To commemorate this year’s POW/MIA Recognition Day on Sept. 19, volunteers with the non-profit Stories Behind the Stars (www.storiesbehindthestars.org) have written memorials to honor the American Prisoners of War who perished in the World War II sinking of the Japanese hell ships Oryuku Maru, Enoura Maru, and Brazil Maru.
The three ships whose fate was intertwined were among dozens of vessels used by the Japanese Imperial Forces to transport Prisoners of War and interned civilians to forced labor camps. Over 1,200 of the 1,619 Allied POWs (1,556 Americans) died while imprisoned on the Oryoku Maru, Enoura Maru and Brazil Maru. Forty-one were from Pennsylvania. Montgomery County was home to one of the fallen: LTC Charles B. Leinbach.
Charles Benjamin Leinbach was born on February 8, 1897, at Douglassville, Berks County, to Daniel Washington and Ada Mary Reider Leinbach. His Protestant parents were natives of the Keystone State. Leinbach had eight siblings: Younger brother Leroy; older brothers Reider, Guy, Owen, and Larus; and older sisters Myrtle, Lotta, and Cora. His sister Cora was raised by her maternal grandparents and died tragically at age 26 in the horrific Rhoads Opera House fire at Boyertown in 1908. His father supported the household as a weighmaster at the local iron works and as a farmer.
Leinbach’s upbringing occurred in the Pottstown area, where he attended school until the eighth grade. His family worshipped at Friedens United Church of Christ, Oley, and at Pottstown’s Trinity Reformed Church.
Leinbach began his military career as an underage enlistee in the Army on November 6, 1914, at Philadelphia, and received training at Fort Slocum, NY. On February 5, 1915, the Private embarked on the USAT Thomas at San Francisco, Calif., bound for Honolulu, Hawaii, for deployment to the Philippines with the 1st Field Artillery Regiment. Leinbach rose through the ranks to Corporal in 1916, Sergeant in early 1917, and First Sergeant in October 1917.
Leinbach fell in love with Oklahoman Pearl Oleatha Jackson while he was stationed at Fort Sill, Okla. The couple married at Lawton, Okla., on April 20, 1918, and welcomed the birth of their daughter Lorraine. Leinbach was honorably discharged from his World War I service in August 1918 and accepted his officer commission after completing Officer Training School at Camp McArthur, TX, and Field Artillery Central Officers Training School at Camp Taylor, KY.
Leinbach attained the rank of Captain while assigned to D Battery, 2nd Battalion, 76th Field Artillery Regiment, which he served for nearly four years at the Presidio at Monterey, Calif. His prowess on the golf course made him a highly sought partner in tournaments throughout Northern California. In January 1940, Leinbach and his family were deployed to Fort Stotsenburg, Philippines. He advanced in rank to Major on July 1, 1940, and commanded the 1st Battalion, 24th Field Artillery Regiment, Philippine Scouts. This was the largest field artillery unit in the Philippines. As fears of war rose, Leinbach’s wife and daughter returned to the United States from the Philippines in June 1941.
The Japanese forces invaded the Philippines just days after the December 7, 1941, sneak attack at Pearl Harbor. Leinbach’s 1st Battalion was attached to the 31st Infantry Regiment and moved to defensive positions on the Bataan Peninsula. The regiment was in direct support of the 57th Infantry Regiment at Abucay. Leinbach earned a citation for his actions on January 16, 1942, during that engagement. Leinbach was captured during the surrender of the Bataan Defense Force on April 9, 194,2 and became a Prisoner of War of the Japanese at POW Camp #1, Cabanatuan, Luzon.
After enduring mistreatment and hardship in the enemy’s prison camps for over 2½ years, the 1,619 Allied Prisoners of War were ordered by the Imperial Japanese Forces onto the Oryoku Maru on December 13, 1944. The vessel was one of the infamous hell ships that transported POWs in their holds in overcrowded, unsanitary, wretched conditions. Also, aboard the ship were 1,900 Japanese civilians and military personnel as it set sail for Japan from Manila, Philippines. As Oryoku Maru neared the Olongapo naval base in Subic Bay, Navy planes from the USS Hornet (CV-9) and USS Cabot (CVL-22) attacked, unaware that POWs were aboard, and sank the ship on December 15, 1944. About 270 perished in the attack itself or died from suffocation, dehydration, or drowning. Some were shot to death trying to escape the sinking ship.
About 1,000 escaped death on the Oryoku Maru and were held for several days in an open tennis court at Olongapo Naval Base. While there, the prisoners were afforded no sanitary conditions whatsoever. Prisoners experienced severe mistreatment, and several deaths occurred. The group of prisoners was then moved to San Fernando, Pampanga, followed by transport by train to San Fernando, La Union. There, most of the survivors were loaded on another Japanese ship, Enoura Maru, while the rest boarded the smaller Brazil Maru. Both ships safely reached Takao (Kaohsiung) harbor in Formosa (Taiwan) on New Year’s Day. On January 6, the group of prisoners from Brazil Maru was transferred to Enoura Maru.
Just as the men were consuming their meager breakfast ration of rice in the early morning of January 9, planes from the USS Hornet attacked the Enoura Maru and disabled the vessel in the harbor, killing nearly 400 Allied POWs. Survivors of the Enoura Maru attack were forced back onto the Brazil Maru. The vessel set sail for Moji, Japan on January 14, 1945, with no food aboard for the POWs confined in the holds that reeked of livestock manure. An estimated 500 Brazil Maru prisoners died before the ship reached Moji on January 29.
Leinbach was killed in action on January 9, 1945, when the Enoura Maru was attacked by US Navy planes at Takao harbor, Taiwan. Leinbach’s remains were buried on Formosa until they were identified and re-interred at the US Army Mausoleum #2, Schofield Barracks, HI. Leinbach’s remains were repatriated to the US aboard USAT Morris E. Crain and buried on September 30, 1948, at San Francisco National Cemetery, section OS, row 82, grave 12. Leinbach received the Silver Star for his actions at Abucay and posthumously received the Purple Heart.
Stories Behind the Stars
Stories Behind the Stars memorials are accessible for free on the internet and via smartphone app at gravesites and cenotaphs. The non-profit organization is dedicated to honoring all 421,000 fallen Americans from World War II, including 31,000 from Pennsylvania. To volunteer or to get more information, contact Kathy Harmon at kharmon@storiesbehindthestars.org or visit www.storiesbehindthestars.org.
AloJapan.com