1930 United States Federal Census (02 April 1930): Lorenzo, Jefferson County, Idaho (sheet 1A, family 10, State Highway) – Verdell S. Smithies (8 Idaho).
Verdell attended Elementary School in Lorenzo. He attended Rigby High School for three years.
1940 United States Federal Census (25 May 1940): Lima Township, Beaverhead County, Montana (sheet 5A, household 147) – Verdell S. Smithies (18 Idaho, Teamster, road construction). His family had lived in the same house in 1935.
Verdall enlisted as a Private (S/N 19018966) in the U.S. Army on 06 October 1940 in Montana. He received his training in the medical department at Hamilton Field, California. Private mithies was assigned to the Medical Department, 34th Pursuit Squadron, 24th Pursuit Group, U.S. Army Air Corps and spent 13 months at Hamilton Field.
With the possibility of war looming on the horizon, they were sent to the Philippine Islands. The 34th left San Francisco, California on 01 November 1941 aboard the President Coolidge (passenger ship turned troop transport). On board with the 34th would be squadrons of the 27th Bomb Group; the 16th Bomb Squadron, 17th Bomb Squadron, 48th Material Squadron, 91st Bomb Squadron, and Headquarters Squadron, plus the 454 Ordnance Squadron, and a chemical detachment. Also on board would be the following units: 5th Air Base Group and the 1st Pursuit Squadron. The Coolidge arrived in Manila on 20 November (via Hawaii and Guam). "The men were disembarked off the Coolidge as a Philippine military band played patriotic music. Trucks were lined up waiting to transport the men to Fort McKinley. The Coolidge was the last desperately needed reinforcement for General McArthur."
Upon arrival the 34th Pursuit Squadron was assigned to Del Carmen Field, Luzon. It was located to the south of Clark Field in Pampanga Province and west of Barrio Floridablanca. Verdell had only been in the country several weeks before was with Japan broke out.
On 08 December 1941, the Japanese launched the first air attacks on the Philippines. After the initial Japanese strikes on Clark and Nichols Fields, the Japanese struck at Del Carmen. With only a few minutes notice of the attack, the 34th pursuit pilots prepared to meet the enemy formations. However, the Seversky P-35A fighter planes were completely *inadequate for the task. By late 1941 standards, the P-35A was hopelessly obsolescent. It was too lightly armed and lacked either armor around the cockpit or self-sealing fuel tanks. Consequently, the squadron pilots stood little chance against the Japanese Zero fighters and were badly mauled. Most of the aircraft were quickly shot down in combat or else were destroyed on the ground. The Squadron was wiped out.
*they were scheduled to get new planes but those planes never arrived before war broke out with Japan.
Over the next couple of days Japanese planes virtually wiped out the U.S. Army Air Corps. By 20 December, the survivors received orders to move south to the Bataan Peninsula to become part of the Bataan Defense Force. The ground echelon of the 34th Pursuit Squadron moved from Del Carmen Field to Orani, and from there to Aglaloma Point where it went into position on beach defense. The bulk of the group's personnel became infantrymen and ordered to prepare for combat. Japanese forces began a full-scale invasion of Luzon on 22 December.
His parents received two letters from him after his arrival in Manila, the last dated 01 February 1942 and was received by his family 31 March 1942.
From the very beginning, Bataan men were cut to 1/2 rations, and very soon, to 1/4 rations. About four weeks later, they were living on 1/8 rations, that is, when food was available to them. Towards the end, it was changed to 1/16th of their rations...Quite often, they would go several days with no food, unless they could catch something in the jungle." Source: Federico Baldassarre letter
In the wake of starvation came diseases, such as malaria, dengue, scurvy, beriberi and amebic dysentery. The average American soldier lost 15-25 pounds and malaria was as high as 35 percent among front line units.
On Good Friday, 03 April 1942, General Homma, with the addition of fresh troops, began an all-out offensive on Bataan. By the evening of April 8, the situation was clearly hopeless. With ammunition, rations and supplies practically exhausted and most of his best units destroyed, Major General Edward P. King, commander of the forces on Bataan, was convinced his troops could not physically resist any more and decided to surrender to prevent further loss of life. On 09 April 1942, Maj. Gen. King surrendered the Luzon Force to the Japanese. Practically all members of the 34th Pursuit Squadron entered captivity malnourished and sick. Verdell S. Smithies, along with 75,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war captured by the Japanese, were subjected to the infamous Bataan Death March.
When the Fil-American soldiers began the Death March they were in terrible physical condition. For 6 to 9 days (depending on their starting point) they were forced to walk the roughly sixty-five miles to San Fernando, enduring abuse by Japanese guards and seeing the deaths of thousands of fellow soldiers. At San Fernando, the Japanese stuffed about 100 men into steel-sided boxcars for the twenty-five-mile trip to Capas. The scorching hot boxcars were packed so tight that the men could not even sit down. When the train arrived at Capas the POW's were offloaded and marched the final nine miles to Camp O'Donnell.
Beaverhead Men Are Listed Missing in Action
DILLON, Aug. 27 – (Special) – Eight Beaverhead county men have been officially listed as missing in action and relatives notified by the War Department. Their status, as carried by the War Department, is missing in action, interned or captured.
Names of the men who were with American forces at the time of the fall of Bataan and Corregidor and the relatives who have been notified are as follows" ... Pvt. 1st Class Verdell S. Smithies, Mrs. Thelma Seybold, Lima; ... Source: The Montana Standard (Butte, Montana), Friday, 28 August 1942, page 15.
Surviving the brutal treatment by the Japanese at Camp O'Donnell (about 1500 American and 22,000 Filipino prisoners of war died in just three months) Private First Class Smithies was transferred to the Cabanatuan POW Camp No. 1, approximately 8 kilometers west of the town by the same name.
In early June of 1942, prisoners from Camp O'Donnell began to stream into Camp No. 1, joining the men from Corregidor and increasing the number of prisoners to over 7,300 men. Because of the poor health of the men from O'Donnell, the death rate at Camp #1 soared.
Corporal Verdell S. Smithies (S/N 19018966) died of disease on 14 July 1942, in the prison hospital, a prisoner of the Japanese at POW Camp 1, Cabanatuan, Nueva Province, Luzon, Philippines 15-121. He was one of 31 men to die that day. Verdell was buried in a communal grave in the camp cemetery along with other deceased American POWs who died that day. In all 786 men died in Cabanatuan during the month of July, 1942. By the time the camp was liberated in early 1945, 2,764 Americans had died at Cabanatuan in 2½ years. 90% of the POW deaths in Cabanatuan were men from Bataan. His family wouldn't receive word of his death for another almost three years.
Lima Man Dies in Japanese Prison Camp
Lima – Word received by Mrs. Floyd Seybold gave official notice on July 25, 1945, that her son Corporal Verdall S. Smithies died in a Japanese prison camp. The boy had been previously listed as missing in action in the Philippine islands since the surrender on May 7, 1942.
Verdall enlisted in Oct. 1940 and received his training in the medical department of Hamilton Field, Calif. After spending 13 months there he left for overseas duty. He was held as a Japanese prisoner until the date of his death.
His parents were Mr. and Mrs. Arnel Smithies and he was born at Lorenzo, Idaho, May 16, 1921. He attended school in Lima and enlisted in the U. S. Army in Oct. 1940. Source: The Dillon Daily Tribune (Montana), 24 August 1945.
After the war, all the remains in the Cabanatuan Prison cemetery that could be found were disinterred (between December 1945 - February 1946) and brought to 7747 USAF Cemetery, Manila #2, Philippine Islands. Corporal Smithies was reinterred in Block 3, Row 12, Grave 1551 (D-D 11099). The deceased in Manila #2 (over 11,000 American soldiers) rested there until their removal to the American Graves Registration Service Manila Mausoleum in the summer of 1948. From there, according to the wishes of his next of kin (mother, Mrs. Thelma Seybold), Corporal Verdell Samuel Smithies was buried in his final resting place in the 7701 Ft. McKinley Cemetery (now known as the Manila American Cemetery) – Plot L, Row 2, Grave 138.
Verdell attended Elementary School in Lorenzo. He attended Rigby High School for three years.
1940 United States Federal Census (25 May 1940): Lima Township, Beaverhead County, Montana (sheet 5A, household 147) – Verdell S. Smithies (18 Idaho, Teamster, road construction). His family had lived in the same house in 1935.
Verdall enlisted as a Private (S/N 19018966) in the U.S. Army on 06 October 1940 in Montana. He received his training in the medical department at Hamilton Field, California. Private mithies was assigned to the Medical Department, 34th Pursuit Squadron, 24th Pursuit Group, U.S. Army Air Corps and spent 13 months at Hamilton Field.
With the possibility of war looming on the horizon, they were sent to the Philippine Islands. The 34th left San Francisco, California on 01 November 1941 aboard the President Coolidge (passenger ship turned troop transport). On board with the 34th would be squadrons of the 27th Bomb Group; the 16th Bomb Squadron, 17th Bomb Squadron, 48th Material Squadron, 91st Bomb Squadron, and Headquarters Squadron, plus the 454 Ordnance Squadron, and a chemical detachment. Also on board would be the following units: 5th Air Base Group and the 1st Pursuit Squadron. The Coolidge arrived in Manila on 20 November (via Hawaii and Guam). "The men were disembarked off the Coolidge as a Philippine military band played patriotic music. Trucks were lined up waiting to transport the men to Fort McKinley. The Coolidge was the last desperately needed reinforcement for General McArthur."
Upon arrival the 34th Pursuit Squadron was assigned to Del Carmen Field, Luzon. It was located to the south of Clark Field in Pampanga Province and west of Barrio Floridablanca. Verdell had only been in the country several weeks before was with Japan broke out.
On 08 December 1941, the Japanese launched the first air attacks on the Philippines. After the initial Japanese strikes on Clark and Nichols Fields, the Japanese struck at Del Carmen. With only a few minutes notice of the attack, the 34th pursuit pilots prepared to meet the enemy formations. However, the Seversky P-35A fighter planes were completely *inadequate for the task. By late 1941 standards, the P-35A was hopelessly obsolescent. It was too lightly armed and lacked either armor around the cockpit or self-sealing fuel tanks. Consequently, the squadron pilots stood little chance against the Japanese Zero fighters and were badly mauled. Most of the aircraft were quickly shot down in combat or else were destroyed on the ground. The Squadron was wiped out.
*they were scheduled to get new planes but those planes never arrived before war broke out with Japan.
Over the next couple of days Japanese planes virtually wiped out the U.S. Army Air Corps. By 20 December, the survivors received orders to move south to the Bataan Peninsula to become part of the Bataan Defense Force. The ground echelon of the 34th Pursuit Squadron moved from Del Carmen Field to Orani, and from there to Aglaloma Point where it went into position on beach defense. The bulk of the group's personnel became infantrymen and ordered to prepare for combat. Japanese forces began a full-scale invasion of Luzon on 22 December.
His parents received two letters from him after his arrival in Manila, the last dated 01 February 1942 and was received by his family 31 March 1942.
From the very beginning, Bataan men were cut to 1/2 rations, and very soon, to 1/4 rations. About four weeks later, they were living on 1/8 rations, that is, when food was available to them. Towards the end, it was changed to 1/16th of their rations...Quite often, they would go several days with no food, unless they could catch something in the jungle." Source: Federico Baldassarre letter
In the wake of starvation came diseases, such as malaria, dengue, scurvy, beriberi and amebic dysentery. The average American soldier lost 15-25 pounds and malaria was as high as 35 percent among front line units.
On Good Friday, 03 April 1942, General Homma, with the addition of fresh troops, began an all-out offensive on Bataan. By the evening of April 8, the situation was clearly hopeless. With ammunition, rations and supplies practically exhausted and most of his best units destroyed, Major General Edward P. King, commander of the forces on Bataan, was convinced his troops could not physically resist any more and decided to surrender to prevent further loss of life. On 09 April 1942, Maj. Gen. King surrendered the Luzon Force to the Japanese. Practically all members of the 34th Pursuit Squadron entered captivity malnourished and sick. Verdell S. Smithies, along with 75,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war captured by the Japanese, were subjected to the infamous Bataan Death March.
When the Fil-American soldiers began the Death March they were in terrible physical condition. For 6 to 9 days (depending on their starting point) they were forced to walk the roughly sixty-five miles to San Fernando, enduring abuse by Japanese guards and seeing the deaths of thousands of fellow soldiers. At San Fernando, the Japanese stuffed about 100 men into steel-sided boxcars for the twenty-five-mile trip to Capas. The scorching hot boxcars were packed so tight that the men could not even sit down. When the train arrived at Capas the POW's were offloaded and marched the final nine miles to Camp O'Donnell.
Beaverhead Men Are Listed Missing in Action
DILLON, Aug. 27 – (Special) – Eight Beaverhead county men have been officially listed as missing in action and relatives notified by the War Department. Their status, as carried by the War Department, is missing in action, interned or captured.
Names of the men who were with American forces at the time of the fall of Bataan and Corregidor and the relatives who have been notified are as follows" ... Pvt. 1st Class Verdell S. Smithies, Mrs. Thelma Seybold, Lima; ... Source: The Montana Standard (Butte, Montana), Friday, 28 August 1942, page 15.
Surviving the brutal treatment by the Japanese at Camp O'Donnell (about 1500 American and 22,000 Filipino prisoners of war died in just three months) Private First Class Smithies was transferred to the Cabanatuan POW Camp No. 1, approximately 8 kilometers west of the town by the same name.
In early June of 1942, prisoners from Camp O'Donnell began to stream into Camp No. 1, joining the men from Corregidor and increasing the number of prisoners to over 7,300 men. Because of the poor health of the men from O'Donnell, the death rate at Camp #1 soared.
Corporal Verdell S. Smithies (S/N 19018966) died of disease on 14 July 1942, in the prison hospital, a prisoner of the Japanese at POW Camp 1, Cabanatuan, Nueva Province, Luzon, Philippines 15-121. He was one of 31 men to die that day. Verdell was buried in a communal grave in the camp cemetery along with other deceased American POWs who died that day. In all 786 men died in Cabanatuan during the month of July, 1942. By the time the camp was liberated in early 1945, 2,764 Americans had died at Cabanatuan in 2½ years. 90% of the POW deaths in Cabanatuan were men from Bataan. His family wouldn't receive word of his death for another almost three years.
Lima Man Dies in Japanese Prison Camp
Lima – Word received by Mrs. Floyd Seybold gave official notice on July 25, 1945, that her son Corporal Verdall S. Smithies died in a Japanese prison camp. The boy had been previously listed as missing in action in the Philippine islands since the surrender on May 7, 1942.
Verdall enlisted in Oct. 1940 and received his training in the medical department of Hamilton Field, Calif. After spending 13 months there he left for overseas duty. He was held as a Japanese prisoner until the date of his death.
His parents were Mr. and Mrs. Arnel Smithies and he was born at Lorenzo, Idaho, May 16, 1921. He attended school in Lima and enlisted in the U. S. Army in Oct. 1940. Source: The Dillon Daily Tribune (Montana), 24 August 1945.
After the war, all the remains in the Cabanatuan Prison cemetery that could be found were disinterred (between December 1945 - February 1946) and brought to 7747 USAF Cemetery, Manila #2, Philippine Islands. Corporal Smithies was reinterred in Block 3, Row 12, Grave 1551 (D-D 11099). The deceased in Manila #2 (over 11,000 American soldiers) rested there until their removal to the American Graves Registration Service Manila Mausoleum in the summer of 1948. From there, according to the wishes of his next of kin (mother, Mrs. Thelma Seybold), Corporal Verdell Samuel Smithies was buried in his final resting place in the 7701 Ft. McKinley Cemetery (now known as the Manila American Cemetery) – Plot L, Row 2, Grave 138.
1930 United States Federal Census (02 April 1930): Lorenzo, Jefferson County, Idaho (sheet 1A, family 10, State Highway) – Verdell S. Smithies (8 Idaho).
Verdell attended Elementary School in Lorenzo. He attended Rigby High School for three years.
1940 United States Federal Census (25 May 1940): Lima Township, Beaverhead County, Montana (sheet 5A, household 147) – Verdell S. Smithies (18 Idaho, Teamster, road construction). His family had lived in the same house in 1935.
Verdall enlisted as a Private (S/N 19018966) in the U.S. Army on 06 October 1940 in Montana. He received his training in the medical department at Hamilton Field, California. Private mithies was assigned to the Medical Department, 34th Pursuit Squadron, 24th Pursuit Group, U.S. Army Air Corps and spent 13 months at Hamilton Field.
With the possibility of war looming on the horizon, they were sent to the Philippine Islands. The 34th left San Francisco, California on 01 November 1941 aboard the President Coolidge (passenger ship turned troop transport). On board with the 34th would be squadrons of the 27th Bomb Group; the 16th Bomb Squadron, 17th Bomb Squadron, 48th Material Squadron, 91st Bomb Squadron, and Headquarters Squadron, plus the 454 Ordnance Squadron, and a chemical detachment. Also on board would be the following units: 5th Air Base Group and the 1st Pursuit Squadron. The Coolidge arrived in Manila on 20 November (via Hawaii and Guam). "The men were disembarked off the Coolidge as a Philippine military band played patriotic music. Trucks were lined up waiting to transport the men to Fort McKinley. The Coolidge was the last desperately needed reinforcement for General McArthur."
Upon arrival the 34th Pursuit Squadron was assigned to Del Carmen Field, Luzon. It was located to the south of Clark Field in Pampanga Province and west of Barrio Floridablanca. Verdell had only been in the country several weeks before was with Japan broke out.
On 08 December 1941, the Japanese launched the first air attacks on the Philippines. After the initial Japanese strikes on Clark and Nichols Fields, the Japanese struck at Del Carmen. With only a few minutes notice of the attack, the 34th pursuit pilots prepared to meet the enemy formations. However, the Seversky P-35A fighter planes were completely *inadequate for the task. By late 1941 standards, the P-35A was hopelessly obsolescent. It was too lightly armed and lacked either armor around the cockpit or self-sealing fuel tanks. Consequently, the squadron pilots stood little chance against the Japanese Zero fighters and were badly mauled. Most of the aircraft were quickly shot down in combat or else were destroyed on the ground. The Squadron was wiped out.
*they were scheduled to get new planes but those planes never arrived before war broke out with Japan.
Over the next couple of days Japanese planes virtually wiped out the U.S. Army Air Corps. By 20 December, the survivors received orders to move south to the Bataan Peninsula to become part of the Bataan Defense Force. The ground echelon of the 34th Pursuit Squadron moved from Del Carmen Field to Orani, and from there to Aglaloma Point where it went into position on beach defense. The bulk of the group's personnel became infantrymen and ordered to prepare for combat. Japanese forces began a full-scale invasion of Luzon on 22 December.
His parents received two letters from him after his arrival in Manila, the last dated 01 February 1942 and was received by his family 31 March 1942.
From the very beginning, Bataan men were cut to 1/2 rations, and very soon, to 1/4 rations. About four weeks later, they were living on 1/8 rations, that is, when food was available to them. Towards the end, it was changed to 1/16th of their rations...Quite often, they would go several days with no food, unless they could catch something in the jungle." Source: Federico Baldassarre letter
In the wake of starvation came diseases, such as malaria, dengue, scurvy, beriberi and amebic dysentery. The average American soldier lost 15-25 pounds and malaria was as high as 35 percent among front line units.
On Good Friday, 03 April 1942, General Homma, with the addition of fresh troops, began an all-out offensive on Bataan. By the evening of April 8, the situation was clearly hopeless. With ammunition, rations and supplies practically exhausted and most of his best units destroyed, Major General Edward P. King, commander of the forces on Bataan, was convinced his troops could not physically resist any more and decided to surrender to prevent further loss of life. On 09 April 1942, Maj. Gen. King surrendered the Luzon Force to the Japanese. Practically all members of the 34th Pursuit Squadron entered captivity malnourished and sick. Verdell S. Smithies, along with 75,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war captured by the Japanese, were subjected to the infamous Bataan Death March.
When the Fil-American soldiers began the Death March they were in terrible physical condition. For 6 to 9 days (depending on their starting point) they were forced to walk the roughly sixty-five miles to San Fernando, enduring abuse by Japanese guards and seeing the deaths of thousands of fellow soldiers. At San Fernando, the Japanese stuffed about 100 men into steel-sided boxcars for the twenty-five-mile trip to Capas. The scorching hot boxcars were packed so tight that the men could not even sit down. When the train arrived at Capas the POW's were offloaded and marched the final nine miles to Camp O'Donnell.
Beaverhead Men Are Listed Missing in Action
DILLON, Aug. 27 – (Special) – Eight Beaverhead county men have been officially listed as missing in action and relatives notified by the War Department. Their status, as carried by the War Department, is missing in action, interned or captured.
Names of the men who were with American forces at the time of the fall of Bataan and Corregidor and the relatives who have been notified are as follows" ... Pvt. 1st Class Verdell S. Smithies, Mrs. Thelma Seybold, Lima; ... Source: The Montana Standard (Butte, Montana), Friday, 28 August 1942, page 15.
Surviving the brutal treatment by the Japanese at Camp O'Donnell (about 1500 American and 22,000 Filipino prisoners of war died in just three months) Private First Class Smithies was transferred to the Cabanatuan POW Camp No. 1, approximately 8 kilometers west of the town by the same name.
In early June of 1942, prisoners from Camp O'Donnell began to stream into Camp No. 1, joining the men from Corregidor and increasing the number of prisoners to over 7,300 men. Because of the poor health of the men from O'Donnell, the death rate at Camp #1 soared.
Corporal Verdell S. Smithies (S/N 19018966) died of disease on 14 July 1942, in the prison hospital, a prisoner of the Japanese at POW Camp 1, Cabanatuan, Nueva Province, Luzon, Philippines 15-121. He was one of 31 men to die that day. Verdell was buried in a communal grave in the camp cemetery along with other deceased American POWs who died that day. In all 786 men died in Cabanatuan during the month of July, 1942. By the time the camp was liberated in early 1945, 2,764 Americans had died at Cabanatuan in 2½ years. 90% of the POW deaths in Cabanatuan were men from Bataan. His family wouldn't receive word of his death for another almost three years.
Lima Man Dies in Japanese Prison Camp
Lima – Word received by Mrs. Floyd Seybold gave official notice on July 25, 1945, that her son Corporal Verdall S. Smithies died in a Japanese prison camp. The boy had been previously listed as missing in action in the Philippine islands since the surrender on May 7, 1942.
Verdall enlisted in Oct. 1940 and received his training in the medical department of Hamilton Field, Calif. After spending 13 months there he left for overseas duty. He was held as a Japanese prisoner until the date of his death.
His parents were Mr. and Mrs. Arnel Smithies and he was born at Lorenzo, Idaho, May 16, 1921. He attended school in Lima and enlisted in the U. S. Army in Oct. 1940. Source: The Dillon Daily Tribune (Montana), 24 August 1945.
After the war, all the remains in the Cabanatuan Prison cemetery that could be found were disinterred (between December 1945 - February 1946) and brought to 7747 USAF Cemetery, Manila #2, Philippine Islands. Corporal Smithies was reinterred in Block 3, Row 12, Grave 1551 (D-D 11099). The deceased in Manila #2 (over 11,000 American soldiers) rested there until their removal to the American Graves Registration Service Manila Mausoleum in the summer of 1948. From there, according to the wishes of his next of kin (mother, Mrs. Thelma Seybold), Corporal Verdell Samuel Smithies was buried in his final resting place in the 7701 Ft. McKinley Cemetery (now known as the Manila American Cemetery) – Plot L, Row 2, Grave 138.
Verdell attended Elementary School in Lorenzo. He attended Rigby High School for three years.
1940 United States Federal Census (25 May 1940): Lima Township, Beaverhead County, Montana (sheet 5A, household 147) – Verdell S. Smithies (18 Idaho, Teamster, road construction). His family had lived in the same house in 1935.
Verdall enlisted as a Private (S/N 19018966) in the U.S. Army on 06 October 1940 in Montana. He received his training in the medical department at Hamilton Field, California. Private mithies was assigned to the Medical Department, 34th Pursuit Squadron, 24th Pursuit Group, U.S. Army Air Corps and spent 13 months at Hamilton Field.
With the possibility of war looming on the horizon, they were sent to the Philippine Islands. The 34th left San Francisco, California on 01 November 1941 aboard the President Coolidge (passenger ship turned troop transport). On board with the 34th would be squadrons of the 27th Bomb Group; the 16th Bomb Squadron, 17th Bomb Squadron, 48th Material Squadron, 91st Bomb Squadron, and Headquarters Squadron, plus the 454 Ordnance Squadron, and a chemical detachment. Also on board would be the following units: 5th Air Base Group and the 1st Pursuit Squadron. The Coolidge arrived in Manila on 20 November (via Hawaii and Guam). "The men were disembarked off the Coolidge as a Philippine military band played patriotic music. Trucks were lined up waiting to transport the men to Fort McKinley. The Coolidge was the last desperately needed reinforcement for General McArthur."
Upon arrival the 34th Pursuit Squadron was assigned to Del Carmen Field, Luzon. It was located to the south of Clark Field in Pampanga Province and west of Barrio Floridablanca. Verdell had only been in the country several weeks before was with Japan broke out.
On 08 December 1941, the Japanese launched the first air attacks on the Philippines. After the initial Japanese strikes on Clark and Nichols Fields, the Japanese struck at Del Carmen. With only a few minutes notice of the attack, the 34th pursuit pilots prepared to meet the enemy formations. However, the Seversky P-35A fighter planes were completely *inadequate for the task. By late 1941 standards, the P-35A was hopelessly obsolescent. It was too lightly armed and lacked either armor around the cockpit or self-sealing fuel tanks. Consequently, the squadron pilots stood little chance against the Japanese Zero fighters and were badly mauled. Most of the aircraft were quickly shot down in combat or else were destroyed on the ground. The Squadron was wiped out.
*they were scheduled to get new planes but those planes never arrived before war broke out with Japan.
Over the next couple of days Japanese planes virtually wiped out the U.S. Army Air Corps. By 20 December, the survivors received orders to move south to the Bataan Peninsula to become part of the Bataan Defense Force. The ground echelon of the 34th Pursuit Squadron moved from Del Carmen Field to Orani, and from there to Aglaloma Point where it went into position on beach defense. The bulk of the group's personnel became infantrymen and ordered to prepare for combat. Japanese forces began a full-scale invasion of Luzon on 22 December.
His parents received two letters from him after his arrival in Manila, the last dated 01 February 1942 and was received by his family 31 March 1942.
From the very beginning, Bataan men were cut to 1/2 rations, and very soon, to 1/4 rations. About four weeks later, they were living on 1/8 rations, that is, when food was available to them. Towards the end, it was changed to 1/16th of their rations...Quite often, they would go several days with no food, unless they could catch something in the jungle." Source: Federico Baldassarre letter
In the wake of starvation came diseases, such as malaria, dengue, scurvy, beriberi and amebic dysentery. The average American soldier lost 15-25 pounds and malaria was as high as 35 percent among front line units.
On Good Friday, 03 April 1942, General Homma, with the addition of fresh troops, began an all-out offensive on Bataan. By the evening of April 8, the situation was clearly hopeless. With ammunition, rations and supplies practically exhausted and most of his best units destroyed, Major General Edward P. King, commander of the forces on Bataan, was convinced his troops could not physically resist any more and decided to surrender to prevent further loss of life. On 09 April 1942, Maj. Gen. King surrendered the Luzon Force to the Japanese. Practically all members of the 34th Pursuit Squadron entered captivity malnourished and sick. Verdell S. Smithies, along with 75,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war captured by the Japanese, were subjected to the infamous Bataan Death March.
When the Fil-American soldiers began the Death March they were in terrible physical condition. For 6 to 9 days (depending on their starting point) they were forced to walk the roughly sixty-five miles to San Fernando, enduring abuse by Japanese guards and seeing the deaths of thousands of fellow soldiers. At San Fernando, the Japanese stuffed about 100 men into steel-sided boxcars for the twenty-five-mile trip to Capas. The scorching hot boxcars were packed so tight that the men could not even sit down. When the train arrived at Capas the POW's were offloaded and marched the final nine miles to Camp O'Donnell.
Beaverhead Men Are Listed Missing in Action
DILLON, Aug. 27 – (Special) – Eight Beaverhead county men have been officially listed as missing in action and relatives notified by the War Department. Their status, as carried by the War Department, is missing in action, interned or captured.
Names of the men who were with American forces at the time of the fall of Bataan and Corregidor and the relatives who have been notified are as follows" ... Pvt. 1st Class Verdell S. Smithies, Mrs. Thelma Seybold, Lima; ... Source: The Montana Standard (Butte, Montana), Friday, 28 August 1942, page 15.
Surviving the brutal treatment by the Japanese at Camp O'Donnell (about 1500 American and 22,000 Filipino prisoners of war died in just three months) Private First Class Smithies was transferred to the Cabanatuan POW Camp No. 1, approximately 8 kilometers west of the town by the same name.
In early June of 1942, prisoners from Camp O'Donnell began to stream into Camp No. 1, joining the men from Corregidor and increasing the number of prisoners to over 7,300 men. Because of the poor health of the men from O'Donnell, the death rate at Camp #1 soared.
Corporal Verdell S. Smithies (S/N 19018966) died of disease on 14 July 1942, in the prison hospital, a prisoner of the Japanese at POW Camp 1, Cabanatuan, Nueva Province, Luzon, Philippines 15-121. He was one of 31 men to die that day. Verdell was buried in a communal grave in the camp cemetery along with other deceased American POWs who died that day. In all 786 men died in Cabanatuan during the month of July, 1942. By the time the camp was liberated in early 1945, 2,764 Americans had died at Cabanatuan in 2½ years. 90% of the POW deaths in Cabanatuan were men from Bataan. His family wouldn't receive word of his death for another almost three years.
Lima Man Dies in Japanese Prison Camp
Lima – Word received by Mrs. Floyd Seybold gave official notice on July 25, 1945, that her son Corporal Verdall S. Smithies died in a Japanese prison camp. The boy had been previously listed as missing in action in the Philippine islands since the surrender on May 7, 1942.
Verdall enlisted in Oct. 1940 and received his training in the medical department of Hamilton Field, Calif. After spending 13 months there he left for overseas duty. He was held as a Japanese prisoner until the date of his death.
His parents were Mr. and Mrs. Arnel Smithies and he was born at Lorenzo, Idaho, May 16, 1921. He attended school in Lima and enlisted in the U. S. Army in Oct. 1940. Source: The Dillon Daily Tribune (Montana), 24 August 1945.
After the war, all the remains in the Cabanatuan Prison cemetery that could be found were disinterred (between December 1945 - February 1946) and brought to 7747 USAF Cemetery, Manila #2, Philippine Islands. Corporal Smithies was reinterred in Block 3, Row 12, Grave 1551 (D-D 11099). The deceased in Manila #2 (over 11,000 American soldiers) rested there until their removal to the American Graves Registration Service Manila Mausoleum in the summer of 1948. From there, according to the wishes of his next of kin (mother, Mrs. Thelma Seybold), Corporal Verdell Samuel Smithies was buried in his final resting place in the 7701 Ft. McKinley Cemetery (now known as the Manila American Cemetery) – Plot L, Row 2, Grave 138.
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Entered the service from Montana.
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