This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list.
Surnames: Bassham
Classification: Query
Message Board URL:
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/3h.2ADE/2075
Message Board Post:
This letter is being sent at the same time to the newspapers in Jeffersonville and New
Albany, Indiana
Clifford H. Bassham and Earl C. Bassham of Floyd
County, Indiana were killed July 11, 1945, and are
buried side by side in the Manila American Cemetery in
the Philippines.
Hello, my name is Dave Dwiggins and I am a retired
Hoosier residing in the Philippines. My Filipino wife
and I visited the memorial as regular visitors but
came home with a mission in our hearts. We had only
strolled a few feet onto the well-groomed grass and I
was hit by a painful, gut wrenching feeling of
loneliness that I felt when I left the USA for Vietnam
many years earlier. As I looked over the hillsides
there were thousands of graves (17,206) and the only
activity was that of the groundskeepers. There were no
visitors.
http://fizkid.tripod.com/
I focused my camera on a white cross of of an Ohio
soldier. At that moment it hit me, why don't I see if
I can find a few of these families. Since that time we
have located 75 Indiana families, actually there 73,
one is from Michigan and another is from New York. A
ninety-four year old New Yorek lady never known nor
seen the grave of her brother. We couldn't turn her
down and she now has a photo.
For over a year now we have been collecting
information and can't seem to find anything about
these Bassham boys. We have contacted 150 Indiana
newspapers, over 200 libraries, 50 historical
societies and have written thousands of letters to
genealogy bulletin boards. We have also searched the
American Battlefield Commission database, Indiana
servicemen's database, National Archives (NARA) and
the Indiana State Library Servicemen database to
mention of few of the locations. We figure surely
there would be better resources in the Jeffersonville
- New Albany area and no doubt someone knows what
happened to the young Indiana heroes.
In light of the fact that Hampton Sides wrote a
fantastic true book, Ghost Soldiers (National Best
Seller) and it has been made into a movie The Great
Raid which is coming out next week, this would be a
great feature if you were lucky enough to find some
answers.
http://www.apple.com/trailers/miramax/the_great_raid.html
The Great Raid is base upon the book by Hampton about
the rescue of American POW's that had been
incarcerated by the Japanese for over three years
after being captured at Corregidor and Bataan in the
Philippines.
Please help us to find the story about the Bassham
boys, killed on the same day and buried side by side
in the Manila American Cemetery along with their
comrades. This is the largest of all the American
Battlefield Commission Memorials in number of grave
sites.
We thank you in advance for your help and for taking
the time to read our story. We have attached the
photographs of the Bassham boys final resting place,
singularly and together.
Clifford H. Bassham
Major
United States Army
S/N 0-384633
152nd Infantry Regiment, 38th Infantry Division
Entered the service from Floyd County Indiana
DOD – July 11, 1945
Buried in the Manila American Cemetery - Philippines
Plot G Row 11 Grave 2
Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, Purple Heart
Earl C. Bassham
Private
United States Army
S/N 20532919
152nd Infantry Regiment, 38th Infantry Division
Entered the service from Floyd County Indiana
DOD – July 11, 1945
Buried in the Manila American Cemetery - Philippines
Plot G Row 11 Grave 3
Bronze Star, Purple Heart
Sincerely,
Dave and Apple Dwiggins
San Pablo City, Philippines