Raymond Eugene Stoufer
1913-1942
Raymond Eugene Stoufer was born June 1, 1913 at Fort Smith, Sebastian Co., Ar. to
Frank Martin & Pearl Rose Jobe Stoufer.
SSgt Raymond Eugene Stoufer died November 2, 1942 while a POW during WWII.
He died in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija Province, Central Luzon, Philippines and was
buried in the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Manila, Capital
District, National Capital Region, Philippines.
His story is at the bottom of the page beneath his memorial marker in Oak
Cemetery in Fort Smith. A very moving tribute to him and the
others who were prisoners of war and the story of what they endured.
The author of the story is unknown. It was
found on Raymond's Find A Grave page.
Biography from Fighting Men of Arkansas
 
World War II Prisoners of War Data File, 12/7/1941 - 11/19/1946
| SERIAL NUMBER |
6925030 |
| NAME |
Stoufer Raymond E |
| GRADE |
Staff Sergeant |
| ARM or SERVICE |
US Army Air Corps |
| DATE REPORT |
May 7, 1942 |
| STATE OF RESIDENCE |
Arkansas |
| AREA |
SW Pacific Theatre: Philippine Islands |
| LATEST REPORT |
Oct 15, 1945 |
| SOURCE OF REPORT |
Individual has been reported through sources considered official. |
| STATUS |
Returned to Military Control, Liberated or Repatriated (he died as a POW in 1942) |
| DETAINING POWER |
JAPAN |
| CAMP |
Fukuoka POW Camp #1 - Kashii (Pine Tree Camp) Kyushu Island 33-130 |
World War II Prisoners of the Japanese File, 2007 Update, ca. 1941 - ca. 1945
| NAME |
Stoufer, Raymond E |
| RANK |
Staff Sergeant |
| SERVICE NUMBER |
6925030 |
| SOURCE |
American Battle Monuments Commission |
| SUBORDINATE UNIT |
2nd Observation Squadron |
| ASSIGNED UNIT |
27th Bombardment Group (Light) |
| PARENT Unit |
V Bomber Command |
Find A Grave
Raymond E. Stoufer enlisted as a Private (S/N 6925030) in the U.S. Army Air Corps in September 1937.
Monthly Roster of Troops 02 September 1937 to 01 November 1939
Base Headquarters & 6th Air Base Squadron, GHQ, AF., Barksdale Field Louisiana.
Private Raymond E. Stoufer (S/N 6925030). He was assigned and joined Base Headquarters & 6th Air Base Squadron on 02 September 1937.
He was given a 30 furlough on 05 December 1938 and rejoined his unit on 03 January 1939. On 01 November 1939 he was given an honorable
discharge "per C of G to reenlist for foreign service 1st."
Private Stoufer was sent to Fort Slocum, on Davids Island in the western end of Long Island Sound in the city of New Rochelle, New York
in preparation for his departure to the Philippine Islands.
Private Raymond E. Stoufer (S/N 6925030), Air Corps is found aboard the American S.S. "COAMO" sailing from OD & R Depot, Brooklyn, New York
on 18 December 1939 enroute to the Philippine Department, via Fort McDowell, California. He was traveling in Troop Class.
He was assigned to the 2nd Observation Squadron, 27th Bombardment Group (Light), V Interceptor Command, U.S. Army Air Corps. The 2nd
Observation Squadron operated out of Nichols Field in 1939 with 2 Douglas O-46A's, 3 Stinson O-49 Vigilant's and 11 Curtiss O-52 Owl's.
They flew reconnaissance and liaison missions.
On 01 November 1940, the 2nd Observation Squadron was moved to Clark Field where it was reassigned directly to newly formed Far East
Air Force (FEAF) as a courier and reconnaissance squadron, reporting to the Headquarters staff.
The 2nd Observation Squadron was moved back to Nichols Field in November 1941 with 21 various aircraft.
On 08 December 1941 war came to the Philippines. Over the next few days the Far East Air Force was virtually wiped out. Two O-46s and almost
all of the O-52s of the 2nd Observation Squadron were destroyed in the Japanese raid on Nichols Field. With Japanese control of the air over
Luzon during December 1941, the unarmed planes of the 2nd Observation Squadron were overwhelmed, and by the end of the year the remainder
of the squadron's aircraft were destroyed either on the ground or in the air. Source: https://webot.org/info/en/?search=2d_Observation_Squadron
Japanese forces began a full-scale invasion of Luzon on 22 December. In response, General Douglas MacArthur, as part of War Plan Orange-3
ordered the withdrawal of the American and Filipino forces to the Bataan peninsula where they could to delay the invading enemy forces until
promised reinforcements arrived - reinforcements that never came. The 2nd Observation Squadron relocated to Bataan Airfield, about three
miles north of the town of Cabcaben. Manila was declared an open city on 26 December, and by the 28th, Japanese forces occupied Nichols Airfield.
The men of the 2nd Observation Squadron were assigned to the newly formed infantry units referred to as Provisional Infantry Regiments of the
71st Division. Born in the jungles of Bataan on 07 January 1942, the Provisional Air Corps Regiment were men who were drawn from maintenance,
ordnance, communications, intelligence, ground staff, and aircrew squadrons. The regiment comprised two battalions: 1st Battalion (Headquarters
Squadron of the 20th Air Base Group, 19th Air Base Squadron, 27th Materiel Squadron, 28th Materiel Squadron, and 7th Materiel Squadron);
2nd Battalion (2nd Observation Squadron, 48th Materiel Squadron, Headquarters Squadron of the 27th Bomb Group, 91st Bomb Squadron, and 17th
Bomb Squadron).
These Provisional Infantry units composed of Air Men, who in most cases had never had any infantry combat training. Most had to be taught
how to put bullets into their rifles and how to use hand grenades, and how to dig a proper foxhole. It was akin to on-the-job training.
Although clumsy, at times, comical, and, at times, very shaky, they performed valiantly. It was not pretty, but they did their job. The
Provisional Air Corps Regiment spent its brief existence in almost continuous front line service.
"From the very beginning, the men on Bataan were cut to 1/2 rations, and very soon, to 1/4 rations. About four weeks later, they were living
on 1/8 rations, that is, when food was available to them. Towards the end, it was changed to 1/16th of their rations...Quite often, they
would go several days with no food, unless they could catch something in the jungle." Source: Federico Baldassarre letter
In the wake of starvation came diseases, such as malaria, dengue, scurvy, beriberi and amebic dysentery. The average American Soldier lost
15-25 pounds and malaria was as high as 35 percent among front line units.
The Japanese started their final offensive of Bataan on Good Friday, 03 April 1942. By the evening of 08 April, the situation was clearly
hopeless. With ammunition, rations and supplies practically exhausted and most of his best units destroyed, General Edward P. King surrendered
the Luzon Force the next morning, 09 April 1942.
After enduring four months of combat, hunger, and illness, S/Sgt. Raymond E. Stoufer and most other members of his unit were surrendered
with the rest of the Luzon Force on 09 April 1942. Practically all entered captivity malnourished and sick.
He, along with 75,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war captured by the Japanese, were subjected to the infamous Bataan Death March.
When the Fil-American soldiers began the Death March they were in terrible physical condition. For 6 to 9 days (depending on their starting
point) they were forced to walk the roughly sixty-five miles to San Fernando, enduring abuse by Japanese guards and seeing the deaths of
thousands of fellow soldiers. At San Fernando, the Japanese stuffed about 100 men into steel-sided boxcars for the twenty-five-mile trip to Capas.
The scorching hot boxcars were packed so tight that the men could not even sit down. When the train arrived at Capas the POW's were offloaded and
marched the final nine miles to Camp O'Donnell.
Surviving the brutal treatment by the Japanese at Camp O'Donnell (about 1500 American and 22,000 Filipino prisoners of war died in just three months)
Staff Sergeant Raymond E. Stoufer was transferred to the Cabanatuan POW Camp No. 1, approximately 8 kilometers west of the town by the
same name.
In early June of 1942, prisoners from Camp O'Donnell began to stream into Camp No. 1, joining the men from Corregidor and increasing the number of
prisoners to over 7,300 men. Because of the poor health of the men from O'Donnell, the death rate at Camp #1 soared.
Staff Sergeant Raymond E. Stoufer 'was stricken on 25 August 1942 with *inanition" (exhaustion caused by lack of nourishment). He died
while being treated at 10:00 pm, 02 November 1942, in the prison hospital. He was one of 12 men to die that day. By the time the camp was
liberated in early 1945, 2,764 Americans had died at Cabanatuan in 2½ years. 90% of the POW deaths in Cabanatuan were men who were
captured on Bataan.
*other documents say he died of malaria - easily could have been both.
After the war, all the remains in the Cabanatuan Prison cemetery that could be found were disinterred (between December 1945 - February 1946)
and brought to 7747 USAF Cemetery, Manila #2, Philippine Islands. He was reburied in Block 2, Row 18, Grave 2239 (D-D 11376). The deceased in
Manila #2 (over 11,000 American soldiers) rested there until their removal to the American Graves Registration Service Manila Mausoleum in the
summer of 1948. From there, according to the wishes of his next of kin (father, Mr. Frank M. Stoufer), Staff Sergeant Raymond Eugene Stoufer
was buried in his final resting place in the 7701 Ft. McKinley Cemetery (now known as the Manila American Cemetery) – Plot N, Row 9, Grave 56
At least 71 member of the 2nd Observation Squadron died at the hands of the Japanese during WWII.
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