World War II
-
POW

Mandan, ND


County:
Grand Forks

Date of Loss:

Recovered:
Remains not recovered

Branch of Service:
Marines

Rank:
Captain

Regiment / Group / Brigade:
4th Marine Regiment

Listed on/in the:
Register of North Dakota Veterans World War II 1941-1945 and Korean Conflict 1950-1953, published 1968

Major Battle/Theatre:
Asiatic Pacific Theater

Circumstances:

Major Clyde Huddleston was held as a POW in the Philippine Islands. In December 1944, he was boarded onto the Oryoku Maru for transport to Japan. The ship sailed on December 13th and came under attack from American planes on December 14th. As evening approached, the attack was called off. The next day the planes returned and continued the attack. When the pilots saw the large number of men climbing from the ship’s holds, they realized the ship was carrying POWs and called off the attack. After the POWs were off the ship, the attack resumed and the ship was sunk by American planes at Subic Bay, Philippine Islands, on December 15, 1944. The surviving POWs were boarded onto the Enoura Maru which sailed on December 27th and reached Takao, Formosa, by the New Year. Huddleston died in the ship's hold before the ship reached Formosa. His body was thrown into the sea.

Biography:

Captain Huddleson was born in Prescott, Wisconsin on July 3, 1912. He was a resident of Grand Forks County, North Dakota when he entered the USMC Grand Forks, North Dakota on September 12, 1935. He died in service on December 31, 1944, as a POW Japan. He is on the Tablets of the Missing in the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Manila, Philippines.