A HERO, A life cut short, and we will never forget
Every Memorial Day I think of the story that my mother Helen Lloyd Shaffner, told about Tony B. Lloyd. He was her first cousin, once removed. Which means that she & Tony shared the same ancestor, Albert Gallatin Lloyd. Albert was Tony's grandfather; while he was Mom's great grandfather. But they were close in years, Tony born in 1915 and mom, Helen Lloyd, was born in 1924. They lived in Waitsburg, Washington.
(In my genealogy collection, I have the original newspaper articles. But not always are they dated or the newspaper's name listed.)
Tony was called up with other reserve officers in August, 1940, and reported for duty with the coast artillery corps at March field, Calif., and a year later was transferred for duty in the Philippines, at Fort Mills.
Tony was a First Lieutenant, USA, assigned to Battery H. 60th Coast Art. Reg., Corrigodore, PI. He was taken a POW when the island was captured by the Japanese during WWII.
He died January 7, 1943 in the Kokura POW Camp, Shioku, Japan.
"The Times"
Waitsburg, Washington
Friday, December 21, 1945
Lt. Tony Lloyd Dies in Japanese Prison Camp
News Arrives Here of Death on January 7, 1943
A telegram from the War Department has just been received by Mr. and Mrs. Wesley A. Lloyd notifying them of the death of their son, First Lt. Tony Boynton Lloyd in a prison Camp in Japan, January 7, 1943. Tony Lloyd was born at the old farm home west of Waitsburg, March 12, 1915. ................"
Following is the text of the message received:
"The Secretary of war has asked me to express his deep regret that your son, First Lieutenant Tony B. Lloyd, died in Japan, January 7, 1943, as a result of malnutrition while a prisoner of war of the Japanese government. I regret that unavoidable circumstances made necessary the unusual lapse of time in reporting your son's death to you.
Tony was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action on Corregidor in March of 1946.
The Silver Star Citation reads
"For Gallantry in action on Corregidor, Philippine Islands, on 28 April 1942. During a heavy Japanese artillery concentration on a battery position, the electrical power transmission cables were destroyed. Completely disregarding his own safety, Lieutenant Lloyd, Battery H, 60th Coast Artillery Regiment (Anti-aircraft) left cover, exposed himself to enemy fire for two hours, and repaired these vital cables thereby bringing the battery back into synchronization. By his sustained gallantry and courageous devotion to duty, Lieutenant Lloyd rendered invaluable aid to our forces during a critical period of operation." (newspaper clipping from the Waitsburg Times)
Lt. Lloyd, now established as the first Waitsburg man to die in the service of his country,
Tony's parents, Wes and Ina Lloyd
Tony Lloyd
Wes Lloyd had a friendship with the local Indian tribe who camped on the Lloyd farm.
For the kindness of the Lloyd family, they were given Indian artifacts.
The entire collection is now on housed and on display at Fort Walla Walla Museum in Walla Walla, Washington.
I have pictures of Tony as a child, but not as a young adult.
Time Magazine, April 13, 1942
Behind the Bataan Line
Tony Lloyd is the man standing
The picture is labeled
"Money changing hands during a lull
The picture below was clipped from a captured Japanese newsreel film showing the surrender of American troops on Corregidor.
The man on the extreme right has been identified as Lt. Tony Lloyd.\
One scene (on the right) featured several American prisoners, hands in air, awaiting the next command of their guards.
His parents actually saw their son's picture in a newsreel. which was shown before the movie at the movie theater.
The manager of the theater was kind enough to unroll the film and cut out the part of the picture that Wes and Ina thought was their son. The last letter they received from him was written November 17, 1941 before war was declared. They received a brief, indirect message two months before they saw the newsreel from an Army friend of Tony's that he was all right and in a prison camp somewhere in the Philippines. His parents tried to contact him through the Red Cross.
Tony was with General Wainwright at the time Cooregidor was captured. He was with a Coast Artillery anti-aircraft outfit. These men of Corregidor were marched down the streets of Manila in wretched condition to prove to the silent thousands of natives that the Jap conquerors were superior in every way. They were led to Billibid prison were the Americans were separated from the Filipinos and taken to Cabanatuan in May of 1942. From the story of Tony's existence must be left to the imagination until further information can come from the lips of those who survived.
Corregidor.
That he was taken prisoner there was strikingly revealed on the screen of the Waitsburg theater when a newsreel flash prepared from Japanese war films was shown. The parents were positive one of the captives was their son, and when a special reprint was made from the film any lingering doubts were removed.
It was thought he later escaped. Consistent rumors had him serving with Filipino, and later, Chinese guerrillas, where his resourcefulness and skill with weapons were being utilized against the common enemy. Now it is known that following the surrender he was variously at Billbid prison, Cabanatuan and finally Kokura, Japan on Shokuku island, near Narumi, Japan.
Died of Starvation
His death there was due to malnutrition, but of the events during the preceding months it is thought nothing further will ever be made known, except by survivors, or through later war department releases
Tony B Lloyd died 7 January 1943.
His parents were notified at Christmas time in 1945.
I can't even image the difficulty his parents had not knowing where or what had happened to their son. And to learn at Christmas that their son had died of starvation as a POW. He was their first son.
Tony B. Lloyd's headstone
City Cemetery, Waitsburg, Washington
He was 28 years old.
