#12. The Final Transfers of Sailors McManus, Hutchison, and Hall

Episode 12 – Canopus Men: Hall/Hutchison/McManus – Episode Script

Story Intro
[Narrator] Air raids had become commonplace over the southern part of Manila Bay by the end of December 1941, as Japanese forces swiftly over ran Luzon, the largest island in The Philippines. Bataan Peninsula – on the western side of Manila Bay -- and Corregidor Island, which guarded the bay’s entrance, were prime targets for Japanese bombers and attack planes. And both targets were both bombed incessantly.
The USS Canopus – a 1920s-era submarine tender stranded in Manila Bay when war started – was anchored in between those two targets and had by late December, escaped the notice of enemy aircraft. Perhaps the old, relatively small ship that was disguised as a fishing craft and with little war value was too insignificant a target for the Japanese to waste their bombs on.
Perhaps more than 3 weeks of being overlooked by enemy bombs had made the crew a bit complacent. Perhaps the drone of approaching enemy aircraft had become an easily unnoticed background noise.
Besides, 33-year-old Machinist Adolphus Hutchison and 27-year-old Electrician Alton Hall had other responsibilities on their minds – like being in charge of the USS Canopus’s busy, cramped, crowded Engine Room during the late afternoon on December 29, 1941.
So perhaps the sounds of approaching motors couldn’t even penetrate into the loud engine room. Regardless of what the men in the Engine Room did or did not hear, they definitely felt the repercussions of those aircraft.
A squadron of Japanese bombers, their bombing run over Corregidor Island complete, turned toward base, and, while flying over the Canopus, dropped their remaining bombs—almost as an afterthought, it seemed. By some miracle, only one bomb hit the ship.
That armor-piercing bomb tore through all the ship’s decks before detonating. The explosion burst the Engine Room’s pipes, spraying scalding steam, oil, and metal fragments throughout the close quarters.
The first blast of steam incapacitated Machinist Hutchison and Electrician Hall. Other sailors were killed by the scorching steam filling the small room. The quick-thinking Machinist Mate shut off the steam at the boilers, ending the scalding-hot steam’s rampage into the Engine Room and saving more sailors from death.
The ships’ Chaplain, Father Francis McManus, disregarded his own safety and rushed into the steam- and smoke-filled room with a rescue party. They found several badly burned and scalded men – some wounded, some dead – on the Engine Room’s floor.
[McManus] “Through this holy anointing may the Lord in his love and mercy help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit. May the Lord who frees you from sin save you and raise you up,”
[Narrator] Chaplain McManus whispered, kneeling on the floor, as he administered Last Rites to a dying sailor.
Around him, the rescue party began removing the dead and wounded men. Chaplain McManus joined them, helping wounded men – including Machinist Hutchison and Electrical Hall -- to a makeshift aid station.
But conditions outside the Engine Room weren’t much better.
After tearing through the Engine Room and other decks, the bomb exploded near the ship’s magazine (the place where ammunition is held). The explosion started several fires, which threatened to ignite the ammunition.
So above deck, the Engine Room survivors found a chaotic scene of sailors trying to put out fires with hoses and even bucket brigades. Below deck, crew members groped through smoke-filled corridors to help fellow sailors escape.
And, as the fires raged, the question on everyone’s minds loomed large: Could the old submarine tender survive this bombing, or would she take her crew to the bottom of Manila Bay?
This is Left Behind.

Podcast Welcome
Welcome to “Left Behind,” a podcast about the people left behind when the US surrendered The Philippines in the early days of WW2.
I’m Anastasia Harman, and I tell you the stories of WW2 servicemen and women, civilians, guerillas, and others captured by Japanese forces in The Philippines. My great-grandfather Alma Salm was one of the POWs, and his memoir inspired me to tell stories of his fellow captives.
Today I get to tell you about 3 sailors serving on the USS Canopus with my great-grandfather Alma Salm – Electrician Alton Hall, Chaplain Francis McManus, and Machinist Adolphus Hutchison. Alma was on board the Canopus when it was bombed, as described in the opening scene.
In his memoir he described the bombing and told about Machinist Hutchison’s and Electrician Hall’s injuries, naming them by name, which is where I first learned about these two brave sailors. And while I was learning about them, I discovered Chaplain McManus.
Three men. Three heroic lives.
Let’s jump in.

POW’s Life Story
Before the War
[Narrator] Chaplain Francis Joseph McManus was born in 1905 in Cleveland, Ohio, the second child to Bernard and Anna McManus. His father, Bernard, worked as a manager—first at a coal office and then at a building supply. Bernard McManus’s parents were – not surprisingly – born in Ireland. They probably emigrated from Ireland during the Potato Famines of the mid-1800s.
Young Francis grew up in Cleveland, and I expect his family were devout Catholics, because in 1929, 24-year-old Francis was ordained to the Catholic priesthood in Innsbruck, Austria. I don’t have records of his ordination, but I wonder if he attended the Collegium Canisianum – a Jesuit School of Theology for Catholic Priests – located in Innsbruck.
After returning to Ohio, Father McManus worked in various positions at Catholic churches in and around Cleveland. In October 1936, the 31-year-old priest joined the US Navy as a Chaplain (that’s a religious leader for servicemen). By December 1941, he was assigned to the USS Canopus, where Machinist Adolphus Hutchison and Electrician Alton Hall were also serving.

[Narrator] William Adolphus Hutchison, the Canopus Machinist, was born in 1908 and spent his childhood on his family’s farm in rural Indian Valley, Idaho (about 90 miles/144 km north of Boise). He was the second of 8 children born to William and Viola Hutchison. The father, William, owned and worked his farm in Idaho.
Around 1919, the Hutchison family moved to western Washington state, just minutes south of the Canadian border, to a farm near Bellingham. Adolphus, as he was called, spent his teen years there, attended Mount Baker High School, and (while still in high school) joined the Navy in 1927.
Sometime before WW2, Adolphus married a woman named Thelma. I know the couple lived in the San Francisco area by the late 1930s. But other than her name listed in a military record, I’ve found nothing about her. I don’t know if Adolphus and Thelma had children.
By 1941, Adolphus was a Warrant Machinist aboard the USS Canopus. That made him a Warrant Officer, which, from what I understand about US Navy ranks, is similar to the Army’s non-commissioned officers — like corporal or sergeant.
In other words, Adolphus had worked his way up the Navy ranks from enlisted to a warrant officer. By the time WW2 began, he was a 15-year Navy veteran and had spent the 5 previous years serving in the US Navy’s Pacific Fleet.

[Narrator] Born in August 1914, the Canopus Electrician Alton Henry Hall was the second of 3 boys born to Henry and Amanda Hall. The family lived on a farm near a rural Texas town called Comanche, which is pretty much dead center in Texas, about 140 miles/225 km southwest of Dallas. In 1930, when Alton was a teenager, the population of the town was 2,400 people.
Alton’s parents were from Alabama, and seem to have been, as were most of their Comanche neighbors, part of the early 1900s westward migration from the American South, as families were trying to find and settle land of their own.
I know little of Alton’s early years. But, in November 1936, the grey-eyed, brown-haired 22-year-old went to Dallas and enlisted in the Navy. Both of his brothers served in the Army during WW2. I have a picture of the three of them, before the war, wearing each other’s uniforms, according to family story. It’s on my website; the link is in the show description.
For Alton Hall, it was “Join the Navy and see the Asiatic Pacific.” He spent the late 1930s sailing between The Philippines, China, and Hong Kong. Sometime during his travels, he sent home a statue of Buddha, which the family still has today. He also collected matchbooks, commemorating his travels.
And, if I’m reading the military records correctly, it appears he even spent at least a few months as a crew member on board the submarine USS Perch.
By the time he joined the USS Canopus’ crew in February 1941, the young man with a handsome, square face and friendly smile had earned the rank of Electrician’s Mate 2nd Class. He was 5’10” tall and with a well-built, muscular frame, perhaps from growing up on a farm.

During the War
[Narrator] This episode is about 3 POWs. But there is a 4th, very important character in this story – the USS Canopus herself.
When WW2 began, the USS Canopus was in Manila Bay, having just undergone renovations to make her more like a war ship. But at heart, Canopus wasn’t a war ship – she was a mother.
The ship’s Captain Earl Sackett wrote:
[Sackett] “A less likely candidate than the Canopus for the roll of heroine in a tale of adventure could hardly be imagined. She was no longer young, and had never been particularly dashing, but her partisans were always ready to ascribe a certain majesty to her appearance. Undeniable, she waddled like a duck, as was pointed out in many a good-natured jibe, but that was only natural in a middle-aged motherly type, and she was truly "mama" to her brood of submarines, which used to forage with her from the Philippines to the China coast and back again each year.”
[Narrator] The Canopus (which was named after a Greek mythological navigator in the Trojan War) was a submarine tender. She sailed with several patrolling submarines through Asiatic Pacific waters and supplied them with food, weapons, chemicals, and anything else the submarine or crew needed.
So, when war started and most other US Navy ships left The Philippines, the Canopus remained in Manila Bay – to take care of her submarines that patrolled the Philippine waters, slipping undetected through and below the increasing Japanese naval blockade surrounding the islands.
When the rest of the US forces withdrew to Bataan, Canopus joined them, anchoring in the small harbor at Marivelles on Bataan’s southern-most point. Sackett explained:
[Sackett] “We moored the ship to the shoreline in a protective cove, and again spread our camouflage nets overhead. This time, the object was to make the ship look like part of the jungle foliage ashore, and we succeeded very well by using mottled green paint, with plenty of tree branches tied to the masts and upper works.”
[Narrator] The crew hoped the camouflage would keep the ship from being targeted by bombers. And it did – for a few days.
[Sackett] “Disillusionment of [this hope] was not slow in coming. On December 29th our daily visitors, evidently deciding that Manila had been adequately taken care of, turned their attention toward us. Squadron after endless squadron showed their contempt for the guns of Corregidor by blasting that island from end to end, and the last group of the day, as if by an after-thought, wheeled in from that fatally exposed direction and blanketed the Canopus with a perfectly placed patter of bombs. Tied up as she was, and unable to dodge, it seemed a miracle that only one of the closely bunched rain of missiles actually struck the ship, but that one bomb nearly ended our career then and there. It was an armor-piercing type which went through all the ship's decks, and exploded on top of the propeller shaft under the magazines, blowing them open, and starting fires which threatened to explode the ammunition.”
[Narrator] Some bombs hit the cove’s nearby hillside, raining rocks and dirt on the ship’s deck. Despite these obstacles, fire-crews began fighting the fires from the deck. Smoke poured from ammunition shuttles that lead to the damaged ammunition magazines (storage areas) below deck. Through them the sailors on deck heard detonations below, increasing fears that those magazines might blow up at any moment.
Nevertheless, crew members directed their hoses down the hatches. One gunner’s mate, hose in hand, even climbed down a smoke-filled ammunition trunk, to get down to the fires. Then the water pumps failed, but the sailors formed bucket brigades to continue the fight.
Below deck, another group pushed through the smoke into the compartments near the ammunition magazines. The ship was equipped with oxygen-breathing apparatuses – but these, of course, were not accessible due to the explosion. A sailor, donning the only one still available, carried a hose directly into a magazine. He was supported by shipmates, who worked in shifts, staying in the smoke-filled areas as long as possible, before needing fresh air.
Meanwhile, Chaplain McManus – a 37-year-old with a kind, round face, understanding eyes, and a small moustache above his upper lip and described by the ship’s captain as “our fighting chaplain,” rushed into the inferno-like Engine Room on a rescue mission.
He received a Silver Star – the US military’s 3rd highest decoration awarded to those showing valor in combat -- for his actions that day. The citation read:
[Citation] “When an armor-piercing bomb exploded in the vicinity of the after magazine crushing or exploding 70 rounds of ammunition, killing 6 men and wounding 6 others, and starting fires in adjacent compartments, Chaplain McManus, with complete disregard for his own safety, entered the smoke and steam filled engine room, assisted in removing the wounded and administered the last rites of the dying. His courageous action, beyond the call of duty and in the face of grave danger, is in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.”
[Narrator] The crew battled the Canopus blaze for four hours before the flames were under control and crewmen able to examine the magazines. Sackett continued:
[Sackett] “When the magazines were examined, several crushed and exploded powder charges were found, mute evidence showing how close to complete destruction the ship and all on board had been. Nothing less than a miracle could have prevented a general magazine explosion at the time the bomb set off those powder charges, but miracles do happen. The engine of destruction had carried its own antidote, and it's fragments which severed pipes near the magazines had released floods of steam and water at the danger point, automatically keeping fire away from the rest of the powder. Our numbers just weren't quite up that day.”
[Narrator] That evening, the ship’s repair crews went to work fixing the bomb’s damage, while the supply crew continued tending the submarines. It was business as usual -- despite a gaping hole in the ship’s deck – for most the crew … except perhaps for Electrician Hall and Machinist Hutchison.
Both men were injured – described by other crew members as “badly wounded” and “badly burned” – by the steam-room explosions, but they survived. I don’t have information about the extent of their injuries, beyond those somewhat vague “badly” descriptions. Obviously the injuries severe enough for at least 2 crew members, in their later accounts of the incident, to record the men – by name – as having been injured and/or incapacitated.
My best guess is that Hall and Hutchison would have been ferried two miles south to the navy hospital, located within the maze of tunnels dug into the hills on Corregidor Island. Regardless of their injuries severity and potential hospital stay’s both men were back on board the Canopus – and seemingly fulfilling their duties -- four months later by early April 1942.
During these same months of long siege on Bataan and Corregidor, Chaplain McManus often visited Corregidor Island himself. He focused on ministering to Catholic servicemen, especially those among the 4th Marines preparing to defend Corregidor’s beaches from potential Japanese ground landings.
Truly, Father McManus was a living embodiment of the type of American that President Franklin D Roosevelt described in an address to the nation the day after the US declared war on Germany, Japan, and Italy.
[Audio Clip: FDR Fireside chat, 12/9/41 – late 4 paragraphs of speech.
The true goal we seek is far above and beyond the ugly field of battle. When we resort to force, as now we must, we are determined that this force shall be directed toward ultimate good as well as against immediate evil. We Americans are not destroyers —we are builders.

We are now in the midst of a war, not for conquest, not for vengeance, but for a world in which this Nation, and all that this Nation represents, will be safe for our children. We expect to eliminate the danger from Japan, but it would serve us ill if we accomplished that and found that the rest of the world was dominated by Hitler and Mussolini.

We are going to win the war and we are going to win the peace that follows.

And in the difficult hours of this day—through dark days that may be yet to come—we will know that the vast majority of the members of the human race are on our side. Many of them are fighting with us. All of them are praying for us. For in representing our cause, we represent theirs as well—our hope and their hope for liberty under God.]

[Narrator] When Bataan fell to Japanese forces on April 9, 1942, all 3 men – McManus, Hall, and Hutchison -- escaped to Corregidor Island with the rest of the Canopus crew. Thus, they were spared the infamous Bataan Death March.
The USS Canopus herself, however, wasn’t so lucky. A few weeks after that first bomb hit, she was bombed again. She remained afloat however – and became a huge asset for the soldiers fighting on Bataan. (It’s a cool story and I’ll detail it in a couple of weeks). But she really wasn’t seaworthy without substantial repairs. So, on the night of April 8-9, 1942, as US forces prepped to surrender Bataan, the Canopus crew scuttled her – that is, sank her on purpose. Sacrificed so that this faithful mother couldn’t fall into enemy hands.
It was a difficult decision and loss for the crew. Captain Sackett recalled:
[Sackett] “Our crew never could quite believe, until the battered hull finally slipped into its last rest beneath the waves, that somehow the old girl would not manage to pull through, as she had that day [of the first bombing], and take them all out to rejoin the [big US Navy] Fleet, [that was supposedly on its way to rescue the men on Bataan and Corregidor].”
[Narrator] Chaplain McManus, Machinist Hutchison, and Electrician Hall remained on Corregidor for the next month, enduring constant air raids, bombardment, and shelling as Japanese forces laid siege on the island fortress. Supplies – food, ammunition, and medical – dwindled quickly, and the situation on Corregidor became dyer for our three heroes and the 10,000 other American and Filipino servicemen and women on the island.
[Narrator] Japanese ground forces landed on Corregidor on the morning of May 6, 1942. By the afternoon, the United States surrendered the entire Philippine Island nation to Japan. Hall, McManus, and Hutchison became Prisoners of War.

Later that month, Machinist Hutchison’s parents, back home in northern Washington state, received word that their son was missing in the battle of Corregidor. A local newspaper explained:
[Newspaper] “The navy emphasized it had no direct word [Hutchison] had been either killed or injured and told the parents he may have been taken prisoner by the Japs.”
[Narrator] Hutchison’s wife and parents received official word of his POW status a year later in spring 1943. By that time, he and his Canopus shipmates had been prisoners at Cabanatuan POW camps – Japan’s largest WW2 prison camp – for almost a year.
Life there was difficult for all POWs – with little food, disease running rampant, and constant, hard labor. But Chaplain Francis McManus was a beacon of light for the POWs in the camp. He held religious services for the Catholics in the camp, even when it was against Japanese orders and at risk of his own life. He was described by other POWs as never downhearted, never complaining, and, somehow, having a sense of humor throughout the long, torturous months at Cabanatuan.
A fellow Navy Chaplain said of McManus:
[Oliver] “In Military Prison Camp #1, Cabanatuan, Chaplain McManus constantly visited the sick, gave generously of very limited personal funds for the purchase of food for the sick . . . and frequently worked on details so that a sick man would not have to go out. Many times he volunteered to take the place of a sick chaplain so that he would not have to work on the prison farm, airport project, or in cleaning [the] Japanese Guard … area. He had the profound respect of men of all faiths and was a potent factor in bolstering their morale.”
[Narrator] A survivor of Cabanatuan later said:
[POWsurvivor] “[Chaplains] were as much deprived by the Japanese as any other one of us and were having a difficult time keeping themselves alive. I do believe, however, that Chaplain McManus was probably the most outstanding chaplain with us. . . . McManus had a quality rarely found in an individual. He was convincing in every undertaking and I personally have found him to be a man who believed in what he preached (pardon the expression).”
[Narrator] After he’d spent more than a year in captivity, McManus’s parents received a card from him in August 1943. I use the word “from” loosely, as it was a typewritten form letter. It informed McManus’s parents that their son was a POW, where he was located, and that he was in “good health.” Many POW’s families received these cards, most giving a good report of the POWs health and situation. The cards, as a rule, typically didn’t reflect reality.
A year later, in Summer 1944, McManus’s parents received information about their son in a unique way. A former, high-ranking POW named Lt. Col. A.C. Shofner was released by Japan in a POW exchange. He wrote a letter to McManus’s mother offering her details about her son:
[Shofner] “I am happy to state I knew your son, Father F. J. McManus, on Corregidor and later in Prison Camp No. 1 on Cabanatuan, Luzon. Father McManus performed his duty in an outstanding manner and I believe he was decorated at least once.”
[Narrator] That decoration was, as you know, for his rescue efforts during the Canopus bombing. Shofner’s letter continued:
[Shofner] “He served on Corregidor after the fall of Bataan, where I met him. We lived in the same barracks four months. During his internment in prison, Father McManus spent most of his time caring for the sick and boosting the morale of everyone. His devotion to duty and God made him the ‘inspiration’ of the camp and his uniting efforts were known to everyone in the camp. The last time I saw him, was Oct. 26, 1942. He was in excellent mental and physical condition.”
[Narrator] I don’t know if or how much Machinist Hutchison’s and Electrician Hall’s families heard from or about their sons during those long 2.5 years at Cabanatuan.
By October 1944, US and other Allied forces had made significant advancements toward retaking The Philippines. Allied air raids on The Philippines increased. And, in response, Japanese leaders accelerated movement of POWs to work camps in Japan.
So, on October 11, 1944, Machinist Adolphus Hutchison (from Washington state) and 1,782 other POWs were quickly loaded, between air raids, into a cargo hold of the Japanese transport ship Arisan Maru at a Manila dock.
Hutchison and the other sick, starving, and emaciated men, having already endured the torture of Japanese POW camps for 29 months, were now packed into a ship hold.
Each POW had several 5-gallon oil barrels for waste, but rampant dysentery quickly made for extremely unsanitary conditions. The hold’s temperatures reached upwards of 120 degrees Fahrenheit, and the men didn’t have enough water.
For these and other reasons, the Arisan Maru was a hell ship.
The ship headed out to sea for 9 days to avoid American bombings of Manila, then returned to the city where it joined a convoy of 17 other Japanese ships — including 3 destroyers for protection. The convoy left Manila in the early-morning darkness of October 21, heading for Takao, Formosa (in present-day northern Taiwan).
Two days later, the Japanese destroyers picked up signals from American submarines. In response, the convoy broke apart. The Arisan Maru loaded with POWs was slow. The slowest of the convoy.
By 5 pm on October 24, 1944, the Arisan Maru was travelling alone when the American sub USS Shark launched a torpedo at it. The Japanese ship was unmarked; the American submarine had no idea the cargo in its hold.
The ship split in half, the back sinking into the sea, but stayed afloat until around 7:40 pm. Nearly all the POWs escaped the ship, despite guards cutting the hold’s rope ladders as the Japanese abandoned ship. (Reports say that no POWs died when the torpedo hit the ship.)
Two Japanese destroyers returned to the scene. They attacked and sank the Shark (all 87 American sailors on that sub died). The destroyers then turned to rescuing survivors.
Japanese survivors.
American POWs swam through the South China Sea waters to the destroyers. But they didn’t meet with rescue. Instead, those on board the destroyers used poles to push and beat away the frantic POWs.
Desperate POWs clung to whatever pieces of wreckage they could find. But help never arrived. Only 9 POWs survived, having found lifeboats and padding to some type of safety.
Sadly, 36-year-old Machinist Adolphus Hutchison was among the 1,773 military and civilian POWs who died, making the Arisan Maru sinking the largest loss of American lives in a single maritime incident. Ironic that his death came at the hands of a submarine, whose brother’s he had helped keep afloat all those years on the Canopus.
Machinist William Adolphus Hutchison is considered Missing in Action and his name appears on the Wall of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery, alongside 36,000 other WW2 servicemen whose bodies were also unrecoverable.

[Narrator] Back in The Philippines, Electrician Alton Hall (from Texas) was among the men too sick for Japanese officials to transport to Japan work camps. While Machinist Hutchison was being loaded on to the Arisan Maru, Alton Hall was in a military hospital at Manila’s Bilibid Prison (a POW holding facility and hospital) suffering from beriberi and severe malnutrition.
Beriberi is a Vitamin B1 deficiency that can decrease muscle strength, cause nerve damage, and even heart failure. It was a very common disease among American POWs in The Philippines.
Seeking to ease Bilibid’s overcrowding issues, the Japanese established Sakura Prison Hospital, located at the former American base Ft. William McKinley in Manila. This hospital, staffed by American POW medical personnel, opened on November 15, 1944.
A very sick Alton Hall was among the first 150 Bilibid POW patients transferred to Sakura (at 6 am on November 15, 1944). After 2 years and 6 months as a POW, the 5’10” Alton weighed a mere 90 pounds.
The Sakura hospital was a 2-story building. A dirty, unfurnished, unsanitary 2-story building. It had no beds. No mattresses. Instead, the Japanese provided 1 woven bamboo mat per four patients. Some men did not get blankets. The weak, sick, starving patients received corn and rice twice a day.
But, despite the hopelessness of their situation, there was optimism among the patients. American air attacks on Manila were becoming more common. The Americans were returning.
Even in that, though, there was risk. The hospital’s American director requested permission to paint a large red cross on the building’s roof, so the Americans wouldn’t bomb the hospital filled with sick American POWs. I’m not sure if or when that permission came.
At 5:30 am on Sunday, November 19, 1944, just 4 days after Hall was transferred to Sakura, an air raid alert sounded at the Sakura Military Hospital.
The hospital’s Japanese guards ran, in full gear, for their fox holes. The Americans — some of them medical personnel, some patients, all of them prisoners of war — were ordered inside the hospital. But they peered through the windows and saw planes arriving from all directions. The markings were clear: They were American.
The Yanks were coming. And that bolstered hope. Because, even though the American prisoners were starving and sick, somehow these “Yank visits” (air raids) were “a treat for starvation.” The raid continued through breakfast and even a Sunday service, with shells and fragments falling around the hospital grounds.
But Alton Hall was not among the patients at breakfast or watching the air raid or praying in the service.
Instead, the 30-year-old sailor lay in a quiet, dark corner on a bamboo mat and covered by mosquito nets in the fly-infested hospital.
Sometime during all the tumult of the morning raids, a medical official discovered that Electrician Hall had, according to the Sakura Hospital log,
[Report] “Died during the night without calling for medical attention.”
[Narrator] Officially, he passed sometime between 2 and 5:30 am. He died of beriberi, heart disease, and severe malnutrition. The hardships of moving to the unequipped, unprepared hopsital contributed to the death.
Alton Hall was buried about 400 yards from the Sakura camp. He was the first of two deaths during the 6 weeks this hospital/camp was open. The Americans finally arrived in Manila in January 1945, but that was mere weeks too late for Alton Hall.

The American arrival in The Philippines also came too late for Chaplain McManus. In mid-December 1944, he was loaded onto the hell ship Oryoku Maru with some 1,600 other POWs. He survived the bombing of that ship by American planes (the ship was unmarked, so US pilots didn’t know what cargo was on board).
McManus was then loaded onto a different ship, which sailed to Formosa (present-day Taiwan). That American ship, too, was bombed by American planes. A fellow Catholic chaplain on the same ship later wrote:
[Survivor 1] "On the death ride from Manila many strange things happened. When three bombs hit us in the forward hold while in Takao Bay, Formosa, [on January 9, 1945] officers on all sides of me were killed. For three days none of us could get out of this hold and the Japs would give us no medical aid, but that’s too gruesome a story. Father Frank McManus was seriously wounded at this time and died January 22, 1945, enroute to Moji, Japan.
[Narrator] That Catholic Chaplin performed the last rights for Father McManus.
[Chaplain] “Through this holy anointing may the Lord in his love and mercy help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit. May the Lord who frees you from sin save you and raise you up,”
[Narrator] Father Francis Joseph McManus died 4 days after his 40th birthday. His body was likely buried at sea, and his name appears – with Machinist Hutchison’s -- on the Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery.

After the War & Legacy
[Narrator] After witnessing Father McManus’s example and sacrifice, a Marine Sergeant who knew Father McManus later stated:
[Marine] “It was a great privilege to have known and worked alongside Father McManus. I no longer wonder at the faith that could exalt the primitive Christians [martyrs] to die so horribly for an ideal. I know the answer; I have seen it in a living man. I have walked with a saint."
[Narrator] McManus was the first Catholic chaplain from the Cleveland area to die in World War 2. The Cleveland-area branch of the global Catholic fraternal service order Knights of Columbus was established in 1946 and is named after him – it’s called the Lt. McManus Assembly 811.

[Narrator] Adolphus Hutchison’s family in Washington received word of his death in July 1945. Adolphus was married, but I do not know if he left behind children as well as a widow. His three brothers and a brother-in-law also served in the US Navy in the Pacific during WW2. However, unlike Adolphus, they all returned home from the war.

[Narrator] In January 1949, Alton Henry Hall’s remains were returned to Texas, where he now rests in Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio.
His two brothers — Oliver and Orval — also served in WW2. One in the Army, one in the Air Corps. Both returned home, married, and had families. I had the opportunity to speak with Oliver’s granddaughter, Rhianna Miller (she’s Alton Hall’s great-grand niece). She said:
[Rhianna] “I know it always tortured my grandfather (Alton’s brother) that Alton was lost so young. And that shortly after his death the camp was liberated. My grandparents named their second son, Alton Ray Hall (1948), in memory of Alton Henry. My uncle, Alton R, always wore Alton Henry’s ring with his initials on it. I remember being told as a kid that the ring and Alton Henry’s bible were the only things sent back from the war department.”
[Narrator] The family refers to the POW Alton Hall as Alton Henry. After the war, the family story goes, a sailor from a nearby town brought back Alton Henry’s footlocker to the Hall family. Rhianna explains:
[Rhianna] “One aunt said she remembered a story that was supposedly told by the solider that brought his footlocker back to my great-grandparents. She said that she thought this young man was from Hamilton, Texas (which is right next door to Comanche where we are all from), and that he served with Alton Henry on the Canopus. Her understanding was that he was in the prison camp with Alton Henry, moved to the Sakura Prison Hospital, and then was moved back then subsequently liberated. The story goes that when he brought the footlocker back he told a them how he and Alton Henry were boiling grass in their urine for food. I did some looking and there was a solider that was on the Sakura roster, that served on the Canopus and then that was liberated from Hamilton, Texas. His name was Mark F Britain. I don’t know if this was the man, but all the pieces do seem to fit.”
[Narrator] I haven’t heard stories of boiling grass in urine for food. But I do know that they POWs boiled grass and succulents to make a soup they called the “Green Death.” And I also know that water was sometimes scarce at the camps. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if the POWs had to resort to urine.
The Buddha statue that Alton had sent home during his pre-war travels became a permanent feature in his brother Oliver’s home – as a doorstop -- and remains in the family today.
And even though Alton never married or had children, his memory lives vibrantly on today in his family. Rhianna explains:
[Rhianna] “I believe that Alton Henry must have had extreme strength and determination to have lasted that long. I full well believe if he had been able to hang on a little longer, he would have been able to come home to his family.”
[Narrator] She went on the share some thoughts on the kind of man she imagines Alton to have been – based on what the other Hall men were like:
[Rhianna] “My grandfather Oliver was a very steadfast, moral, and strong man (mentally & physically). He had a full-service gas and mechanic station in our small town his entire life after getting back from the war. He was a very determined man, no matter what he set his mind to. He quit smoking cold turkey just to show the doctor that he would live longer than him. … Their son, Alton Ray, also had this type of strength. In the early 80’s he was diagnosed with a rare form of muscular dystrophy and the doctor told him he wouldn’t live 5 years. He passed in 2004. He was still driving even though he had often had to physically lift his legs to make them work. And then my Dad, Weldon, also had this type grit. He battled a rare ocular melanoma for 3 years. Within that small time he developed Guillain-Barré syndrome from immunotherapy and completely lost the ability to walk etc. He fought back from that and relearned how to walk, and then he relapsed and went through several horrific surgeries just to gain more time with us.”
[Narrator] Truly a family of brave men full of grit.
Also, I applaud the way the Hall family is keeping Alton Henry Hall’s memory alive through the generations. Truly a model for all of us in remembering those men and women who died so young.
Perhaps the saddest thing about these three men’s death’s is that – as Alton’s great-grand-niece said – they died so close to war’s end. If Alton Hall could have held on just a bit longer before succumbing to sickness… If American forces could have kept those transport ships from leaving The Philippines… Perhaps all 3 men could have made it home.
What if… Tragic words that never have answers. But despite all that, 3 American heroes who served tirelessly and gave their all for freedom.

While the Canopus crew were battling the bombing fires in late December 1941, a Naval Aviator just on shore from where the Canopus was anchored, noticed a flaw that posed a huge threat to American forces on Bataan.
With no ground troop available to fix this error, this aviator assembled a rag-tag team of Navy men, marines, and aviators without planes – and held off a Japanese advance behind the American lines.
More on that next week.
This is Left Behind.

Outro
Thanks for listening! You can find pictures, maps, and sources about Electrician Hall’s, Machinist Hutchison’s and Chaplain McManus’s stories on my website; the link is in the show description.
If you enjoy this podcast, please consider leaving a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Reviews help others find this podcast, which lets me continue sharing these amazing stories.
Left Behind is researched, written, recorded, edited, and produced by me, Anastasia Harman. Voice acting by Paul Sutherland, Tyler Harman, Mike Davis, and Connor Davis. Special thanks to Alton Hall’s great-grand niece Rhianna Miller for her information, research, and voice work. Dramatizations are based on historical research, although some creative liberty is taken.
I’ll be back next week with the audacious and creative war-time strategies of an amazing Naval aviator.

Sources
MCMANUS
Francis Joseph Mcmanus [sic] entry, “U.S., World War II Prisoners of the Japanese, 1941-1945,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2010, original data: National Archives and Records Administration, World War II Prisoners of the Japanese File, 2007 Update, 1941-1945. ARC ID: 212383, World War II Prisoners of the Japanese Data Files, 4/2005 - 10/2007, ARC ID: 731002, Records of the Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor, Collection ADBC, ARC: 718969, National Archives at College Park. College Park, Maryland, accessed 20 February 2023.
Francis Joseph McManus entry, “U.S., Select Military Registers, 1862-1985,”database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, UT, 2013, original data: United States Military Registers, 1902–1985, Salem, Oregon: Oregon State Library, accessed 20 February 2023; McManus entry, 18 January 1905, “Ohio, U.S., Births and Christenings Index, 1774-1973,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2011, original data: "Ohio Births and Christenings, 1821-1962," Index, FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2009, 2011 (Index entries derived from digital copies of original and compiled records), accessed 20 February 2023.
Bernard McManus family, Cleveland, Ohio, “1910 Census | 1910 US Federal Census Records,” Database online: Ancestry.com, Lehi, UT, 2006, Original data: Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910 (NARA microfilm publication T624, 1,178 rolls), Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C., accessed 20 February 2023.
Bernard F. McManus family, Cleveland, Ohio, “1920 Census | 1920 US Federal Census Records,” 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, accessed 20 February 2023.
“Chaplain, Brother of Local Man, Dies on Jap Ship,” 11 Aug 1945, page 2, The Newark Advocate, Newark, Ohio, online at Newspapers.com, accessed 20 February 2023.
Francis J Mc Manus entry, Cleveland, Ohio, “1930 US Federal Census Records,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, UT, 2002, original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census, Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930, Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930, T626, 2,667 rolls, accessed 20 February 2023.
Capt. Early L. Sackett, Commanding Officer of Canopus during the Bataan Campaign, “The Last Voyages of The USS Canopus,” chapter 3, online at axpow.com, accessed 20 February 2023.
Clifford M. Drury, “History of the Chaplain Corps, United States Navy,” volume 2, 1939-1949, Department of the Navy, Bureau of Naval Personnel (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, no date), page 35, online at Google Books, accessed 20 February 2023.
JC Sullivan, “Lieutenant Francis J. McManus, S.J.,” Knights of Columbus, Lt. McManus Assembly 811 (frragan.com), from Blackrobe in Blue, the Naval Chaplaincy of John P. Foley, S.J., accessed 20 February 2023.
“Newark Man Learns Brother, Jap Prisoner, Okeh,” 18 Aug 1944, page 7, “The Newark Advocate,” Newark, Ohio, online at Newspapers.com, accessed 20 February 2023.
“Chaplain, Brother of Local Man, Dies on Jap Ship,” 11 Aug 1945, page 2, The Newark Advocate, Newark, Ohio, online at Newspapers.com, accessed 20 February 2023.
Francis Joseph Mcmanus [sic] entry, “U.S., World War II Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Casualties, 1941-1945,” database online at Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2007, original data: State Summary of War Casualties from World War II for Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Personnel, Archival Research Catalog, Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel, Record Group 24, National Archives at College Park, College Park, Md., accessed 20 February 2023; Francis J McManus entry, “U.S., World War II American and Allied Prisoners of War, 1941-1946,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, UT, 2005, original data: World War II Prisoners of War Data File [Archival Database], Records of World War II Prisoners of War, 1942-1947, Records of the Office of the Provost Marshal General, Record Group 389, National Archives at College Park, College Park, Md., accessed 20 February 2023.
Francis Joseph McManus entry, “U.S., Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940,” database online: Ancestry.com, Lehi, Utah, original data: Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917 - 9/16/1940, NAI 76193916, Record Group 15: Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 1773–2007, National Archives at St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, accessed 20 February 2023.
Francis J McManus entry, “U.S., Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Unaccounted-for Remains, Group B (Unrecoverable), 1941-1975,” database online: Ancestry.com, Lehi, Utah, original data: Unaccounted-for Remains, Group A, 1941-1975. Washington, D.C. USA: Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, accessed 20 February 2023; Lt Francis Joseph McManus (1905-1945) - Find a Grave Memorial, accessed 20 February 2023.
JC Sullivan, “Lieutenant Francis J. McManus, S.J.,” Knights of Columbus, Lt. McManus Assembly 811 (frragan.com), from Blackrobe in Blue, the Naval Chaplaincy of John P. Foley, S.J., accessed 20 February 2023.
Lt Francis Joseph McManus (1905-1945) - Find a Grave Memorial, accessed 20 February 2023.

HUTCHISON
Adolphus Hutchison entry, U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995, database online, Ancestry.com, original data: Bellingham, Washington, City Directory, 1926, accessed 4 March 2020.
“Arisan Maru,” Wikipedia, found online at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arisan_Maru, accessed 25 February 2020.
Asa Isic Hutchison, 1 October 1945 muster roll for ship number APA-73, U.S. World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949, database on-line, Ancestry.com, original data: Muster Rolls of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Other Naval Activities, 01/01/1939-01/01/1949; A-1 Entry 135, 10230 rolls, ARC ID: 594996, Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel, Record Group Number 24, National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD, accessed 13 March 2020.
“‘H’ Section,” Bill Bowen’s Arisan Maru Roster, found online at https://www.west-point.org/family/japanese-pow/ArisanFiles-2/H.htm, accessed 25 February 2020.
“Hell Ship Information and Photographs,” found online at https://www.west-point.org/family/japanese-pow/photos.htm, accessed 13 February 2020.
Mach William A Hutchison memorial, Find A Grave, found online at https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56783213, accessed 3 March 2020.
Thomas Hutchison entry, U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010, database online, Ancestry.com, original data: Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, accessed 13 March 2020.
Truman Richard Hutchison, 31 Aug 1944 muster roll for ship number YMS-127, U.S. World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949, database on-line, Ancestry.com, original data: Muster Rolls of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Other Naval Activities, 01/01/1939-01/01/1949; A-1 Entry 135, 10230 rolls, ARC ID: 594996, Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel, Record Group Number 24, National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD, accessed 13 March 2020.
William Bowen, “The Arisan Maru Tragedy,” US-Japan Dialogue on POWs, found online at http://www.us-japandialogueonpows.org/Bowen.htm, accessed 25 February 2020.
William Hutchison family, 1920 United States Federal Census, database online, Ancestry.com, images reproduced by FamilySearch, 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, Washington, D.C., accessed 3 March 2020.
William Adolphus Hutchison entry, Idaho, Birth Index, 1861-1917, Stillbirth Index, 1905-1967, database online, Ancestry.com, original data: Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, State Birth Index, Idaho Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics, Boise, Idaho, accessed 3 March 2020.
William Adolphus Hutchison, U.S., Select Military Registers, 1862-1985, database online, Ancestry.com, original data: United States Military Registers, 1902–1985, Salem, Oregon: Oregon State Library, accessed 3 March 2020.
William M Hutchison family,1910 United States Federal Census, database online, Ancestry.com, original data: Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910, NARA microfilm publication T624, 1,178 rolls, Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29, National Archives, Washington, D.C, accessed 5 March 2020.
Wm A Hutchison entry, World War II Prisoners of War, 1941-1946, database online, Ancestry.com, original data: National Archives and Records Administration, World War II Prisoners of War Data File [Archival Database]; Records of World War II Prisoners of War, 1942-1947; Records of the Office of the Provost Marshal General, Record Group 389; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD, accessed 3 March 2020.
“William Hutchison Now Officially Listed as Dead,” 01 Jul 1945, page 8 - The Bellingham Herald at Newspapers.com, accessed 20 Feb 2023.
“S.F. Man Jap Prisoner,” 23 Mar 1943, page 3, The San Francisco Examiner, online at Newspapers.com, accessed 20 February 2023.
“Reported Lost,” 13 May 1942, page 7, The Bellingham Herald, online at Newspapers.com, accessed 20 February 2023.
“80 Prisoners Listed from No. California,” 14 May 1943, page 5, The San Francisco Examiner, online at Newspapers.com, accessed 20 February 2023

HALL
Alton Henry Hall entry, National Cemetery Administration. U.S. Veterans’ Gravesites, ca.1775-2006 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Original data: National Cemetery Administration. Nationwide Gravesite Locator. Accessed 30 March 2020.
Alton Henry Hall entry, U.S. National Cemetery Interment Control Forms, 1928-1962, database on-line, Ancestry.com Operations, Original data: Interment Control Forms, 1928–1962. Interment Control Forms, A1 2110-B. Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774–1985, Record Group 92. The National Archives at College Park, College Park, Maryland. Accessed 30 March 2020.
Alton Henry Hall, Naval Receiving, 29 Feb 1940, U.S. World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2011. Original data: Muster Rolls of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Other Naval Activities, 01/01/1939-01/01/1949; A-1 Entry 135, 10230 rolls, ARC ID: 594996. Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel, Record Group Number 24. National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. Accessed 30 March 2020.
Alton Henry Hall memorial, Find a Grave, found online at https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/739788, accessed 1 April 2020.
Alton H. Hall, Report of Death, Bilibid Hospital for Military Prison Camps, to Surgeon General, US Army, Washington, DC, found online at https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/80564705, accessed 1 April 2020.
Alton Henry Hall, World War II Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Casualties, 1941-1945 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: State Summary of War Casualties from World War II for Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Personnel [Archival Research Catalog]; Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel, Record Group 24; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. Accessed 31 March 2020.
Alton Henry Hall, World War II Prisoners of the Japanese, 1941-1945 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: National Archives and Records Administration. World War II Prisoners of the Japanese File, ARC IDs:718969, 731002, and 2123836. National Archives at College Park. College Park, Maryland, U.S.A. Accessed 30 March 2020.
Alton Henry Hall, World War II Prisoners of War, 1941-1946 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2005. Original data: National Archives and Records Administration. World War II Prisoners of War Data File [Archival Database]; Records of World War II Prisoners of War, 1942-1947; Records of the Office of the Provost Marshal General, Record Group 389; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. Accessed 31 March 2020.
Alton Ray Hall memorial, Find a Grave, found online at https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/80564705, accessed 1 April 2020.
Entries for November 15, 16, and 19, 1944, “Official Diary,” Hospital Sakura Detached Camp, Prisoner of War Disclosure #24, page 99, Philippine Islands, part of the POW/Civilian Internees, General Records Sakura Camp, Luzon Camps in Japan and other locations, Box 47, Philippine Archives Collection, Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, RG 407, found online at http://www.mansell.com/pow_resources/camplists/philippines/PHILIPPINES_Ft_McKinley_Sakura_Prison_Hospital_RG407Bx47.pdf, accessed 1 April 2020.
Henry A. Hall family, 1930 United States Federal Census, database online, Ancestry.com, Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census, Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930, Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930, T626, 2,667 rolls, accessed 31 March 2020.
Henry A Hall obituary, Abilene Reporter-News, 16 January 1968, Abilene, Texas, found online at Newspapers.com, accessed 31 March 2020.
Oliver Franklin Hall Sr memorial, Find A Grave, found online at https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/80564729, accessed 31 March 2020.
Orval L. Hall entry, U.S. WWII Hospital Admission Card Files, 1942-1954 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2019. Original data: Hospital Admission Card Files, ca. 1970 – ca. 1970. NAI: 570973. Records of the Office of the Surgeon General (Army), 1775 – 1994. Record Group 12. The National Archives at College Park, MD. USA. Accessed 2 April 2020.
“Roster of Personnel,” Hospital Sakura Detached Camp, Prisoner of War Disclosure #24, page 38, Philippine Islands, part of the POW/Civilian Internees, General Records Sakura Camp, Luzon Camps in Japan and other locations, Box 47, Philippine Archives Collection, Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, RG 407, found online at http://www.mansell.com/pow_resources/camplists/philippines/PHILIPPINES_Ft_McKinley_Sakura_Prison_Hospital_RG407Bx47.pdf, accessed 1 April 2020.