Milton R. (Doc) Whaley, was one of fifteen children born to Dave C. Whaley and Clara Koontz of Petros, Tennessee. He was born on August 19,1912. Milton was called "Doc" because he remined his mother and other members of his family of his grandfather Dr. William Koontz. He was a graduate of Oakdale Highschool and in 1940 he graduated from Knox College, a private liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois. Upon graduation, having taken R.O.T.C., he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army, and was immediately called to active duty.
He was married, in Chicago, to Polly Rogers of Petros, TN on November 28,1940. After five months of Army service he was sent to the Province of Bataan, Philippines, for one year. His wife was supposed to join him there but a short time after he arrived, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and landed in the Philippines three days later, on December 10th. Capt. Whaley was in the infamous Bataan Death March.
"Stalking through the jungle corridors of Hospital No. 2 at Lemi, Bataan, in early 1942, was a tall gangling captain, American and Natives alike. The Filipinos brought their troubles to him and before they left, they were inviting him to the christening of their newborn child. A homely phrase by a G.I. expressed what the Americans thought about him, "He must have been a good man because he was a Captain in the Quartermaster Corps and he never had enemies." That was real praise in those days. Milton made the terrible Death March out of Bataan, and narrowly missed falling by the wayside himself through an act of kindness, some unknown soldier jerked him bodily back into the line of march as two Japanese guards appeared and bayonetted all who were resting at the side of the road. Most of these men were sick and exhausted, and it was one of them Milton had been helping. Thus, the story continues on down the line of months on end in Prison. More than once a soldier referred to Capt. Whaley and say, "There's a man I am proud to know."
In October of 1942, he was moved to Devao, where he remained until June 1944 when he was moved back to Cabanatuan on Luzon. While at Devao, Milton was a work detail leader for a number of months. A detail leadership meant in most cases that the work detail chose their own wit and personality. He had to be a man who would stand up to the Nip Guards even to the extent of taking tortuous beatings for the goof of the detail or one of its members. Milton was all this.
"Doc had to assume the role of peacemaker on his detail several times. I forgot what the occasion was, but how well I remember his diplomatic remarks which brought silence to the argument, "I know what my mission is over here, which was his diplomatic remark, "It is to see that my sweet young wide maintains the way of living she desires and that is what I am doing to do to the best of my ability. He was a cook too, a cook on a detail which was stealing food from the Japanese and cooking it on the sly during working hours. Doc was the only man on the detail whom everybody would trust to handle the food unsupervised, in secret. The general consensus of opinion was as long as Doc Whaley was running things, everybody would get a square deal and if we starved, all would starve together. Doc was forced to work on all the following types of work, rice field slave, railroad repair, road repair, fortifications, lumbering, farming of various kinds, and many other types of labor.
In June of 1944, he was moved to Cabanatuan on Luzon again, and later went back to Bilibid Prison in Manila. On December 13,1944 he was placed on the Oryoku Maru which was the last prison ship on which the Japanese tried to take American prisoners to Japan. "On the 14th the ship was under our carrier plane dive bombers, and he ship sank, burning. One of the first men I saw after I swam ashore was Doc Whaley in good shape and unscathed. The survivors of this bombing were moved to Luzon and put on another boat, the Enoura Maruand spent to Formosa. The ship arrived in the Port of Takao on Formosa on December 31,1944. On January 9, 1945 the ship was hit by U.S. dive bombers. The ships were unmarked, so the pilots had no idea they help POWs. Milton Doc Whaley was killed by a bomb on January 9, 1945 on the Japanese POW ship Enoura Maru. Captain Whaley's remains could not be identified following the war, and he is still unaccounted for. Today, Captain Whaley is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
World War II and Korean Conflict Veterans Interred Overseas
Name: Milton Whaley
Inducted From: Illinois
Rank:Captain
Combat Organization: Quartermaster Corps
Unit: 12th Quartermaster Regiment.
Duty Station: Province of Bataan, Philippines
Death Date: 9 Jan 1945
Monument:Fort William Mckinley, Manila, the Philippines
Last Known Status: Missing/Remains unaccounted for
U.S. Awards:Purple Heart Medal
His name is listed on the Walls of the Missing, at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial
Manila, Capital District, National Capital Region, Philippines.
He was married, in Chicago, to Polly Rogers of Petros, TN on November 28,1940. After five months of Army service he was sent to the Province of Bataan, Philippines, for one year. His wife was supposed to join him there but a short time after he arrived, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and landed in the Philippines three days later, on December 10th. Capt. Whaley was in the infamous Bataan Death March.
"Stalking through the jungle corridors of Hospital No. 2 at Lemi, Bataan, in early 1942, was a tall gangling captain, American and Natives alike. The Filipinos brought their troubles to him and before they left, they were inviting him to the christening of their newborn child. A homely phrase by a G.I. expressed what the Americans thought about him, "He must have been a good man because he was a Captain in the Quartermaster Corps and he never had enemies." That was real praise in those days. Milton made the terrible Death March out of Bataan, and narrowly missed falling by the wayside himself through an act of kindness, some unknown soldier jerked him bodily back into the line of march as two Japanese guards appeared and bayonetted all who were resting at the side of the road. Most of these men were sick and exhausted, and it was one of them Milton had been helping. Thus, the story continues on down the line of months on end in Prison. More than once a soldier referred to Capt. Whaley and say, "There's a man I am proud to know."
In October of 1942, he was moved to Devao, where he remained until June 1944 when he was moved back to Cabanatuan on Luzon. While at Devao, Milton was a work detail leader for a number of months. A detail leadership meant in most cases that the work detail chose their own wit and personality. He had to be a man who would stand up to the Nip Guards even to the extent of taking tortuous beatings for the goof of the detail or one of its members. Milton was all this.
"Doc had to assume the role of peacemaker on his detail several times. I forgot what the occasion was, but how well I remember his diplomatic remarks which brought silence to the argument, "I know what my mission is over here, which was his diplomatic remark, "It is to see that my sweet young wide maintains the way of living she desires and that is what I am doing to do to the best of my ability. He was a cook too, a cook on a detail which was stealing food from the Japanese and cooking it on the sly during working hours. Doc was the only man on the detail whom everybody would trust to handle the food unsupervised, in secret. The general consensus of opinion was as long as Doc Whaley was running things, everybody would get a square deal and if we starved, all would starve together. Doc was forced to work on all the following types of work, rice field slave, railroad repair, road repair, fortifications, lumbering, farming of various kinds, and many other types of labor.
In June of 1944, he was moved to Cabanatuan on Luzon again, and later went back to Bilibid Prison in Manila. On December 13,1944 he was placed on the Oryoku Maru which was the last prison ship on which the Japanese tried to take American prisoners to Japan. "On the 14th the ship was under our carrier plane dive bombers, and he ship sank, burning. One of the first men I saw after I swam ashore was Doc Whaley in good shape and unscathed. The survivors of this bombing were moved to Luzon and put on another boat, the Enoura Maruand spent to Formosa. The ship arrived in the Port of Takao on Formosa on December 31,1944. On January 9, 1945 the ship was hit by U.S. dive bombers. The ships were unmarked, so the pilots had no idea they help POWs. Milton Doc Whaley was killed by a bomb on January 9, 1945 on the Japanese POW ship Enoura Maru. Captain Whaley's remains could not be identified following the war, and he is still unaccounted for. Today, Captain Whaley is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
World War II and Korean Conflict Veterans Interred Overseas
Name: Milton Whaley
Inducted From: Illinois
Rank:Captain
Combat Organization: Quartermaster Corps
Unit: 12th Quartermaster Regiment.
Duty Station: Province of Bataan, Philippines
Death Date: 9 Jan 1945
Monument:Fort William Mckinley, Manila, the Philippines
Last Known Status: Missing/Remains unaccounted for
U.S. Awards:Purple Heart Medal
His name is listed on the Walls of the Missing, at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial
Manila, Capital District, National Capital Region, Philippines.
Milton R. (Doc) Whaley, was one of fifteen children born to Dave C. Whaley and Clara Koontz of Petros, Tennessee. He was born on August 19,1912. Milton was called "Doc" because he remined his mother and other members of his family of his grandfather Dr. William Koontz. He was a graduate of Oakdale Highschool and in 1940 he graduated from Knox College, a private liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois. Upon graduation, having taken R.O.T.C., he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army, and was immediately called to active duty.
He was married, in Chicago, to Polly Rogers of Petros, TN on November 28,1940. After five months of Army service he was sent to the Province of Bataan, Philippines, for one year. His wife was supposed to join him there but a short time after he arrived, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and landed in the Philippines three days later, on December 10th. Capt. Whaley was in the infamous Bataan Death March.
"Stalking through the jungle corridors of Hospital No. 2 at Lemi, Bataan, in early 1942, was a tall gangling captain, American and Natives alike. The Filipinos brought their troubles to him and before they left, they were inviting him to the christening of their newborn child. A homely phrase by a G.I. expressed what the Americans thought about him, "He must have been a good man because he was a Captain in the Quartermaster Corps and he never had enemies." That was real praise in those days. Milton made the terrible Death March out of Bataan, and narrowly missed falling by the wayside himself through an act of kindness, some unknown soldier jerked him bodily back into the line of march as two Japanese guards appeared and bayonetted all who were resting at the side of the road. Most of these men were sick and exhausted, and it was one of them Milton had been helping. Thus, the story continues on down the line of months on end in Prison. More than once a soldier referred to Capt. Whaley and say, "There's a man I am proud to know."
In October of 1942, he was moved to Devao, where he remained until June 1944 when he was moved back to Cabanatuan on Luzon. While at Devao, Milton was a work detail leader for a number of months. A detail leadership meant in most cases that the work detail chose their own wit and personality. He had to be a man who would stand up to the Nip Guards even to the extent of taking tortuous beatings for the goof of the detail or one of its members. Milton was all this.
"Doc had to assume the role of peacemaker on his detail several times. I forgot what the occasion was, but how well I remember his diplomatic remarks which brought silence to the argument, "I know what my mission is over here, which was his diplomatic remark, "It is to see that my sweet young wide maintains the way of living she desires and that is what I am doing to do to the best of my ability. He was a cook too, a cook on a detail which was stealing food from the Japanese and cooking it on the sly during working hours. Doc was the only man on the detail whom everybody would trust to handle the food unsupervised, in secret. The general consensus of opinion was as long as Doc Whaley was running things, everybody would get a square deal and if we starved, all would starve together. Doc was forced to work on all the following types of work, rice field slave, railroad repair, road repair, fortifications, lumbering, farming of various kinds, and many other types of labor.
In June of 1944, he was moved to Cabanatuan on Luzon again, and later went back to Bilibid Prison in Manila. On December 13,1944 he was placed on the Oryoku Maru which was the last prison ship on which the Japanese tried to take American prisoners to Japan. "On the 14th the ship was under our carrier plane dive bombers, and he ship sank, burning. One of the first men I saw after I swam ashore was Doc Whaley in good shape and unscathed. The survivors of this bombing were moved to Luzon and put on another boat, the Enoura Maruand spent to Formosa. The ship arrived in the Port of Takao on Formosa on December 31,1944. On January 9, 1945 the ship was hit by U.S. dive bombers. The ships were unmarked, so the pilots had no idea they help POWs. Milton Doc Whaley was killed by a bomb on January 9, 1945 on the Japanese POW ship Enoura Maru. Captain Whaley's remains could not be identified following the war, and he is still unaccounted for. Today, Captain Whaley is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
World War II and Korean Conflict Veterans Interred Overseas
Name: Milton Whaley
Inducted From: Illinois
Rank:Captain
Combat Organization: Quartermaster Corps
Unit: 12th Quartermaster Regiment.
Duty Station: Province of Bataan, Philippines
Death Date: 9 Jan 1945
Monument:Fort William Mckinley, Manila, the Philippines
Last Known Status: Missing/Remains unaccounted for
U.S. Awards:Purple Heart Medal
His name is listed on the Walls of the Missing, at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial
Manila, Capital District, National Capital Region, Philippines.
He was married, in Chicago, to Polly Rogers of Petros, TN on November 28,1940. After five months of Army service he was sent to the Province of Bataan, Philippines, for one year. His wife was supposed to join him there but a short time after he arrived, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and landed in the Philippines three days later, on December 10th. Capt. Whaley was in the infamous Bataan Death March.
"Stalking through the jungle corridors of Hospital No. 2 at Lemi, Bataan, in early 1942, was a tall gangling captain, American and Natives alike. The Filipinos brought their troubles to him and before they left, they were inviting him to the christening of their newborn child. A homely phrase by a G.I. expressed what the Americans thought about him, "He must have been a good man because he was a Captain in the Quartermaster Corps and he never had enemies." That was real praise in those days. Milton made the terrible Death March out of Bataan, and narrowly missed falling by the wayside himself through an act of kindness, some unknown soldier jerked him bodily back into the line of march as two Japanese guards appeared and bayonetted all who were resting at the side of the road. Most of these men were sick and exhausted, and it was one of them Milton had been helping. Thus, the story continues on down the line of months on end in Prison. More than once a soldier referred to Capt. Whaley and say, "There's a man I am proud to know."
In October of 1942, he was moved to Devao, where he remained until June 1944 when he was moved back to Cabanatuan on Luzon. While at Devao, Milton was a work detail leader for a number of months. A detail leadership meant in most cases that the work detail chose their own wit and personality. He had to be a man who would stand up to the Nip Guards even to the extent of taking tortuous beatings for the goof of the detail or one of its members. Milton was all this.
"Doc had to assume the role of peacemaker on his detail several times. I forgot what the occasion was, but how well I remember his diplomatic remarks which brought silence to the argument, "I know what my mission is over here, which was his diplomatic remark, "It is to see that my sweet young wide maintains the way of living she desires and that is what I am doing to do to the best of my ability. He was a cook too, a cook on a detail which was stealing food from the Japanese and cooking it on the sly during working hours. Doc was the only man on the detail whom everybody would trust to handle the food unsupervised, in secret. The general consensus of opinion was as long as Doc Whaley was running things, everybody would get a square deal and if we starved, all would starve together. Doc was forced to work on all the following types of work, rice field slave, railroad repair, road repair, fortifications, lumbering, farming of various kinds, and many other types of labor.
In June of 1944, he was moved to Cabanatuan on Luzon again, and later went back to Bilibid Prison in Manila. On December 13,1944 he was placed on the Oryoku Maru which was the last prison ship on which the Japanese tried to take American prisoners to Japan. "On the 14th the ship was under our carrier plane dive bombers, and he ship sank, burning. One of the first men I saw after I swam ashore was Doc Whaley in good shape and unscathed. The survivors of this bombing were moved to Luzon and put on another boat, the Enoura Maruand spent to Formosa. The ship arrived in the Port of Takao on Formosa on December 31,1944. On January 9, 1945 the ship was hit by U.S. dive bombers. The ships were unmarked, so the pilots had no idea they help POWs. Milton Doc Whaley was killed by a bomb on January 9, 1945 on the Japanese POW ship Enoura Maru. Captain Whaley's remains could not be identified following the war, and he is still unaccounted for. Today, Captain Whaley is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
World War II and Korean Conflict Veterans Interred Overseas
Name: Milton Whaley
Inducted From: Illinois
Rank:Captain
Combat Organization: Quartermaster Corps
Unit: 12th Quartermaster Regiment.
Duty Station: Province of Bataan, Philippines
Death Date: 9 Jan 1945
Monument:Fort William Mckinley, Manila, the Philippines
Last Known Status: Missing/Remains unaccounted for
U.S. Awards:Purple Heart Medal
His name is listed on the Walls of the Missing, at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial
Manila, Capital District, National Capital Region, Philippines.
Inscription
CAPT, QM CORPS WORLD WAR II
Gravesite Details
Entered the service from Illinois.
Family Members
Siblings
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