I have always admired the work the Defense Prisoner of War (POW)/Missing in Action (MIA) Accountability Agency (DPAA) accomplishes; but until last month I wasn’t privileged to take part in their repatriation efforts. Post 25 in my district was notified that the family of Army Air Corps Technician 5 Clifford Strickland wanted his recently identified remains buried near his parents in Florence, Colo., at Union Highlands Cemetery.
Strickland was 23 when he enlisted with the hopes of working with the mule team and sending money home to help his struggling family of farmers. He served in CA and HI before the U.S. officially entered the war. In 1941, he shipped off to the Philippines and was assigned to C Company of the 803rd Engineering Battalion, tasked with expanding airfields on the island of Luzon. A few hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese began attacking those airfields. The American and Filipino defenders of Bataan held out for over three months despite a lack of food, medicine and ammunition. Finally, on 9 April 1942, the allies surrendered, and Strickland was taken prison along with 75,000 other sick and starving troops. Most were forced to walk the 65-mile trek to a prison camp that would later be known to history as the Bataan Death March. Over 10,000 prisoners died on the march due to dehydration, starvation and disease. Despite surviving the march, Strickland could not overcome the dysentery and malaria that would claim approximately 200 lives every day in Cabanatuan Prison.
The remains were flown to Denver by Clifford’s great-nephew, Capt. Daniel Strickland. Legion Riders met the plane at Denver International Airport and escorted the family and hearse the 130 miles to Pueblo. Fifty members from four posts lined five overpasses covering 40 miles of highway from Monument to Fountain through Colorado Springs. We waved our POW/MIA and American flags to welcome Clifford home. Two days later, he was laid to rest after a beautiful ceremony of motorcycle escort, horse-drawn caisson, flag line, U.S. Army funeral detail, and moving speeches by family and community leaders.
This family waited over three years to find out that he was confirmed dead, not just MIA, and then another 79 years before his remains were returned home and buried on the 82nd anniversary of his death. The Strickland family is a perfect example of why the DPAA’s work is so important. They honored their loved one and never gave up on identifying his remains.