20 January 1942 Abucay, Bataan
"On January 20, the 31st and 45th Infantry Regiments renewed their attacks, but the effort was impossible to synchronize in the thick jungle terrain. Companies and sometimes platoons fought alone along trails and across the deep ravines segmenting the battlefield. As the 3d Battalion moved forward on the morning of the 20th, M Company fired 80 rounds of its precious 81mm mortar ammunition to keep the Japanese pinned down while I and L Companies advanced across a cane field. Unfortunately, it was too little to keep the Japanese pinned down long enough for the 3d Battalion to get across the field.
Private Burt Ellis, a medic with I Company, was hit in both legs by a burst of machine gun fire. Corporal Marchel D. Easley tried to rescue him, but was cut down by a burst from the same gun that got Ellis. Easley was dead and no one could reach Ellis, an agonizing situation for a unit whose medics risked so much to help wounded infantrymen. Moving far to the left, L Company attacked the grove from which Easley and Ellis had been shot."
Source: The Birth of the 31st Infantry Regiment and Beyond, chapter 6, page 24.
After the war his body was not recovered. Corporal Marchel D. Easley is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing - United States Army and Army Air Forces at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
He also has a cenotaph in Leagueville Cemetery, Leagueville, Henderson County, Texas.
Gravesite Details
Entered the service from Texas.
