Hi Renee,

I got some pages of a book by Manny Lawton, "Some Suvived" It lists John Presnell as dying.  You might want to get the book and read Chapter 15, about the Brazil Maru, maybe you can get a name of two of someone to inquire of if they knew a soldier by name opf John Presnell.

Regards,

Tom McGeeney

Renee,

It's in the Appendix, on page 283, "John F. Presnell,Jr with a Portland, ME address.

This is a list of 1,607 American prisoners aboard three Hell Ships.  Of whom less than 400 survived the 47 day journey to Japan.  This list was compiled by 4 survivors for inclusion in the "Oryoku Maru" story in 1982

You might want to check  "The Oryoku Story" for more information.

My copy of Some Survived is a paper back and has 2 Appendixes,  the first one deals with the trial and punishment of the Japs for their involvement in the Hell Ships episode.  The 2nd lists all the prisoners on the 3 Hell Ships.

The three Hell Ships are:

        Oryoku Maru
        Enoura Maru
        Brazil; Maru

Regards,

Tom

Rene,

John Presnell's death is specifically mentioned in John Wright's "Captured on Corregidor."  There is confusion as to the date of his death.  Wright says it happend late on the voyage of the Brazil Maru.  Robert Conn, a survivor who kept a contemporary death roster, lists the date as 1/25/45, which was late.  The American Battle Monuments Commission and the Natl Archives record the date as 1/19/45, as does a partial roster prepared by the Japanese.  A 1945 or 46 deposition by Cecil Sanders says he died around the 20th.  In addition, George Weller's 1945 newspaper article reports him as having been shot trying to escape from the Enoura Maru, but that is a case of mistaken identity.  There's really no way to tell, but the weight of evidence would favor the earlier date.

One other detail about the voyages that will become more meaningful as you do more research.  John Presnell almost certainly would have been in the forward hold of the Oryoku Maru as he was part of the subgroup commanded by Lt. Col. Beecher.  Had he lived he would have eventually been sent to Korea along with the other members of that group.

With respect to earlier events, there is one mention of Presnell in Calvin Chunn's "Of Rice and Men"  It says he was one of nine men who worked with Lt. Col FG Saint in the engineering detail that finally helped solve the terrible problems with the latrines and flooded ground at Cabanatuan.

Good luck in your efforts to find out more.
Jim Erickson

Renee,

A final note, and it might not mean anything.  You mentioned wanting to find out as much as you can and there is another source.  You might already have this information, but on Ancestry.com it has World War II Prinsoners of War, 1941 - 1946 Record.  Here you can print up John F. Presnell, Jr and it will list what statistics they have on him.  They have the 19 Jan 1945 as the Latest Report Date.

Also, you can get World War II and Korean Conflict Veterans Interred Overseas Record on him.  This lists his rank, Combat Organization, 14th Eng., Death Date, 19 Jan 45, Monument at Honolulu, he is missing, and US Awards, Purple Heart, Bronze Star and additional Army Awards.

As you probably know about this I was just making known that Ancestry.com has this on their web site in case you weren't aware or wanted to print up these pages.

Regards,

Tom