On Dec. 8, 1941, PFC Billy Ray Ball was a member of Headquarters Detachment Philippines Department, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of the Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942. Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were taken prisoner; including many who were forced to endure the Bataan Death March, en route to Japanese prisoner of war (POW) camps, including the POW camp at Cabanatuan on the island of Luzon, Philippines. Ball was among those reported captured after the surrender of Corregidor and who were eventually moved to the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the remaining years of the war. According to prisoner records, Ball died on Sept. 28, 1942, and was buried along with fellow prisoners in the local Cabanatuan camp cemetery.
Through the work of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, the remains of Private First Class Billy R. Ball were accounted for in 2017. His name is permanently inscribed on the “Walls of the Missing” at Manila American Cemetery.
Through the work of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, the remains of Private First Class Billy R. Ball were accounted for in 2017. His name is permanently inscribed on the “Walls of the Missing” at Manila American Cemetery.
On Dec. 8, 1941, PFC Billy Ray Ball was a member of Headquarters Detachment Philippines Department, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of the Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942. Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were taken prisoner; including many who were forced to endure the Bataan Death March, en route to Japanese prisoner of war (POW) camps, including the POW camp at Cabanatuan on the island of Luzon, Philippines. Ball was among those reported captured after the surrender of Corregidor and who were eventually moved to the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the remaining years of the war. According to prisoner records, Ball died on Sept. 28, 1942, and was buried along with fellow prisoners in the local Cabanatuan camp cemetery.
Through the work of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, the remains of Private First Class Billy R. Ball were accounted for in 2017. His name is permanently inscribed on the “Walls of the Missing” at Manila American Cemetery.
Through the work of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, the remains of Private First Class Billy R. Ball were accounted for in 2017. His name is permanently inscribed on the “Walls of the Missing” at Manila American Cemetery.
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