Boyd
Autobiography of Herbert Lee Boyd


    I was born at Bristow, OK on 30 September 1917.   I enlisted in the Army Air Corps on 16 August 1940 at Fort McArthur, CA.   I went to bootcamp at March Field, Riverside, CA.   I was then sent to Weather School at McLelland Field, Sacramento, CA.   I was then transferred to the 93rd Heavy Bombardment Squadron of the 19th Bombardment Group.   I was then sent to open Albuquerque Air Base in April 1941.   In September 1941, I received sealed orders to report to 'Plum', which turned out to be Clark Field, Pampanga Province, Philippine Islands.

    This turned out to be 'Plum to Hell'.   On 8 December 1941, approximately 10 hours after Pearl Harbor was bombed, the Japanese attacked Clark Field.   We lost 28 of our B-17's.   We retreated to the Bataan Peninsula on 25 December 1941.   We worked to help build an air strip until 5 February 1942, when we were sent to combat duty with the United States Air Force of the Far East (USAFFE).   We made our final stand at Vega Point, Mareveles until 9 April 1942 when General Edward P. King had no choice but to surrender us to the Japs.   We were promised a ride, but we ended up walking 88 miles to San Fernando, Pampanga Province.   Those who survived were shoved into a narrow gauge boxcar, 100 or more to a car, and hauled 50 miles North to Tarlac.   From there, we marched to Camp O'Donnell, a camp prepared for Filipino Constabulary prior to the war.   Malaria hit me again, and I volunteered for any detail to get out of that dump!

    We were then sent back to Bataan to load US armament for the Japanese.   I got sick again with Malaria and Dysentery.   The Japs then hauled me to Cabanatuan Prison Camp #1.   After going blind and surviving the farm and burial detail, I was then sent back to Clark Field.   This time, it was not like my earlier detail since we worked everyday except Yasume (Japanese for Sunday).

    In early 1944, I was hauled back to Cabanatuan #1 and shortly thereafter, they sent me to Bilibid Prison in Manilla.   On 1 July 1944, we were loaded on a captured Canadian freighter, which was christened the SS Canadian Inventer.   We had nicknamed it Mati-Mati Maru, which meant 'wait a minute'.   After 62 days at sea, we finally landed at Moji, Japan.   We marched across a railroad trestle to Simoneske, Honshu, Japan.   We boarded a train to Omine Machi, a Jap coal mine.   The Japs had used Russian POW's to work this mine back in 1906 as slave laborers.   For 11 months I worked in the coal mine, obtaining a knee and finger injury in December 1944.   I was the camp bugler and still have the Jap bugle I had used.

    I was liberated 15 September 1945 at Wakayama, Japan after 41 months, 8 days, and 7 ¾ hours as a 'Holio' (Japanese for prisoner).   I was honorably discharged 18 March 1946 at Camp Chaffee, in Fort Smith AR.

      I received the following medals:
      Good Conduct Medal with Clasp
      Asiatic-Pacific Theater Ribbon with 2 Bronze Stars
      WWII Victory Medal
      American Theater Ribbon
      American Defense Service Ribbon with a Bronze Star
      Philippine Defense Ribbon with a Bronze Star
      USAFFE 45 Distinguished Unit Badge with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters
      Purple Heart
      AGO AG PE 1 29 January 1946


    After my discharge, I became a furniture merchant.
    I met and married my lovely wife, Lahure Gant on 3 November 1946.
    We have 3 wonderful children, Frank, Karen, and Debra Kay.
    We have 5 grandchildren.
    I retired after 35 years as an antique dealer.

    Life was always a pleasant surprise for me, and though, not a perfect child, I had perfect parents, both being ordained ministers.   I always knew I had a praying mother, even in my darkest hours, and because of that I was able to survive the worst hell a soldier could ever experience.

    Herbert Lee Boyd
    10 August 1990

          Herbert Lee Boyd died on May 16, 2002