Clinton Countian Sal Ferrara remembered as WW II hero

POW losses from WWII sinking of Japanese 'hell ship' include one from Clinton County

LOCK HAVEN – Wednesday, Sept. 15 is this year's POW/MIA Recognition Day.

In observance, volunteers with the non- profit Stories Behind the Stars (www.storiesbehindthestars.org) are recognizing the American POWs lost in the September 7, 1944 sinking of the Japanese hell ship Shinyo Maru. They have written memorials about each of the thirty-four PA POWs who perished in the tragedy, including CPL Salvatore L. Ferrara from Clinton County.

Salvatore Lewis Ferrara was born on June 22, 1918 in Lock Haven, PA to Samuel Ferrara and Genevieve Marasco. His father immigrated from Italy and worked as a laborer in a

brickyard. Ferrara had seven brothers (one older and six younger) and seven sisters (two older and five younger). He had a grammar school education and worked as a salesman.

Ferraro enlisted in the Army on August 17, 1940 at Harrisburg, Pa., in the infantry. He was assigned to Company M, 31st Infantry Regiment. The 31st Infantry regiment covered the withdrawal of Allied forces to the Bataan Peninsula following the Japanese invasion of the Philippines on December 8, 1941. The regiment fought the Japanese to a standstill for four months upsetting the enemy's timetable for the conquest of Asia. The Bataan Defense Force, which included the 31st Infantry Regiment, surrendered on April 9, 1942. Those who were taken prisoners, including Ferrara, underwent brutal torture and humiliation on the Bataan Death March and nearly three years of captivity. Roughly half of the 1,600 soldiers of the 31st Infantry Regiment who surrendered at Bataan perished while POWs.

The Shinyo Maru was a merchant cargo ship that the Imperial Japanese Army impounded in 1941. It was converted into a hell ship for use to transport POWs. The vessel was labeled a hell ship due to the inhumane and unsanitary conditions amounting to torture. Japanese merchant sailors crewed the hell ship and soldiers of the Imperial Army manned the machine gun and

guarded the 750 POWs aboard. The Shinyo Maru was one of dozens of hell ships used by the Japanese in violation of the Geneva Convention. Many of those involved in the program were convicted of war crimes and were imprisoned or executed.

Of the 750 Allied prisoners, all but five were Americans and nearly 300 had survived the Bataan Death March. All had been forced labor on Japanese airfields before they were forced to march shoeless and in loincloths into the hold of a ship for a five-day transit to Zamboanga. The POWs waited ten more days in the fetid, overcrowded cargo hold before being transferred to the Shinyo Maru on September 4, 1944.

American intelligence intercepted several Japanese naval messages and learned Shinyo Maru was in a convoy of two torpedo boats, two tankers, and three other cargo ships to transport 750 troops from Cebu to Manila. There was no indication that the troops aboard were POWs. The American submarine USS Paddle (SS-263) - on its fifth patrol – was ordered to sink the ship. On September 7, 1944, the USS Paddle located the convoy off the west coast of Mindanao and identified the Shinyo Maru. The USS Paddle fired a spread of four torpedoes. Two detonated in Shinyo Maru's hold.

Aboard the Shinyo Maru there was a terrific explosion followed by a second one. The POWs had heavy obstacles falling on them from above. Many were lying with their bodies shattered and bleeding. Some were able to go above due to the damage to the hatch doors and witnessed many Japanese lying dead on the deck. Imperial Japanese guards opened fire on the prisoners using captured Thompson submachine guns. Over 100 men were able to fight their way through the guards and abandon ship. Fifteen to twenty were recaptured by torpedo boats and executed as punishment. Documents indicated they were tied to the railings of the boat and shot behind the head. While others continued to swim and distance themselves from the ship, there was the loud sound of something cracking. The swimming POWs could see the Shinyo Maru breaking apart and sinking under the surface of the water.

A total of 668 POWs were killed. Among the Japanese, 47 of the 52 perished. Filipino guerrillas and the Volunteer Guard rescued 83 Americans on Sindangan Bay shore. One POW died the following day and one remained with the guerillas to fight the Japanese. The rest of the freed POWs were later evacuated by the American submarine USS Narwhal. The crew of USS Paddle (SS-263) were not told of the Allied soldiers on board the Shinyo Maru until after the war.

Ferrara was memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in Manila, Philippines. Ferrara was posthumously awarded the Prisoner of War medal, the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.

Stories Behind the Stars memorials are accessible on the internet and via smart phone 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.