PFC Charles R. Powers Obituary
Charles was the younger of two sons of John Joseph Powers (4/6/1884 - 1/7/1924) and Anna Mary (Kuiper) Powers (9/6/1893 – 10/31/1971). His father was of Irish descent and mother was of Dutch descent. His older brother was John Edward Powers (7/6/1913 - 3/15/1993).
Charles was eight when his father died in a municipal utility accident. His mother, Anna, later married John Steele and the family moved to Riverside, CA in 1926. Charles attended Riverside Polytechnic High and lettered on the Track team his Junior and Senior years, graduating in 1935. He attended Riverside Junior College; then Frank Wiggins Trade School in Los Angeles, which later became LA Trade Tech, to become a chef. He was employed as a chef at the Los Angeles Elks Club and then at a private club in Santa Monica.
On July 15, 1940, Charles enlisted in the US Army Air Corp at Ft. MacArthur, San Pedro, CA; and he was assigned to the Far East Air Force. He sailed aboard the US Grant, an Army transport ship, to the Philippines, where he served with the 28th Material Squadron, 20th Air Base Group. The Material Squadron was charged with supply and maintenance at Clark Field on Luzon in the Philippine Islands. He was able to send letters home to his mother and brother.
Records show that after an appendectomy, he returned to duty in October 1941.
On December 8, 1941, the day after the Pearl Harbor attack, the Empire of Japan attacked Clark Field; the base and airfields were decimated. On December 22, 1941, Japanese forces initiated full-scale invasion of Luzon and General MacArthur ordered the withdrawal of all American and Filipino forces to the Bataan peninsula. In January 1942, all ground forces were reassigned to a newly formed Provisional Air Corps Regiment, and they valiantly defended their positions without reinforcements or resupply for three months. Finally on April 9, 1942, the forces surrendered – almost all were malnourished and sick.
Charles and the other prisoners were subjected to “the Bataan Death March,” a forced march of six to nine days for approximately 65 miles, where they witnessed the deaths of their fellow soldiers and suffered abuse at the hands of the Japanese guards. Initially held at POW Camp O’Donnell, he was transferred to Cabanatuan POW Camp. By June of 1942 prisoner numbers increased at the camp, and due to the lack of food and medical supplies disease was rampant.
The death rate soared. Camp hospital records, discovered in 1945, indicate he was admitted to the camp hospital on July 16, 1942, and he died at 4 pm on July 18, 1942, of diphtheria and conjunctivitis. He was one of 786 who died at the Cabanatuan POW Camp that one month, July 1942; and records indicate over 2,764 soldiers died at Cabanatuan.
Charles was shown as MIA until his mother was notified of his death by letter in February 1946.
Now, backtracking from his identification in 2023, we know that he was buried in a common grave, later recorded as CG312, with at least 37 others who died between noon on July 18 and noon July 19, 1942. It was one of the largest common graves in the camp. However, there were no records of the common grave burials, which were made during war time conditions under the supervision of the Japanese, who prohibited prisoners from labeling graves.
After the war, all remains from the prison cemetery that could be located, including those from CG312, were disinterred and brought to what is now the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial. The identification of twelve individuals from CG 312 were made from identification tags, twenty-six remained unknown. In October 1949, after additional searches of the camp in 1947 and 1948, PFC Charles R. Powers was among those declared as non-recoverable.
However, in 2014 with scientific advances the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) researchers began requesting disinterment of the unknowns from the Cabanatuan POW Camp. In January 2018 the unknowns from CG312 were exhumed and transported to DPAA lab in Honolulu, HI. Samples were sent to the Armed Forces DNA Identification laboratory at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, DE.
On May 26, 2023, PFC Charles R. Powers was identified by DNA matching from his limited remains.
To share a memory or send a condolence gift, please visit the Official Obituary of PFC Charles R. Powers hosted by Evans-Brown Mortuary.
Charles was the younger of two sons of John Joseph Powers (4/6/1884 - 1/7/1924) and Anna Mary (Kuiper) Powers (9/6/1893 – 10/31/1971). His father was of Irish descent and mother was of Dutch descent. His older brother was John Edward Powers (7/6/1913 - 3/15/1993).
Charles was eight when his father died in a municipal utility accident. His mother, Anna, later married John Steele and the family moved to Riverside, CA in 1926. Charles attended Riverside Polytechnic High and lettered on the Track team his Junior and Senior years, graduating in 1935. He attended Riverside Junior College; then Frank Wiggins Trade School in Los Angeles, which later became LA Trade Tech, to become a chef. He was employed as a chef at the Los Angeles Elks Club and then at a private club in Santa Monica.
On July 15, 1940, Charles enlisted in the US Army Air Corp at Ft. MacArthur, San Pedro, CA; and he was assigned to the Far East Air Force. He sailed aboard the US Grant, an Army transport ship, to the Philippines, where he served with the 28th Material Squadron, 20th Air Base Group. The Material Squadron was charged with supply and maintenance at Clark Field on Luzon in the Philippine Islands. He was able to send letters home to his mother and brother.
Records show that after an appendectomy, he returned to duty in October 1941.
On December 8, 1941, the day after the Pearl Harbor attack, the Empire of Japan attacked Clark Field; the base and airfields were decimated. On December 22, 1941, Japanese forces initiated full-scale invasion of Luzon and General MacArthur ordered the withdrawal of all American and Filipino forces to the Bataan peninsula. In January 1942, all ground forces were reassigned to a newly formed Provisional Air Corps Regiment, and they valiantly defended their positions without reinforcements or resupply for three months. Finally on April 9, 1942, the forces surrendered – almost all were malnourished and sick.
Charles and the other prisoners were subjected to “the Bataan Death March,” a forced march of six to nine days for approximately 65 miles, where they witnessed the deaths of their fellow soldiers and suffered abuse at the hands of the Japanese guards. Initially held at POW Camp O’Donnell, he was transferred to Cabanatuan POW Camp. By June of 1942 prisoner numbers increased at the camp, and due to the lack of food and medical supplies disease was rampant.
The death rate soared. Camp hospital records, discovered in 1945, indicate he was admitted to the camp hospital on July 16, 1942, and he died at 4 pm on July 18, 1942, of diphtheria and conjunctivitis. He was one of 786 who died at the Cabanatuan POW Camp that one month, July 1942; and records indicate over 2,764 soldiers died at Cabanatuan.
Charles was shown as MIA until his mother was notified of his death by letter in February 1946.
Now, backtracking from his identification in 2023, we know that he was buried in a common grave, later recorded as CG312, with at least 37 others who died between noon on July 18 and noon July 19, 1942. It was one of the largest common graves in the camp. However, there were no records of the common grave burials, which were made during war time conditions under the supervision of the Japanese, who prohibited prisoners from labeling graves.
After the war, all remains from the prison cemetery that could be located, including those from CG312, were disinterred and brought to what is now the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial. The identification of twelve individuals from CG 312 were made from identification tags, twenty-six remained unknown. In October 1949, after additional searches of the camp in 1947 and 1948, PFC Charles R. Powers was among those declared as non-recoverable.
However, in 2014 with scientific advances the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) researchers began requesting disinterment of the unknowns from the Cabanatuan POW Camp. In January 2018 the unknowns from CG312 were exhumed and transported to DPAA lab in Honolulu, HI. Samples were sent to the Armed Forces DNA Identification laboratory at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, DE.
On May 26, 2023, PFC Charles R. Powers was identified by DNA matching from his limited remains.
To share a memory or send a condolence gift, please visit the Official Obituary of PFC Charles R. Powers hosted by Evans-Brown Mortuary.
Events
Event information can be found on the Official Obituary of PFC Charles R. Powers.