#1. Frank Pyzick: The US Marine Who Announced World War 2

Listen to and Subscribe to the podcast on

Major Frank P. Pyzick’s valor during World War II is a testament to unwavering courage and resilience. Early morning December 8, 1942, mere moments after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Pyzick swiftly spread the news at the Marine Barracks in the Philippines, readying his unit for the impending conflict with Japan.

When Allied troops withdrew to the Bataan Peninsula, Pyzick oversaw the destruction of the Olongapo Navy Yard. But he didn’t stay on Bataan for long, instead following the other members of the 4th Marines to Corregidor Island, to prepare for a Japanese invasion.

Pyzick and his fellow Marines defended their beach positions with unyielding determination when the Japanese finally arrived, and the Battle of Corregidor commenced on May 5, 1942.

Pyzick’s heroism extended beyond the battlefield when he became a prisoner of war. In captivity, his quick-thinking actions saved the lives of several fellow POWs. Throughout his internment at the Cabanatuan POW camps, Pyzick endured unimaginable hardships, including starvation and forced labor.

Near war’s end Pyzick’s found himself on a transport ship to Japan and survived the infamous Oryoku Maru tragedy. Despite the inhumane conditions, he survived two ship bombings and subsequent internment in Japanese prison camps.

Pyzick’s story serves as a stark reminder of the sacrifices made by countless individuals during World War II. His courage and sacrifice will forever be remembered as a beacon of resilience in the face of adversity.

Transcript and Sources below images

Images
Frank Peter Pyzick 4th Marines Philippines POW WW2
Frank P. Pyzick in 1926 while in his last year at the Naval Academy at Annapolis, roughly age 24.
Map of key points in Manila Bay during WW2
Map of Manila Bay area, showing Manila, Bataan, and Corregidor Island, as well as Olongapo Navy Yard and Mariveles.
Olongapo Navy Yard at start of WW2 in The Philippines
This pic of the Olongapo Navy Yard was supposedly taken at 9:45 am on December 12, 1941 — just 35 minutes before Japanese planes started strafing it. International News Photo.
Navy Tunnel entrance Malinta Hill Corregidor Island Philippines WW2
Entrance to the Navy Tunnel on Malinta Hill, Corregidor Island.
Pine Tree Camp POW Camp Fukuoka Japan WW2
“Pine Tree Camp” in Fukuoka, Japan. The camp is named for the grove of pine trees that are somewhat visible on the camp’s left. Note the supply parachutes visible in the upper right corner.

Episode 1 – Frank Pyzick – Episode Transcript

Cold Open
[Narrator] It was 3:50 am on Monday, December 8, 1941, at Olongapo Naval Yard, on Luzon Island, in The Philippines.
A motorcycle broke the morning silence as it raced through Olongapo’s Marine Barracks.
A US Marine’s angry voice yelled out well before dawn:
[Marine 1] “Why don’t you get the hell out of here and let us sleep?”
[Narrator] But the rumbling engine isn’t what woke the sleeping servicemen. No, it was Major Frank Pyzick shouting, like a 20th Century Paul Revere, from the motorcycle’s side car:
[Pyzick] “War is declared! War is declared!”
[Narrator] Perhaps part of the novelty that early morning was hearing Major Pyzick speaking at all. A shorter man with a quick walking pace, Pyzick was a 39-year-old career Marine with prominent ears and a penetrating, thoughtful gaze and known for his quiet, retiring disposition.
A gong sounded at Olongapo, waking those who hadn’t heard Major Pyzick’s voice ringing out through the night and causing one Marine of 1 Battalion to complain
[Marine 1] “What kind of new-fangled reveille is this?”
[Narrator] He and his companions tumbled from their bunks, still half asleep. The pajama-clad Marines stood in formation.
Their executive officer, also in his night clothes, explained the early-morning roll call:
[Exec Officer] “Japanese planes have just attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The United States is at war with Japan.”
[Marine 1] “They got us up for that?”
[Narrator] a Marine complained, unsurprised that war had started. After all, the 4th Marine Regiment had arrived in The Philippines from Shanghai, China, just a week before in anticipation of hostilities with Japan.
Still, despite the early hour, the 4th Marine’s 1st Battalion immediately prepared to leave Olongapo for the Bataan Peninsula, except for the heavy weapons company and certain members – such as Major Pyzick -- of the headquarters company. No, the United States needed those Marines at Olongapo for the time being.
This is Left Behind.

Podcast Welcome/Credits
Welcome to the very first episode of “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 each week I tell you the life story of military personnel, civilians, guerillas, and other individuals capture by Japanese forces in The Philippines.
I was inspired to start this podcast by my great-grandfather Alma Salm, who was a imprisoned by the Japanese for 33 months in The Philippines. Alma wrote a memoir of his POW experience, which is where I first learned about Major Frank Pyzick and other POWs Alma was imprisoned with.
Curious if I could learn about their lives, I started researching Alma’s fellow POWs. And I discovered amazing stories about these men that I had to share with the world. So every week I’m telling you the story of 1 or 2 of these heroic POWS – their before, during, and after the war (if there even was an after).
Each episode is a stand-alone story, but I’ve ordered them so that put together, they will tell the over arching story of WW2 in The Philippines. It’s a story of more than 90K American and Filipino military personnel and civilians, men, women, and even children, who were literally left behind by the United States 4 months into WW2 – and then spent the rest of the war in brutal, inhumane captivity. Sadly, it’s story that is largely unknown. But together, you and I are going to change that.
The day that this episode first airs—January 30, 2023—is the 78th anniversary of the Great Raid, when Alma Salm and 500 other POW were liberated from the Cabanatuan POW camp in The Philippines on January 30, 1945.
For my very first episode, I’m sharing the story of Frank Pyzick. If I were to make a movie about the entire Philippine POW experience, Pyzick would be one of the main characters – as he experienced pretty much the gamut of what all POWs experienced.
The thing that stands out to me most about Major Pyzick is that he seems to be everywhere and involved with everything, but he’s often described as quiet and reserved. You’ll likely see him pop up in several other episodes as we go forward. I guess he was the strong, silent type who sees and hears everything. And then makes sure that whatever needs to be done gets done.
And as soon as I discovered the description of Pyzick riding the motorcycle thru the Olongapo Navy Yard, at night, shouting about the war – I knew I wanted to begin the entire Philippines WW2 story with that scene. It’s just so perfectly reminiscent of Paul Revere at the beginning of the American Revolution. Truly, Pyzick could have been shouting “The Japanese are coming,” for indeed, Japan’s military power would be felt in The Philippines that very day.
And with that, let’s dive in.

POW’s Life Story
Before the War
[Narrator] Frank Peter Pyzick was born September 27, 1902, in a small southern Minnesota town called Wells. He was the 4th child born to Michael and Anna Pyzick, who were Polish and German immigrants. Michael worked as a carpenter; Anna a homemaker.
A teenage Frank worked at a grocery store and graduated from St. Casimir Catholic High School.
In the early 1920s, he headed east to the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Midshipman “Zick” was quiet, “small of stature,” always in a hurry, and interested in radios.
I have his senior year Annapolis yearbook photo on my website. The link is in the show description.
As far as relationships with girls, here’s a voice actor reading about Midshipman Zick from his senior-year Annapolis yearbook:
[Schoolmate] “He combined with savviness an absolute disregard for the gentle sex. But the usual thing happened. He changed from a disinterested outsider to the ranks of the Snakes in just one short Second Class Christmas leave. His fondness for radio persisted, however, perhaps due to the fact that radio has become a form of parlor entertainment.”
[Narrator] I don’t totally understand 1920s slang, but I think this means he got a girlfriend for Christmas?
Anyway…
In June 1926, after graduating with honors from Annapolis, Pyzick became a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Marines. He spent the next year at various Navy and Marine stations in the US, and in June 1927 found himself in Tientsin (more commonly referred to today as Tianjin) in the northeast of China, about 2 hours southwest of Beijing.
After 6 months in China, he wrote to his sister back in Minnesota. His letter, read by a voice actor, said:
[Pyzick] “When we came here I thought we would have lots of trouble and be real soldiers but so far it has been just the opposite. . . . We have a large ex-German castle as barracks . . . the interior of which is entirely finished with marble. . . . We have better accommodations here than we have in the U.S.”
[Narrator] Adding to their comfort, they lived 2 blocks from an English country club, which Pyzick and the other officers were allowed to use.
[Pyzick] “This is an ideal place. Swimming pools, tennis. … It is one of those large clubs for which one pays about a hundred dollars per month membership dues in the states…. I like China, and Tientsin in particular.”
[Narrator] No kidding. Under such circumstances, I’d love that position too!
BTW -- $100 per month in 1929 is about $1,500 per month today. That’s more expensive than Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, which has yearly dues of $14,000 (after a $200,000 initial membership payment).
But back to Pyzick
[Pyzick] “As for war, we do not know anything about it . … [except what] we get out of the newspapers. . . . The front is . . . around Nanking and there is no probability of any fighting around here this year. . . . I have given up all hope of seeing any fighting here.”
[Narrator] Pyzick is referring to the Chinese Civil War, which broke out in August 1927, while he was stationed in China. US Marines were stationed in Tientsin, Peking, and Shanghai to protect American citizens during this conflict. That Civil War would 20 years later, in 1947, lead to Communist take over of China.
About a year after writing this China letter, in October 1928, Pyzick learned he would be sent to Japan on a very selective assignment:
[Pyzick] (With excitement) “I do not know how it happened but I have been selected for what everyone believes the best possible detail in the Marine Corps and one for which only one officer is selected once every two years.”
[Narrator] For three and a half years, he would be part of the Naval Attaché’s office at the American Embassy in Tokyo with only 1 job: learning to speak Japanese.
[Pyzick] “I will have nothing else to do except learn the language, speaking, reading and writing, to observe and learn everything possible of the customs, traits and habits of the Japanese. For this reason I am authorized to travel all over Japan at Government expense. … Will have to go out among the people all over the country, live with them and like them, that is, become Japanized as far as possible.”
[Narrator] Soon thereafter, Lt Pyzick set sail for Japan. Here’s a voice actor reading Pyzick’s first impressions of the country:
[Pyzick] “Everything is so delightfully appealing. Just one week ago this morning I received my first glimpse of Japan when our ship stopped at Moji for a few hours. I could not go ashore there but the pictures viewed from the ship were wonderful…Here was, truly, the Land of the Rising Sun. … The next day… we arrived in Kobe [and I took] a 12 hour train ride to Tokio in the daytime…The trip was just like taking a whole day off and reading fairy tales; page after page from ‘Wonderland.’”
[Narrator] Although Pyzick didn’t disembark at Moji on this trip to Tokyo, he would someday return by ship to Moji--under circumstance far from fairy-tale like.
Pyzick quartered in a traditional Japanese house with exterior glass sides and interior walls of sliding paper panels. He was enamored with it.
After a year of studies in Tokyo, Lt Pyzick moved into the Japanese countryside—far from rail lines and tourists, and not even mentioned in guidebooks. He was fortunate enough to engage lodgings he was particularly excited about:
[Pyzick] “We have the largest bath I have ever seen. It takes up a whole room, just like a swimming pool. It is constantly kept filled by a gushing hot spring, right out of the depths of the mountain.
“So here I expect to stay at least a year. The people are real old Japanese, entirely unchanged by contact with foreigners. They are perfect examples of courtesy. So besides learning the language, I will be able to observe and learn a lot about the Japanese customs, the people and so forth. I have not spoken a word of English since coming here and do not expect to until I return to Tokyo…
“I have an old Ford roadster so I can take weekend trips around Izu [peninsula], where there are hundreds of interesting places to see. Now don’t you think I ought to be satisfied with such a job. . . The captain said that they would mail me my check every month and if I cashed it they would know I was well and on the job. . . . I think that is about as carefree an existence as you can find in the service.”
[Narrator] People were much more trusting in the 1920s… or perhaps I listen to too much true crime, because cashing a check doesn’t confirm proof of life to me. However, in early 1932, Pyzick’s carefree time as a Marine ended, and he left Japan to spend the rest of the 1930s assigned to various bases and ships around the US.
Pyzick again sailed to China in summer 1939 where he joined the 4th Marines Regiment in Shanghai. He would spend nearly 3 years there, earning the rank of Major and joining the regiment’s headquarters company.
Then, in November 1941, the 4th Marines Regiment left Shanghai via ship. Enroute, they discovered their destination — Olongapo Navy Yard, about 2 hours west of Manila on The Philippines’ largest Island of Luzon.
Their task: Assist in preparations for an anticipated invasion by the very country Pyzick had, a decade earlier, learned to love: Japan.
Major Pyzick arrived at Olongapo on either November 30 or December 1, 1941. The 4th Marines bunked in warehouses converted into barracks. They started training, day and night, in the nearby Bataan wilds.
War, as it turned out, was closer than perhaps expected.
War-Time Experiences
[Narrator] On December 8, 1941, at 3:50 am (Philippines time), the Marine Barracks at Olongapo Navy Yard received word that Pearl Harbor had been attacked.
The United States was at war with Japan.
In those early morning hours, Pyzick, the officer of the day, climbed into a motorcycle’s side car. And spread the news.
Mere hours later, Japanese aircraft began bombing US airfields across Luzon Island. But 4 days would pass before the Marines remaining at Olongapo actually saw war.
Japanese fighter planes began strafing runs over Olongapo at 10:20 am on December 12, 1941. The Marines opened fire on the aircraft, but their efforts did little.
I have a picture of Olongapo supposedly taken 35 minutes before the Japanese attacked it. You can find it on my website, the link is in the show description.
27 Japanese bombers arrived the next morning, attacking the Navy yard and the nearby city of Olongapo. Tokyo Radio reported that the bombers had wiped out the 4th Marines.
But they hadn’t.
Most of the 4th Regiment had already relocated to the Mariveles military base at the southern tip of Bataan Peninsula, about 1.5 hours southeast of Olongapo. There’s a map on my website with all these locations, the link is in the show description
Over the next week, the 4th Marines at Olongapo—who were still very much alive and well-- prepared to defend the Navy Yard. They set up defensive and blocking positions along beaches and roads near the yard and the Bataan Peninsula.
Then Japanese ground forces landed north of Olongapo on December 22.
Keeping the Olongapo Navy Yard wasn’t possible. The Japanese overran so much of Luzon Island so quickly that General Douglas MacArthur ordered all American military personnel into tactical positions on the Bataan Peninsula.
So the Olongapo 4th Marines—except for Major Frank Pyzick--moved south to Mariveles.
While the Americans on Luzon Island withdrew to Bataan, back in Washington, DC, civilian Americans gathered on Christmas Eve for the White House Christmas tree lighting ceremony. A Catholic Bishop offered this invocation prayer:
It was dark by 7 pm on December 26, 1941, the day after Christmas. The temperature at Olongapo probably dropped into the low 80s, so it would have been warm enough without the raging fire.
That fire would have illuminated the retreating form of Major Pyzick as he left the Navy Yard, that he had just destroyed.
Pyzick and a detachment of Marines had remained behind at Olongapo, detonating explosives all over the Yard, sinking a US ship, and destroying as many submarine parts as could be found.
They then doused everything that hadn’t been blown up with fuel and set it all on fire -- an effort to keep weapons, supplies, and more from falling into enemy hands.
And then Pyzick and the detachment, the Navy Yard burning behind them, headed into the Bataan jungle.
Pyzick arrived in Mariveles, only to be sent directly to Corregidor Island with the rest of the 4th Marines. About 2 miles offshore from Mariveles, Corregidor Island was a US military fort at the mouth of Manila Bay tasked with protecting the bay from enemy attacks via sea and air.

And there Frank Pyzick stayed for some 4 months – from late December 1941 to early May 1942 -- under almost constant bombardment as the Japanese laid siege to the island military base. The assault intensified in early April after US personnel on Bataan surrendered to Japanese forces.

Supplies — especially food and water — were running low for the island’s more than 10,000 military personnel. The men were hungry, dehydrated, and malnourished. Some of the 4th Marines lost 40 pounds during their time on Corregidor.
The 4th Marines took charge of that island’s beach defenses. And there, one May morning, they would be the first line of defense against the invading Japanese troops and tanks.

[Narrator] That is audio of the last telegraph message sent from Corregidor on the morning on Japan’s invasion. It was sent by a 22-year-old Army radio operator sporadically during the last hour before surrender.

The transmission was picked up in Honolulu. Weeks later his dots and dashes would be read over radios across the United States, which is what we’re listening to here.

He captures the horror and sheer emotion of the last moments on Corregidor. Because once Japanese ground forces landed, the island fell quickly. The 10,000+ American and Filipino military personnel on Corregidor were exhausted and starving, having been under siege for 4 months.

Within hours of Japanese landings, American/Filipino surrender was a foregone conclusion.

[Narrator] So, in the afternoon of May 6, 1942, Major Frank P. Pyzick became a prisoner of war. Pyzick’s first act as a POW may have saved the lives of himself and several POWs, including my great-grandfather Alma Salm.
Before surrendering, the American Navy and Marine personnel discarded their weapons. Guns, grenades, and more were piled outside the Malinta Tunnels – a system of tunnels built into Malinta Hill on Corregidor Island. The barracks, offices, and other sections of the tunnel system needed to be completely cleared of weapons. And, of course, no one could have personal weapons.
So Pyzick and the other servicemen complied.
Or so they thought.
After the firing ceased and American forces had completely surrendered, a Japanese sentry suddenly became vocal with obvious displeasure.
[Sentry] (Agitated, speaking In Japanese) Naze koko ni juu ga aru no desu ka? Karera wa gai no yama no naka ni iru hazu desu. Anata wa nihon hei wa korosu tame ni sore wa kakushi mashi ta.

[Narrator] He had found a pistol hidden in a tunnel crevice. It was an oversight by the American searchers.
But the Japanese sentry was suspicious and angry. And suspicious, angry guards could mean punishment or death for the prisoners.
Luckily for the POWs, Major Pyzick knew Japanese. He kept calm and in his quiet voice explained the situation:
[Pyzick] (In English) It was a mistake, an oversight. We did not hide the gun intentionally. It is not meant for Japanese soldiers.
[Narrator] Major Pyzick’s words pacified the suspicious guard.

But the anxious POWs then spent the entire night re-searching the tunnels to make sure there were no hidden weapons. By early the next morning they had found pistols, a couple of rifles, ammunition, some machetes and bayonets, and a couple of hand grenades.
But they now had a dilemma, as my great-grandfather explained in his memoir, read here by his great-grandson:
[Alma Salm] “How were we to get this contraband out of the tunnel and past the guard at the entrance without this coming to his attention? And if it did, God only knows, what possible repercussions would happen.”
[Narrator] It was a real concern because Japanese personnel had already beaten or killed American and Filipino POWs for having Japanese money on their person. (The presence of Japanese money meaning that individual had killed a Japanese soldier, then took the money off the body.) Weapons in the hands of prisoners, obviously, was not something the Japanese would look favorably upon.
So the POWs boxed up the items (carefully handling the grenades separately). Then a small group of POWs distracted the guard by showing him something interesting and talking to him as best they could.

Meanwhile, other POWs carried out small boxes of weapons, mingling in with the continual flow of pedestrian traffic in and out of the tunnel. They dumped the boxes in a pile of weapons and debris outside the tunnel entrance. It was still early and dark, so there were no other Japanese sentries around.
In late June 1942, the Japanese moved Pyzick and the other American Corregidor prisoners to POW camps just outside of Cabanatuan city, about 2.5 hours north of Manila. (Filipino POWs were kept at separate camps.)

Life in the Cabanatuan prison camps was torturous. Like most men in the camps, Pyzick would have suffered starvation, malnourishment, diseases, beatings, and heavy, hard, back-breaking work.
He served as Statistical & Personnel Officer in the Cabanatuan Camp #1 Headquarters Staff. There was some American military authority and structure, usually by existing military rank, within the POW camps.
There was an American camp commander and headquarters staff. Basically, their job was to keep the men of the camp in line and alive, but American leadership were prisoners and had no real authority. They were trying, as it were, to create normalcy amid chaos.
In my research I’ve come across the American Camp Diary from Cabanatuan, which appears to be mainly written by Pyzick. Like I said, he’s everywhere.
In total he spent 2 years and 7 months as a POW at Cabanatuan.
American military forces began returning to The Philippines in late 1944, beginning with bombings and air raids. In response, the Japanese intensified relocation of Allied POWs to work camps on the Japan mainland.
On December 13, 1944, Frank Pyzick entered the forward hold of the Japanese hell ship Oryoku Maru in Manila. More than 1,600 POWs were in the ship’s 3 holds as it sailed around the Bataan Peninsula.

But the ship wasn’t marked.
The US Navy planes had no way of knowing what cargo the enemy ship contained when they attacked the Oryoku Maru on December 15.

Pyzick escaped the sinking ship, swam to shore, and found himself in familiar territory — Olongapo Navy Base, once again at Christmastime. He and the other POW survivors spent several days on the base’s tennis court before being transported overland to San Fernando, about 100 miles north.
Here Frank Pyzick was loaded onto another “hell ship,” so called because of the inhumane and uninhabitable conditions POWs endured on the ship. They reached present-day Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on New Years Day 1945. The POWs spent more than 2 weeks in that harbor, still aboard a torturous hell ship, until that unmarked ship was bombed and sunk by American planes.

Pyzick survived that second sinking.

Pyzick and some 900 survivors transferred to the Brazil Maru, which arrived at the port of Moji, Japan, on January 29, 1945. He had spent a month and a half on Japanese “hell ships.” He was one of 550 POWs — of the original 1,600 — who survived the trip.

Major Pyzick had seen Moji from a distance 13 years earlier on a ship enroute to the Tokyo US Embassy. Now he disembarked at Moji, only this time he wasn’t part of the diplomatic mission or welcomed warmly by the country’s people. No, he was a prisoner bound for a POW camp in Fukuoka City.

This camp, which the prisoners called the “Pine Tree” camp, was new, the buildings still under construction. Arriving in mid-winter, the POWs endured the winter weather in small, unheated barracks where they slept on sand. As an officer, Pyzick’s work in this camp would have included gardening and hauling human waste. (Officers were treated somewhat better than enlisted men.)
Within months, however, American bombings of Japan soon forced yet another prisoner move.
On April 25, 1945, Maj. Pyzick and about 140 other prisoners left the Pine Tree Camp and were ferried to Korea. A train ride across the Korean peninsula brought them to the Jinsen POW camp near present-day Seoul, Korea.
Life at the Jinsen camp was probably the best Major Pyzick experienced during his nearly 3 and a half years as a POW. Morale seems to have been better here than at other camps, and the Japanese official governing this camp was even later described as “kind” by former POWs. Prisoners worked pulling rickshaws and paving roads.
As the war turned against the Japanese and the end neared, the Japanese guards looked more and more despondent. Camp security became less strict. One day the officer-ranked prisoners at Jinsen camp, perhaps including Major Pyzick, were brought to the Japanese Camp Commandant, who told them the war was over. He offered them Saki to celebrate “no hard feelings.”
And soon, American forces arrived to liberate the camp.
By September 9, 1945, Frank Pyzick and all the other Jinsen POWs had boarded American evacuation ships and headed, once again, for The Philippines. And this time Pyzick and his fellow POWs were not crammed into the ship’s hold.
Frank Pyzick then flew from Manila to Honolulu, Hawaii, arriving there on September 27, 1945.
After 3 years and 4 months of captivity, and more than 6 years away from the US, Frank Pyzick was once again a free man on American soil.
It was also his 42nd birthday.

After the War & Legacy
Frank Pyzick’s life after WW2 has been less forthcoming.
He spent several months recuperating at the veterans’ hospital in Oakland, California. In early January 1946, he purchased a car and returned home to Minnesota on leave. While driving home on January 4, 1946, he hit a patch of ice on a hill in Minnesota, lost control of his car, and hit another car head on.
Pyzick was wedged so tightly in the wrecked car that it took officers at the scene more than an hour to free him. He was hospitalized with severe back injuries. The three passengers of the other car were hurt as well, but all considered in fair condition.
By July 1946 he had achieved the rank of colonel and was working in Headquarters at the San Diego, California, base. He retired from the Marine corps in December 1946.
In total, he served as a US Marine for 20 years, spending at least 10 and a half years in the Asia/Pacific area. He ended his career as a Disabled Veteran.
He returned home to Wells, Minnesota, and lived with his widowed mother and unmarried sister until the mid-1950s.
In October 1955, 53-year-old Frank married Mamie Elanora Bolstad, a widow from Wells.
Frank and Mamie did not have children—either together or separately--as far as I can discover.
At some point, the couple moved to Pebble Beach near Monterrey, California. Mamie died there in 1975. Frank followed two years later, on December 31, 1977. He was 75.
It seems a quiet finale to Pyzick’s extremely heroic life. A life with a tumultuous middle that started with his announcement that Japan attacked the United States.
I’ll be back next week with Japan’s initial attacks of The Philippines.
This is Left Behind.
Outro
Thank you for listening! If you want to see pictures of Frank Pyzick and other parts of his story, visit this episode’s web page; the link is in the show description. You’ll also find a list of sources I used and a write up of Pyzick’s life.
If you’ve enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe. And consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. Reviews help others find this podcast so I can continue sharing these amazing stories.
Left Behind is researched, written, and recorded by me, Anastasia Harman. Edited and produced by Tyler Harman. Re-enactments are based on historical research, although some creative liberty is taken with dialogue.
I’ll be back next week with the first bombs dropped on The Philippines and a 7-decade quest for redemption.
I’ll see you then.

Sources
Ancestry.com. Honolulu, Hawaii, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1900-1959"
Ancestry.com, U.S. School Yearbooks
Ancestry.com, U.S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1798-1958
Ancestry.com. U.S., Navy and Marine Corps Registries, 1814-1992
“Appendix C: Marine Task Organization and Command List,” History of the U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II.
Cheryl Magnant, “Long-forgotten WWII POW Camps in Korea,” on EthnoScopes: Tracks of an Anthropologist.
Colonel Wibb E. Cooper, Medical Corps, "Medical Department Activities in The Philippines from 1941-6 May 1942 and Including Medical Activities Japanese Prisoner of War Camps,” written April 1946, Mansell.com.
Harold K. Johnson, affidavit on experience as a POW, Mansell.com
J. Michael Miller, “From Shanghai to Corregidor: Marines in the Defense of the Philippines,” online at Marines in World War II Commemorative Series.
James W. Erickson, complier, “Oryoku Maru Roster”.
James Sinclair, “Singapore to Jinsen: Tracey George Clifford Sinclair,” Far Eastern Heroes.
“Jinsen Camp – Korea,” Far Eastern Heroes.
“Korea (Chosen),” in Prisoner of War Camp Conditions on the Asiatic Mainland, dated 1 July 1944, Mansell.com.
“Ōryoku Maru,” Wikipedia.
“Report on American Prisoners of War Interned by the Japanese in the Philippines,” Center for Research: Allied POWs under the Japanese, Mansell.com.

Comments

No comments yet. Why don’t you start the discussion?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *