#9. How John Burk’s Past Saved Him from Execution

John Burk languished for 3 months in 1943 in Manila’s medieval-era dungeon.

Then the sentence came: Execution.

The date was set. The prison guards forced him to dig his own grave.

When suddenly…

Burk’s past came back to save him, and possibly the lives of three fellow sailors.

At the same time, one of those sailors, William Patton, was involved in a cross-ocean love triangle – that he knew nothing about.

Discover the bizarre-but-true stories of these two Navy men.

This is the second of 2 episodes about how 4 Navy men hid from the Japanese – and the consequences of doing so.

Images
Portrait of John Burk from 1945 San Diego newspaper announcement of his return.
John Burk is somewhere in this 1928 track team photo for San Jose High School. Sadly, the yearbook didn’t list the names of people in this picture.
The USS Canopus with submarines.
Entrance to Ft. Santiago in Manila.
From what I have researched, the dungeons are below these grates. I’m not certain if these are “air vents” or entrances to dungeons.
Drawing of an American POW digging his own grave. By former POW Ben Steele.
Ribbon given to John Burk and the other USS Astoria crew in April 1939.
Japanese sailors watch the USS Astoria‘s 21-gun salute to Ambassador Saito as the ship enters Yokohama harbor in Japan.
The Japanese greeted the USS Astoria’s crew with grand gestures of gratitude at every event in Yokohama.
Locations where Storekeepers John Burk and William Patton were imprisoned while POWs in The Philippines
Aerial view of Bilibid Prison taken right after WW2 — notice the war-damaged buildings on the bottom left side. Image courtesy John Tewell.
Newly liberated American POWs at Bilibid Prison in February 1945. Many POWs, including John Burk (not pictured), weighed less than 100 pounds when released.
Map showing the locations where Storekeeper William Patton was imprisoned during his 3 years and 9 months as a POW.
Hiraoka Dam in 2007. Storekeeper Patton and fellow POWs worked to build this dam during their time as POWs at the Hiraoka Nagano Camp during World War 2.
Map of Golden Gate National Cemetery showing approximate grave locations of John Burk and his superior officer on the USS Canopus Alma Salm.
Burk Sources
  • “Limited Track Team,” The Bell, page 106, 1928 yearbook for San Jose High School, San Jose, California, database: U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-1999, Ancestry.com, accessed 6 December 2019.
  • “The Saito Cruise 1939,” USS ASTORIA CA-34: The Official Home of “Nasty Asty,” accessed 10 December 2019.
  • USS Astoria (CA-34), Wikipedia, accessed 9 December 2019.
  • “JOHN BURK, 90, PRISONER OF WAR SAVED FROM DEATH NAVY MAN HAD BEEN DECORATED BY JAPAN’S EMPEROR,” San Jose Mercury News, San Jose, California, August 17, 2002, found online at GenealogyBank.com, accessed 9 December 2019.
  • “List of Internees: Aalten, Hans Van to Dudley, Earl Carlyle, Sr.,” “Santo Tomas Internment Camp,” American Historical Collection, Rizal Library Special Collections Building, Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights, Quezon City, Philippines, accessed 7 December 2019.
  • HMS Empire Mace, 27 Feb 1945, page 64, in database “U.S. World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949,” Fold 3, online at www.fold3.com/image/309811459?rec=295459860&xid=1945, accessed 10 December 2019.
  • USS Pollux, 18 Feb 1945, page 49, in database “U.S. World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949,” Fold 3, accessed 10 December 2019.
  • “Bilibid Liberation Roster,” accessed 10 December 2019.
  • Sgt. Ike Thomas, “The Last Days of Bilibid,” accessed 10 December 2019.
  • “New Bilibid Prison,” Wikipedia, accessed 11 December 2019.
  • Grave Locator, National Cemetery Administration, US Department of Veterans Affairs, accessed 11 December 2019.
  • Burk, John entry in “Combat Naval Casualties, World War II, (AL-MO),” 1946, page 200, in U.S., Navy Casualties Books, 1776-1941, database online at Ancestry.com, accessed 7 December 2019.
  • John and Emma Burk entry, San Diego, California, City Directory, 1939, page 88, in U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995, databases online, Ancestry.com, accessed 6 December 2019.
  • Paddy Shennan, “’I can never forget seeing Japanese soldiers forcing prisoners to dig their own graves’—Former POW recalls his darkest days,” Liverpool Echo, 27 May 2015, accessed 30 December 2022.
  • “USNA Boxing Club,” United States Naval Academy.
  • “Burk Boy Funeral Monday,” Redwood City Tribune, Redwood City, California, 14 December 1963, page 2, online at Newspapers.com
Patton Sources
  • “Fort Santiago,” Wikipedia, accessed 30 October 2019.
  • “Fort Santiago Photos,” Philippines Travel Guide, accessed 30 October 2019.
  • “Dungeon of Fort Santiago,” Traces of War, accessed 30 October 2019.
  • “World War II Prisoners of War, 1941-1946,” database online, entry for Wm Anderson Patton, Ancestry.com, accessed 19 Nov 2011.
  • “Court Solves Dilemma of 2 Husbands,” Tacoma News Tribune, November 25, 1943, page 8, online at GenealogyBank.com, accessed 11 November 2019.
  • “1920 United States Federal Census,” database online, entry for John A. Maine family, Ancestry.com, accessed 12 November 2019.
  • “Asks Court Annul 2nd Marriage,” Tacoma News Tribune, September 28, 1943, page 2, found online at GenealogyBank.com, accessed 11 November 2019.
  • “California Death Index, 1940-1997,” database online, entry for Lois B Boss, Ancestry.com, accessed 12 November 2019.
  • “Casualty List at Center,” Tacoma News Tribune, March 23, 1943, page 9, found online at GenealogyBank.com, accessed 11 November 2019.
  • “Housewife Perishes in Valley Fire,” Pasadena Independent, Pasadena, California, February 14, 1967, page 15, found online at Newspapers.com, accessed 12 November 2019.
  • “Fred Olsen,” Seattle Daily Times, July 3, 1949, page 11, found in an Ancestry Member Tree, Ancestry.com, accessed 12 November 2019.
  • “Killed in Action,” Life Magazine, July 5, 1943, found online, Google Books, accessed 19 Oct 2011.
  • Memorial for Constance Beronica “Connie” Olson Wimbles, Find A Grave, found online at , accessed 12 November 2019.
  • Memorial for CPO William Anderson Patton, Find A Grave, accessed 15 October 2019.
  • Memorial for Fred K. Olsen, Find A Grave, accessed 12 November 2019.
  • Memorial for Lois B Boss, Find A Grave, accessed 12 November 2019.
  • Memorial for Mary Lucy Maine Olsen, Find A Grave, accessed 11 November 2019.
  • “Mrs. George Boss,” Tacoma News Tribune, February 17, 1967, page 7, found online at GenealogyBank.com, accessed 11 November 2019.
  •  Patton,” Tacoma News Tribune, December 13, 1953, page 53, found online at GenealogyBank.com, accessed 11 November 2019.
  • “POW Camps in Japan Proper,” POW Research Network Japan, accessed 19 November 2011.
  • “Remarries, to Learn First Husband, Reported Dead, Is Prisoner of Japs,” Tacoma News Tribune, September 24, 1942, page 1, found online at GenealogyBank.com, accessed 11 November 2019.
  • “Tacoma, Pierce County War Dead,” Tacoma News Tribune, September 17, 1943, page 1, found online at GenealogyBank.com, accessed 11 November 2019.
  • “Tacoma, Washington, City Directory, 1954,” in “U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995,” database online, entry for Barbara L Patton, Ancestry.com, accessed 13 October 2019.
  •  “These Men Gave Lives,” Tacoma News Tribune, July 20, 1942, page 2, found online at GenealogyBank.com, accessed 11 November 2019.
  • “U.S. Veterans’ Gravesites, ca.1775-2006,” database online, entry for William Anderson Patton, Ancestry.com, accessed 12 October 2019.
  • “US World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949,” database online, entry for William Anderson Patton, December 31, 1942, Ancestry.com, accessed 19 Nov 2011.
  • “Washington, Birth Index, 1907-1919,” database online, entry for Louise Barbara Olson, Ancestry.com, accessed 12 November 2019.
  • “William Anderson Patton,” Tacoma News Tribune, November 11, 1953, page 2, found online at GenealogyBank.com, accessed 11 November 2019.
  •  “World War II Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Casualties, 1941-1945,” database online, entry for William Anderson Patton, Ancestry.com, accessed 19 November 2011.
  • “World War II Prisoners of the Japanese, 1941-1945,” database online, entry for William Anderson Patton, Ancestry.com, 19 November 2011.
  • “World War II Prisoners of War, 1941-1946,” database online, entry for Wm Anderson Patton, Ancestry.com, accessed 19 Nov 2011.
  • “Arkansas, Birth Certificates, 1914-1917,” database online: Ancestry.com, Lehi, Utah, 2019, original data: Arkansas Department of Vital Records, Birth Certificates, Little Rock, Arkansas.
  • ”1950 United States Federal Census, database online, Ancestry.com, Lehi, Utah, 2022, original data: Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Population Schedules for the 1950 Census, 1950 – 1950, Washington, DC: National Archives, Washington, DC., Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 – 2007, Record Group 29.
  • Anderson William Patton memorial, Find A Grave.
  • “Arkansas Death Certificates, 1914-1969,” database online: Ancestry.com, Lehi, Utah, 2019, original data: Arkansas Department of Vital Records, Death Certificates, Little Rock, Arkansas.
  •  “1920 United States Federal Census,” Database online: Ancestry.com, Lehi, UT, 2010, original data: Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920 (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls), Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.
Historic Audio Source
Image Sources
  • 1928 SJHS Track Team, “Limited Track Team,” The Bell, page 106, 1928 yearbook for San Jose High School, San Jose, California, database: U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-1999, Ancestry.com, accessed 6 December 2019.
  • USS Canopus. Official US Navy image, image number 80-G-1014615, in the collections of the US National Archives and Records Administration, found online at Naval History and Heritage Command, Department of the Navy, accessed 19 August 2019.
  • Grates above Ft. Santiago dungeons. Licensed from Adobe Stock Images.
  • “His Own” drawing, Ben Steele, “His Own — Camp O’Donnell,” Ben Steele’s Personal Chronically from Bataan to Hiroshima, accessed 13 December 2019.
  • Images of Astoria Crew in Yokohama. Photos from Brent Jones collection, found online at “The Saito Cruise 1939,” USS ASTORIA CA-34: The Official Home of “Nasty Asty,” accessed 10 December 2019.
  • Aerial view of Bilibid Prison. “Bilibid Prison, Manila, Philippines, Feb. 1945,” uploaded by John Tewell, Flickr, accessed 15 October 2019.
  • Liberated POWs at Bilibid. Bettmann/Corbis photo, accessed 10 December 2019.
  • Maps created by Anastasia Harman
  • Hiraoka Dam. Photographed by Qurren, 2007, Wikimedia Commons, accessed 11 November 2019.

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