Soldier and unfortunate POW, George Curtis was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, of Portuguese immigrants. In his teens, he moved to New York City where he started a job as an auto mechanic and chauffeur. In 1917, he enlisted in the Army. As a first sergeant in France in 1918, his unit suffered a German gas attack. He then volunteered for a dangerous duty and was commended by his command for bravery and won a coveted Croix de guerre from the French Army. He then went back to selling cars, which eventually took him to Manila, Philippines, in 1939. He was captured, as a civilian, on Corregidor in May 1942 by the Japanese, endured the infamous Bataan Death March, and was interned in Bilibid Prison and Cabanatuan Camp. In late 1944, he was among 1,619 men shipped to Japan on one of the last runs of the notorious "hell ships" (Oryoku Maru, Enoura Maru, & Brazil Maru), for which he wrote an account. Only about 400 men survived that journey. He worked as a slave laborer in a coal mine at Camp #17 near Fukuoka and was liberated in September 1945. He returned to the USA to sell cars and for a while owned a ranch near Oroville, California. His two marriages did not last, and he had no children. Despite his horrendous experiences as a POW, his relatives remember George as a warm person with a puckish sense of humor.
Soldier and unfortunate POW, George Curtis was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, of Portuguese immigrants. In his teens, he moved to New York City where he started a job as an auto mechanic and chauffeur. In 1917, he enlisted in the Army. As a first sergeant in France in 1918, his unit suffered a German gas attack. He then volunteered for a dangerous duty and was commended by his command for bravery and won a coveted Croix de guerre from the French Army. He then went back to selling cars, which eventually took him to Manila, Philippines, in 1939. He was captured, as a civilian, on Corregidor in May 1942 by the Japanese, endured the infamous Bataan Death March, and was interned in Bilibid Prison and Cabanatuan Camp. In late 1944, he was among 1,619 men shipped to Japan on one of the last runs of the notorious "hell ships" (Oryoku Maru, Enoura Maru, & Brazil Maru), for which he wrote an account. Only about 400 men survived that journey. He worked as a slave laborer in a coal mine at Camp #17 near Fukuoka and was liberated in September 1945. He returned to the USA to sell cars and for a while owned a ranch near Oroville, California. His two marriages did not last, and he had no children. Despite his horrendous experiences as a POW, his relatives remember George as a warm person with a puckish sense of humor.
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