Lost Battalion
Wichita Falls, Wichita County, Texas
Marker Inscription
To the memory of those honored members of the Lost Battalion, native sons, members of the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery, 36th Infantry Division. On March 3, 1942, these gallant men were taken prisoner by the Japanese on Java, held captive for three and one half years. The living members were released September 2, 1945. To these valiant men living and dead we offer our humble gratitude, August 1951.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The men of the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery—many of them Texans from the Wichita Falls area—were captured by Japanese forces on Java in March 1942, in the opening months of America's Pacific war. Held prisoner for three and a half brutal years, the survivors were not freed until Japan's surrender in September 1945. Their fate was so obscured during the war that they became known as the 'Lost Battalion.'
Why it matters
The memorial honors American POWs who endured years of captivity and forced labor, a searing reminder of the human cost borne by the earliest Pacific-theater units of World War II.
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Related events
- · World War II
- · Fall of Java
Themes & tags
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