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Today is POW/MIA Day.
In observance, volunteers with the non-profit Stories Behind the Stars are recognizing the American Prisoners of War (POWs) lost in the Sept. 7, 1944, sinking of the Japanese "hellship" Shinyo Maru. This includes Pvt. Frank R. Smith from Lycoming County.
Frank Robert Smith was born on Sept. 5, 1918, in Shrewsbury Township, according to a news release from the organization. His birth name was Robert Franklin Smith, yet the Army enlisted him as Frank Robert.
Smith enlisted on May 10, 1940, as a private in the Coast Artillery Corps. Eventually, he was assigned to the 59th Coast Artillery Regiment and deployed to the Pacific Theater of Operations on Dec. 7, 1941, in the Philippines.
After the Japanese invaded the Philippines in December 1941, the Allied forces surrendered on April 9, 1942, and became Prisoners of War. Smith was held at the Japanese POW Camp No. 2, in Davao, Philippines, where he and the other prisoners suffered brutal mistreatment, disease and starvation.
These POWs were transferred to the Shinyo Maru on Sept. 4, 1944. Of the 750 Allied prisoners, all but five were Americans and nearly 300 had survived the infamous Bataan Death March.
American intelligence intercepted several Japanese naval messages and learned Shinyo Maru was in a convoy of two torpedo boats, two tankers and three other cargo ships to transport 750 troops from Cebu to Manila. There was no indication from the interception that the troops aboard were POWs, the news release said. On Sept. 7, 1944, the USS Paddle located the convoy off the west coast of Mindanao. The Paddle fired a spread of four torpedoes. Two found their way into the Shinyo Maru's hold and detonated.
A total of 668 POWs were killed, the news release said. Among the Japanese, 47 of the 52 perished. Filipino guerrillas and the Volunteer Guard rescued 83 Americans on Sindangan Bay shore. The remaining freed POWs were later evacuated by the American submarine USS Narwhal.
The crew of USS Paddle were not told of the POWs on board the Shinyo Maru until after the war.
Smith was posthumously awarded the Prisoner of War medal and the Purple Heart.
Stories Behind the Stars memorials are accessible for free online. According to the news release, the non-profit organization is dedicated to honoring all 421,000 fallen Americans from World War II, including 31,000 from Pennsylvania.
To volunteer or to get more information, contact Kathy Harmon at kharmon@storiesbehindthestars.org or visit www.storiesbehindthestars.org.