05/16/2024
SGT. George Bishop WWII POW returning home for burial
George Frank Bishop was born in Centralia, WA on January 25, 1920 to Henry Frank and Lucy Vern (Oster) Bishop. He grew up with his brothers Adron Leslie and Jesse Wayne. When George was 11, his sister Shirley Ilean was born. George enlisted in the U.S. Army on December 7, 1939.
A newspaper article dated January 11, 1940 states “George Frank Bishop, who was a member of the 41st Tank Company, has enlisted in the Army Coast Artillery for duty in the Philippine Islands. He will be sent to Fort McDowell, California, from where he will sail. Good luck and best wishes from the Tankers, George!”
In late 1942, Bishop was a member of Battery K, 3rd Battalion, 59th Coast Artillery Regiment, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Bishop was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Corregidor surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.
According to prison camp and other historical records, Bishop died July 28, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Common Grave 215. It was presumed that he was a prisoner, although he was officially listed as Missing in Action. The family was notified of his death in May 1945.
Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Five sets of remains from Common Grave 215 were identified, but the rest were declared unidentifiable. The unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial (MACM) as Unknowns.
In early 2018, the remains associated with Common Grave 215 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis. Among those remains were X-2875, believed to be Sgt. Bishop.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced that U.S. Army Sergeant George F. Bishop, 22, of Centralia, Washington, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for June 30, 2023
To identify Bishop’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR) analysis.
Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, Bishop’s grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Surviving Sgt. Bishop are nieces and nephews, Stanley Yocom (Lois), Kerry Yocom Zutant (Ruth), Larry Yocom, Leslie Yocom (Lori), Sherry Yocom Ramos (Victor), Sandra Bishop Hall, Diane Bishop Myers (Brian), Steve Bishop and Nancy Bishop. Preceding him in death are his parents, siblings and niece Susan Yocom Ryan.
A Funeral Service with Full Military Honors for Sgt. Bishop is scheduled to begin at 1pm on Thursday, May 23, 2024 at Claquato Cemetery, Chehalis. Arrangements are under the direction of Newell-Hoerling’s Mortuary, Centralia.
