The Officers of the Lost Battalion

The 2nd Battalion of the 131st Field Artillery was led by a complement of 28 commissioned officers. Lt. Colonel Blucher S. Tharp (later promoted to Colonel) was the senior officer and Captain Arch Fitzsimmons was assigned by the Japanese to oversee the Americans assigned to the Burma portion of the railway building.

While the Officers maintained different roles in the POW camps, the stories of the men reflect their more direct relationships with specific Officers.  Not all were originally with the 131st - 2nd Lt. Roy E. Stensland from Sioux Falls, SD was assigned to the 147th Field Artillery (South Dakota National Guard) but was captured on Java when on a special mission “to procure ships and small boats to run the blockade at Bataan in the Philippines” (http://www.rightsidesd.com/?p=20033).

LAST NAMEFIRST NAMERANKHOMETOWN
AllenHollis G.1st LT
BorenL.M.
CatesCharles ACAPT
DodsonT.A.
ElkinH.G.
FillmoreClyde C1st LT
FitzimmonsArchie LCAPTCarlsbad, NM
FowlerIra HCAPT
HamptonR.W.
HardIlo B1st LT
HeinenJulius B1st LT
HinerDavid A2nd LTAbilene, TX
HumbleMaxwell1st LT
KeithlyOscar1st LT
LattimoreJames P2nd LTLubbock, TX
LumpkinSamuel H
MorganIsaac A Jr1st LT
ParkerWilliam
RogersWinthrop HMAJ
SchmidElton
SloneW.R.1st LT
SmithTravis J2nd LT
StenslandRoy E2nd LTSalinas, CA
StraughanMillett A2nd LT
TaylorClark LCAPT
TharpBlucher SLT COL
WrightHuddleston WCAPT
ZeiglerLeroy L