Technician Fifth Grade Clifford H. Strickland, of Fowler, Colorado, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for December 20, 2023.
Welcome Home Ceremony
June 29, 2024
8:00 PM
Runyan Field
400 Stanton Ave, Pueblo, CO
Graveside Service - full military honors.
June 29, 2024
2:00 PM
Union Highalnd Cemetery
791 Arrowhead Dr, Florence, CO
Clifford strickland - son of clarence strickland and lydia belle mccumber
Clifford Harley Strickland, a farm boy from Colorado, is coming home. He was the beloved son of Clarence and Lydia Strickland, third child of eleven children.
Clifford's parents and siblings shared vivid memories of Clifford, allowing his family to know him through their stories. Generations of family have longed for his return and the opportunity to honor their fallen hero.
Strickland enlisted in the Army in April of 1940, more than a year-and-a-half before the United States entered World War II. In July of that year, he wrote his family from Fort McDowell on Angel Island in California, telling them it would be a while until they heard from him again, because he had put in to be a mule driver and was about to ship out to Hickam Field, Hawaii, where he would be in charge of “a boatload of horses and mules.” Later while still on Oahu, he was assigned to Company C, 809rd Engineer Battalion of the Philippine Department, which later joined the 803rd.
In another letter home, he revealed to his family he was stationed at Nichols Field just south of Manila. Clifford was delighted to say that he hadn’t gotten seasick once on the long 14-day voyage. Strickland’s unit was part of the group tasked with defending the Philippine Islands. In a letter home, he mentioned his outfit was behind in their work setting up airfields because of all the rain that had fallen on the country — writing, “the sun has shown about three days out of four weeks.”
Nine hours after the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Army set its sights on the airfields in the Philippines. The losses were catastrophic and essentially wiped out all 18 B-17 Flying Fortress bombers at Clark Field, destroying or damaging many other warplanes and facilities.
Two weeks later, more than 50,000 Japanese troops waged a full-scale invasion of the Philippines and the island of Luzon from the north and south. Despite drastic shortages of food and medicine, plus badly outdated weapons and ammo leftover from World War I, the severely outmatched American and Filipino troops fought fiercely for three months with no reinforcements before General Edward P. King finally surrendered on April 9, 1942. The Battle for Bataan became the first major engagement for the US in the war. It is still one of the most devastating military defeats in American history. Strickland became one of the more than 75,000 prisoners of war who were forcibly gathered and subjected to the savagely brutal six-day, approximately 60-mile trek to POW camps in the central part of the island that became known as the Bataan Death March. The 803rd joined “The Hike,” as many prisoners referred to it, at Limay, and continued north to San Fernando. During the long, miserable journey, the Japanese committed countless atrocities against their captives, beating, bayoneting, shooting, and leaving them where they lay. At San Fernando, POWs were jammed into small prewar boxcars, more than 100 men at a time, into oven-like deathtraps meant for cattle and sent to an old Filipino Army camp called Camp O’Donnell. The heat was intolerable, the disease rampant. The death rate was estimated at 400 per day. The number of troops who died during the march was put at over 20,000. After Camp O'Donnell, Strickland was taken to the notorious Cabanatuan Prison Camp, where the inhumane conditions were even more wretched. Food and water were extremely limited, malnutrition was widespread. Malaria, dysentery, and beriberi were prevalent, eventually leading to Strickland’s death in the prison hospital in the early hours of July 29, 1942. He was buried in one of the many mass graves in the camp, Common Grave 215, along with 13 of his doomed comrades. Following the war, American Graves Registration Service personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. To identify Strickland’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis and circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists used mitochondrial DNA analysis that ultimately matched his DNA with that of one of his great-nephews to confirm the identification. This June, another nephew, Air Force Captain Daniel Strickland will fly to Hickam Air Force Base on Pearl Harbor, and experience the honor of accompanying his Uncle’s remains home to Colorado for a full military funeral befitting the American hero he is. Then on June 29, 2024, nearly 82 years to the day of his tragic passing, Technician Fifth Grade Strickland will be laid to eternal rest near his parents in a ceremony for family, friends, and dignitaries at Union Highland Cemetery in Florence, CO, near where he grew up.
Two weeks later, more than 50,000 Japanese troops waged a full-scale invasion of the Philippines and the island of Luzon from the north and south. Despite drastic shortages of food and medicine, plus badly outdated weapons and ammo leftover from World War I, the severely outmatched American and Filipino troops fought fiercely for three months with no reinforcements before General Edward P. King finally surrendered on April 9, 1942. The Battle for Bataan became the first major engagement for the US in the war. It is still one of the most devastating military defeats in American history. Strickland became one of the more than 75,000 prisoners of war who were forcibly gathered and subjected to the savagely brutal six-day, approximately 60-mile trek to POW camps in the central part of the island that became known as the Bataan Death March. The 803rd joined “The Hike,” as many prisoners referred to it, at Limay, and continued north to San Fernando. During the long, miserable journey, the Japanese committed countless atrocities against their captives, beating, bayoneting, shooting, and leaving them where they lay. At San Fernando, POWs were jammed into small prewar boxcars, more than 100 men at a time, into oven-like deathtraps meant for cattle and sent to an old Filipino Army camp called Camp O’Donnell. The heat was intolerable, the disease rampant. The death rate was estimated at 400 per day. The number of troops who died during the march was put at over 20,000. After Camp O'Donnell, Strickland was taken to the notorious Cabanatuan Prison Camp, where the inhumane conditions were even more wretched. Food and water were extremely limited, malnutrition was widespread. Malaria, dysentery, and beriberi were prevalent, eventually leading to Strickland’s death in the prison hospital in the early hours of July 29, 1942. He was buried in one of the many mass graves in the camp, Common Grave 215, along with 13 of his doomed comrades. Following the war, American Graves Registration Service personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. To identify Strickland’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis and circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists used mitochondrial DNA analysis that ultimately matched his DNA with that of one of his great-nephews to confirm the identification. This June, another nephew, Air Force Captain Daniel Strickland will fly to Hickam Air Force Base on Pearl Harbor, and experience the honor of accompanying his Uncle’s remains home to Colorado for a full military funeral befitting the American hero he is. Then on June 29, 2024, nearly 82 years to the day of his tragic passing, Technician Fifth Grade Strickland will be laid to eternal rest near his parents in a ceremony for family, friends, and dignitaries at Union Highland Cemetery in Florence, CO, near where he grew up.
Remembering Clifford
Visit the Clifford H. Strickland memorial website at:
https://everloved.com/life-of/clifford-strickland/