"...The Secretary of War Shares Your Grief..."

by Warren C. Sheldon

General Outline: This life story of a young man, an only child, born to a locomotive engineer and a schoolteacher, begins with some family background including early training in a military academy for a period of two years followed by four years at the local high school where the subject demonstrates keen leadership ability. This is followed by a BA in Letters and Science from the University of California at Berkeley, as well as a commission as an infantry reserve officer. While doing graduate work in the fall of 1939 he is called to active duty for six months. Just as the six months are up, his duty is extended for a year. Before the year is up, he finds himself in the Philippine Islands assigned to General Douglas Mac Arthur’s staff about two months after the United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) is established and about three months before the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor. He assists in the move from Manila to Corregidor and endures the subsequent bombing. Mac Arthur offe