16 replies to this topic

[FriscoHare]

Hi everyone,

I am trying to see if it is possible to identify the Coast Artillery colonel in the image below.



Here's what I know:
- Full CA colonel in the Philippine Department
- Image taken on January 13, 1947 as he receives the Legion of Merit
- Has 7 WWII service stripes
- Also has two WWI service chevrons

I assume:
- That he served on Corregidor and was a POW

Is there anyone who knows who he might be or know of a way to find out? Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Dave]

I'm guessing you already have most of the reference books about the fight there, and have tried those (having a personnel roster somewhere would make this easy!) My next suggestion is to go through the USMA Register to find who was a CAC Colonel, taken prisoner in the PI, and who earned a LOM and PH during WW2. It won't be quick, but in a day or two you could nail him down.

Dave

[FriscoHare]

Thanks, Dave!

I did a search for a roster and found a Coast Artillery Journal article that lists these CAC colonels who were Bataan/Corregidor POWs and "returned to military control." The colonels were:

Thomas M. Chase (CO, 60th CA Regt.)
Joseph F. Cottrell (XO, Harbor Defenses, Manila)
Octave de Carre (CO, 91st CA Regt. (PS))
John Lee Holcombe (??)
Charles G. Sage (HQ, 200th CA Regt.)

I'll search the net to find a PH or a Legion of Merit recipients list or the USMA register and try to match the names. If anyone knows of a list or a link I can go to, please let me know! Thanks again.

[Dave]

Thanks, Dave!

I did a search for a roster and found a Coast Artillery Journal article that lists these CAC colonels who were Bataan/Corregidor POWs and "returned to military control." The colonels were:

Thomas M. Chase (CO, 60th CA Regt.)
Joseph F. Cottrell (XO, Harbor Defenses, Manila)
Octave de Carre (CO, 91st CA Regt. (PS))
John Lee Holcombe (??)
Charles G. Sage (HQ, 200th CA Regt.)

I'll search the net to find a PH or a Legion of Merit recipients list or the USMA register and try to match the names. If anyone knows of a list or a link I can go to, please let me know! Thanks again.

Well, you can save the $4 you'll spend on buying a USMA Register...none of them are listed. That's actually SHOCKING because MacArthur was famed for bringing fellow USMA grads over to the PI prior to WW2. More shocking is that only one of the above list - Octave de Carre, is listed in the 1945 Army Register. Very strange to see so many reserve officers in the PI prior to WW2...

Dave

[Dave]

In the 1942 Register, Joseph F Cottrell is listed. No idea why he's not listed in the 1 January 1945 Register.

I also found a Theodore M Chase...NOT a Thomas M Chase, listed as a Colonel with the CAC in Manila in my October 1941 Army Directory. Same guy?

The same book lists Cottrell, Holcombe, and de Carre in the same place.

No Sage listed anywhere...

Dave

[Dave]

NOW THAT WE HAVE HIS NAME RIGHT....

I think the guy in the photo is Theodore M Chase, USMA '09.

His bio lists him as serving with the "heavy artillery" in the AEF, and then being awarded the LOM for his actions at Corregidor in 1941-42. He was awarded a PH for being a POW from 1942-45. He retired in 1947 as a COL and died on 31 July 1963.

Matches your guy perfectly.

Dave

[Dave]

BTW - Chase was in the same class as Patton...

His Cullum Register entry includes the fact that served in Corregidor, Manila, and Tarlac, PI and was a POW in Taiwan, Kyushu (Japan), and Manchuria.

Born in Washington, DC on 29 October 1887.

Dave

[Dave]

Thanks to the USMA Digital Library, here's a VERY early photo of Chase (~1912). Same guy???

http://digital-libra..._...OX=1&REC=20

Attached Images

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[FriscoHare]

WOW! Awesome. Thanks so much, Dave. I think you hit it on the nail. I think I did mess up... it was supposed to be Theodore. Thanks for helping me out and making this an awesome forum.

~Sean

[KASTAUFFER]

Sean

I just bought Chase's medals including the named LOM he is being presented in the photo.

The funny thing is the pic I have if Chase receiving the LOM is not the same guy as in your pic.



Kurt

[Dave]

The funny thing is the pic I have if Chase receiving the LOM is not the same guy as in your pic.

Hmmm....now if that ain't curious.... :think: :think:

[KASTAUFFER]

Hmmm....now if that ain't curious.... :think: :think:

I will post it when I get home. It's a signal corps photo ID'd on the reverse.

Kurt

[FriscoHare]

Huh... interesting. Please post the pic when you can! I'll do more research on my end as well.

[gilhoolie]

The caption for SC 254598 indicates this is Colonel Alexander H. Campbell, head of the Air Warning Service in the Philippines. The photo was taken on Dec. 20, 1946.

[CNY Militaria]

Is there a resource for looking up these numbers?

[gilhoolie]

For reasons now forgotten, I happened to have photo copied the caption for this photo some years ago. I don't know of any resource listing SC negative numbers and their captions.

[FriscoHare]

Wow, thanks gilhoolie!

I found it weird that he was an officer in the CAC yet CO of the Philippine Air Warning Service... an organization that seems like the Signal Corps in nature. I checked his USMA record and Col. Campbell fits the bill. He graduated the USMA in 1917, earned two WWI O/S chevrons; served as XO, 60th CA Regt; and was the commander of the Phil. AWS. He survived the Death March.

I'll post a tribute in my "mini-museum" thread in the future. He was the CO of John Chernitski in that thread.

Any one have a USMA photo of him?