Panther Club member on furlough

Creator

Preview

Identifier

20032330

Description

Little boys grown tall. Panther Club members have seen much of war. Three veterans on furlough, came by to visit Miss Martha Justice, director of the Panther Boys' Club to tell her tales far from the type they once told when they were but children. One of them, Sgt. Daniel W. Massengale, came to tell her of the infamous "death march" on Bataan. Another, Travis S. Kitchens, gunner's mate first class, came but couldn't tell her much about what he had been doing or how he got the six battle stars on his service ribbons. The third one, Corporal Arthur F. Brown, a veteran of 27 months in the Pacific with the Marines, was once a little guy the larger kids used to throw around in gym tumbling classes. Massengale, 24, son of Mrs. Essie Toliferro, told of the brutality the Japanese forced upon American prisoners in the Philippines--"They beat me black and blue with a pick handle," he declared. Then came the "infamous death march" up Bataan to Camp O'Donnell. "There's where we lost most of our men," the hardened sergeant said. Then to another and then to wrecked Nichols Field where the prisoners were pushed into trucks and taken onto the grounds to and made to perform slave labor. There they remained for 14 months." "February 4, 1945--the happiest day of my life," Massengale said. That's the day Rangers from the 1st Cavalry Division stormed the Japanese prison and liberated the interned soldiers. The diet during his imprisonment consisted of rice twice a day; and beatings came "just for fun," Massengale said. When he was carried out of the prison, the once 185 pound Texan weighed 94 pounds Miss Justice explained that Massengale had been a regular at the club since he was seven. Now he's 24, holder of eight awards and the Purple Heart, owner of a 36-day furlough and 109 discharge points. Kitchens, 26, who first came to Miss Justice in 1926 was humble and serious when he told her of his experiences. His conversation told little behind the Bronze Star, the six battle stars he wore. Most significant were a few names he mentioned rather casually--Saipan, Tinian, Palau, Lingayun Gulf, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. He'd been there, "But there's not much I can tell because it has yet to be told what I am doing." He's on a 36-day leave which he's spending with his sister, Mrs. Jean Cornes. Corporal Brown is spending a 60-day furlough with his mother, Mrs. Winnie Brown, after spending 27 months in the Pacific with the 4th Base Depot of the Marines as an MP. The soldiers are shown, left to right, Sergeant Daniel W. Massengale; Travis S. Kitchens, gunners mate first class, and Marine Corporal Arthur F. Brown. They are dressed in their uniforms and seated at at table drinking coffee. Published in The Fort Worth Star-Telegram Morning Edition June 22, 1945.

Archival Date

1945-06-21

Collection Name

Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection

Collection Number

AR406-6-344

Original Format

Negatives, Black & White

File Format

JPG

Rights

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License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Subjects

Death march survivors; Bataan Death March, Philippines, 1942; Military personnel; World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Pacific Area