Basil Kester was a member of the 17th Ordnance Company. His unit’s job was to service the tanks of the Provisional Tank Group. He was stationed in the Philippine Islands when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and lived through the Japanese attack on Clark Airfield. For four months, his company worked to keep the tanks, of the tank group, running to slow Japan’s conquest of the Philippines.
On April 9, 1942, he became a Prisoner of War when Bataan was surrendered to the Japanese. He took part in the death march from Bataan. At San Fernando, the POWs were packed into small wooden boxcars used to haul sugarcane. Each car could hold 40 men. The Japanese packed 100 POWs into each car. At Caps, the living climbed out of the cars. Those POWs who had died during the trip fell to the floor as the living left the cars. The POW walked the last ten miles to Camp O’Donnell.
As a POW, he was held at Camp O’Donnell and Cabanatuan. He was sent to Taiwan and held in a camp there, until he was then taken to Japan. He remained a POW until he was liberated at the end of the war.
On April 9, 1942, he became a Prisoner of War when Bataan was surrendered to the Japanese. He took part in the death march from Bataan. At San Fernando, the POWs were packed into small wooden boxcars used to haul sugarcane. Each car could hold 40 men. The Japanese packed 100 POWs into each car. At Caps, the living climbed out of the cars. Those POWs who had died during the trip fell to the floor as the living left the cars. The POW walked the last ten miles to Camp O’Donnell.
As a POW, he was held at Camp O’Donnell and Cabanatuan. He was sent to Taiwan and held in a camp there, until he was then taken to Japan. He remained a POW until he was liberated at the end of the war.
Basil Kester was a member of the 17th Ordnance Company. His unit’s job was to service the tanks of the Provisional Tank Group. He was stationed in the Philippine Islands when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and lived through the Japanese attack on Clark Airfield. For four months, his company worked to keep the tanks, of the tank group, running to slow Japan’s conquest of the Philippines.
On April 9, 1942, he became a Prisoner of War when Bataan was surrendered to the Japanese. He took part in the death march from Bataan. At San Fernando, the POWs were packed into small wooden boxcars used to haul sugarcane. Each car could hold 40 men. The Japanese packed 100 POWs into each car. At Caps, the living climbed out of the cars. Those POWs who had died during the trip fell to the floor as the living left the cars. The POW walked the last ten miles to Camp O’Donnell.
As a POW, he was held at Camp O’Donnell and Cabanatuan. He was sent to Taiwan and held in a camp there, until he was then taken to Japan. He remained a POW until he was liberated at the end of the war.
On April 9, 1942, he became a Prisoner of War when Bataan was surrendered to the Japanese. He took part in the death march from Bataan. At San Fernando, the POWs were packed into small wooden boxcars used to haul sugarcane. Each car could hold 40 men. The Japanese packed 100 POWs into each car. At Caps, the living climbed out of the cars. Those POWs who had died during the trip fell to the floor as the living left the cars. The POW walked the last ten miles to Camp O’Donnell.
As a POW, he was held at Camp O’Donnell and Cabanatuan. He was sent to Taiwan and held in a camp there, until he was then taken to Japan. He remained a POW until he was liberated at the end of the war.
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