239870 PFC. Sammy L. Caldwell United States Marine Corps 4th Marine Division from:San Angelo, TX (d.14th Dec 1944) Sammy LCaldwell enlisted in the Marine Corps on 1st of May 1941. He was captured in Corregidor during some of the most bitter fighting on the entire war. Sammy was one of 150 American prisoners of war interned at the Puerto Princessa Camp, Palawan on 14th of December1944. On that date Japanese planes sighted an American convoy making for Mindoro and apparently assumed that Palawan was to be the object of the attack. The prisoners who were out working details were taken back to the compound and, when American planes were sighted, were ordered into the air raid shelters. The Japanese then proceeded to set the shelters on fire. Any prisoners attempting to leave the shelters were machined-gunned.
The Japanese commenced the burning at the shelters nearest the guard barracks. Prisoners in shelters further away, seeing what was happening and concluding that they were all to be killed, made a break for the fence. About 40 men succeeded in getting through the double fence and down a steep bluff to the beach. They tried to hide in bushes and in crevices in the bluff but the Japanese, after completing the slaughter of the prisoners remaining in the compound, sent details to the beach to hunt out survivors. Nearly all of these were found and killed. Nine prisoners succeeded in evading the Japanese and later, were successful in swimming to the opposite side of the bay. Eight of these prisoners succeeded in making their way to guerrilla forces and eventually returned to American control. The ninth prisoner has never been heard of since crossing the bay. After American forces reoccupied Palawan a search was made of the prison compound. Approximately 80 unidentified bodies were found in the enclosure, principally in the air raid shelters, and others were found outside of the enclosure. No trace of any survivors (other than the nine prisoners who crossed the bay) has even been found. It is inevitable that Pfc Sammy L Caldwell died on 14th of December 1944, as the result of enemy action. DOB June 22, 1920. He entered the service in April 1941.
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