Sergeant Guy Fredrick White

World War II US Army 31st Infantry Regiment Service Number: 06862206 Born: abt 1912 - Yuma County Inducted: 1934 Died: August 20, 1942 at Cabanatuan POW Camp, Philippines Buried: Manila American Cemetery, Plot A, Row 13, Grave 8, Philippines

Son of Mr. and Mrs. John White from Yuma.

ABMC Photograph

Yuma Pioneer June 17, 1943

Former Resident of County Dies in Prison Camp
Sister of Guy F. White Receives Word of His Death on May 21 in Manila

Guy F. White an officer of the United States Army and a former resident of southwest of Yuma, died May 21, in a Japanese prison camp in Manila, according to word received last week by his sister, Mrs. Louis Nielsen, who resides north of town.

A son of Mr. and Mrs. John White, who now reside at Nevada, Missouri, White enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1934 and received his military training at a camp in Minnesota. In 1938, he was one of a group of officers chosen from various camps thru out the nation to be sent to United States outposts. He first went to Honolulu in the Hawaiian Islands, where he spent two years and from there he was transferred to Manila in the Philippines. He participated in the battles between the Japs and the defenders of Manila, Bataan and Corregidor and was captured by the invaders on May 7, 1942, following the fall of the latter place.

Mrs. Nielsen received no details concerning her brother's death.

June 1943, Vernon County, Missouri. (publishing newspaper unknown)

SERGT. GUY WHITE OF MILO DIES IN A JAPANESE PRISON CAMP

Was One of More Than 300 American Soldiers Who Have Died of Disease in Prison Camps Since the Fall of Bataan and Corregidor.

Washington, June 22 - Messages through the International Red Cross from Japan have notified the war department of the names of more than 300 American soldiers who have died of disease in prison camps since the fall of Bataan and Corregidor.

Malaria, diphtheria, dysentery and pneumonia were listed as the major causes of death. Some cases of beriberi were reported.

The deaths by disease are out of a total of 11,207 army personnel thus far reported prisoners of war of Japan. Earlier more than 300 deaths due to battle wounds had been reported from Japanese sources.

Three Kansans and four Missourians were included in the list of disease victims released yesterday by the war department.

The Kansans.

Pvt. Jesse M. Martin, son of John W. Martin, Kiowa.
Lieut. Howard T. Morton, son of John Leo Morton, Wichita.
Pvt. George Nesbitt, jr. son of Mrs. Josephine Nesbitt, Wichita.

The Missourians.

Pvt. Clarence E. Beard, son of H.W. Beard, St. Joseph.
Staff Sergt. William R. Connor, son of William D. Connor, Kansas City.
Sergt. Guy F. White, son of John E. White, route 1, Milo.

All the above persons were held in the Philippine Islands.

Pvt. Edward De Koch, son of Mrs. De Koch of Lemay, Mo., died in the Asiatic area, where most of the victims were held at Mukden.

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Word was received here today of the death of Sgt. Guy F. White, son of Mr. and Mrs. John E. White of Milo. Sergeant White was captured by the Japanese and had been held as a prisoner in the Philippines since the fall of those islands to Japanese arms.

Death, the message to his parents said, was the result of malaria which he contracted while a prisoner. There was no other information in the message which was delivered through International Red Cross from the Japanese government.

The Vernon county selective service office had no information beyond the notice of the Vernon countian's death, and since he was in the Philippines when the war started, it seems probable that he had volunteered before the outbreak of the war.

From a 1993 bio.

Guy Fredrick White, who was reared on a homestead south of Yuma, died in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in Manila in the first year of the war. He entered the Army in 1934, trained in Minnesota, and in 1938 was among a group of officers chosen to be sent to U.S. outposts. After two years in Honolulu, Sgt. White was transferred to Manila in the Philippines as a member of the 31st Infantry. He participated in battles between the Japanese and defenders of Manila, Bataan and Corregidor, and was captured by the invaders on May 7, 1942, after the fall of Corregidor.

According to Abie Abraham, a fellow sergeant with the 31st Infantry, "Guy was very sick and we tried to take care of him feeding him and giving him water. Guy died of malaria at 5:30 a.m. on August 20, 1942, and I helped bury him. His remains were moved in 1945 to the American Cemetery in Manila."

Before war erupted, Guy had married a nurse in the Philippines. The family received word that she had also died in the war.

Cabanatuan POW Camp Death Records

Death 1501 - White, Guy F. Sgt 31 Inf, 6862206, (age) 32, (died) 5:30 AM 8/20/42, Malaria

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