Example Biography: World War 2

Howard Lester Haase by Scott McKenzie

Howard Lester Haase was born on Nov 22, 1920, in the prairie town of Tuttle, North Dakota, about 60 miles northeast of Bismarck. All of his grandparents were born in Germany, and his father, William, and mother, Martha were 1st generation Americans from Wisconsin. William was nearly 50 years old when Howard was born and still looking for land to establish a farm. In the 1920s the family relocated to Maple Creek, Saskatchewan, more than 600 miles to the northwest but failed to make a go of it. By 1930, they had returned to North Dakota and had settled on a farm in Kidder County. Working the farm required the hands of all four Haase children, and Howard dropped out of school after the 5th grade. The Great Depression forced them into a survival mode made even more intense when Howard’s father passed away in 1936.

At almost 5 feet, 11 inches tall, Howard had grown sinewy and lean from the hard farm work when in November, 1940, he decided to enlist in the US Marine Corps. The Mountain West Division of the Recruiting Command sent him to the 2d Recruit Battalion Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego for boot camp. There, he received serial number 301434 and the military occupational specialty of basic infantryman.

Upon Howard’s graduation and the completion of further infantry training at Camp Pendleton, the Marine Corps shipped him to Shanghai, China assigning him to Company “E”, 2d Battalion of the Fourth Marine Regiment. At the time he arrived, Japan was in full-scale war with China. Encroaching advances necessitated Marine patrols throughout the city to protect US interests. But the increasing pressure forced the regiment to evacuate, and by 30 November 1941, the Fourth Marines were spread out from Manila to Cavite and Maravelles in the Philippines.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the 4th Marines consolidated on Corregidor and took over the defense of the batteries pointing to Manila Bay’s entrance. Almost immediately, the defenders were subjected to bombing runs by the Japanese air force. On January 2, now PFC Haase was taken to the Malinta Tunnel, a 300-yard-long excavation into the island’s main mountain holding MacArthur’s headquarters and a Naval Hospital where he was treated for shellshock sustained during an enemy aerial bombing that day. The corpsman duly noted that his hospitalization was “not due to own misconduct”.

On 10 April 1942 the 4th Provisional Battalion composed of U.S. Navy personnel that had previously served during the Battle of Bataan as the Provisional Naval Battalion joined the Regiment as its fourth battalion. When the Japanese defeated allied forces in Bataan on April 9, 1942, they shifted their focus to Corregidor Island. The island was essential to the invading Japanese forces, as it was the last remaining obstacle to Manila Bay, known as the finest harbor in the Orient.

The regiment was composed of troops from 142 different U.S. and Filipino organizations with nearly 4,000 men occupied the island at the time, but more than half were Army and Navy personnel without ground combat training. Approximately 1,500 U.S. Army personnel and Philippine Scouts reinforced the regiment during the defense of Corregidor, designated as the Reserve Battalion.

USMC-58749. U.S. Marines on Corregidor celebrate the arrival of a fresh supply of Camel cigarettes, early 1942. These men belong to the 4th Marine Regiment, which was augmented by Marines from Marine Barracks Olongapo and the formerly Cavite-based 1st Special Defense Battalion. Following the loss or scuttling of their vessels, many Asiatic Fleet Sailors fought in the regiment’s ranks as its 4th Provisional Battalion, defending the beaches of Corregidor against repeated Japanese amphibious landing attempts. Since the Asiatic Fleet had dispersed large amounts of supplies to Bataan from Cavite in a timely fashion, these men received slightly better rations than their U.S. Army counterparts.

On May 5, Japanese soldiers landed on the island and faced fierce resistance from American and Filipino artillery, but with persistence the Japanese forces etched their way deeper into allied territory and eventually overcame one of the regiment's artillery batteries. Early the next day, Japanese tanks made it to shore.

Army Lt. Gen. Jonathan Wainwright, the commander of U.S. forces in the Philippines under Gen. Douglas MacArthur, realized his men's defeat was imminent. Just a day after the invasion, he surrendered for fear that the more than 1,000 wounded troops would be captured or killed. The 4th Marine Regiment was utterly destroyed, and only a few surviving Marines and personnel made up what was left of the regiment. The commander of 4th Marines ordered the burning of the colors before they made their hasty evacuation. It was the first unit in Marine Corps history to surrender.

Following the fall of the garrison, the Japanese boated the survivors to Manila and paraded them through the streets to the docks. There, they were packed in the holds of cargo ships and taken to slave-labor camps in Japan or China. In Howard’s case, the Japanese sailed him and many of his fellow Marines across the East China Sea to the Chinese mainland where they were then shipped by rail to Mukden deep into Manchuria.

The Hoten Camp was located near Mukden (now Shenyang) and was initially called Mukden POW Camp. Archival records indicate 1,420 Allied prisoners were held here, 1,193 of whom were liberated, and 224 of whom did not survive their captivity. Prisoners at the camp included soldiers from the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Australia, and New Zealand.

The camp consisted of three additional and separate factories where the men were used as slaves:
Camp One: a tannery using over 150 men at all times.
Camp Two: A textile factory.
Camp Three: Combination steel and lumber mill.

Hoten was considered a model camp and occasionally visited by the representatives of the Red Cross. The prisoners were subjected to strict Japanese army regulations and were treated adequately as long as they obeyed. Face-slapping was common for minor infractions. PFC Haase received permanent scars to his upper and lower lips in such an incident. Other reports cite extreme cruelty especially at Camp Three run by the Mitsubishi Company. At one point, nearly all the prisoners, some 1400 Americans, were injected with Typhoid in a hideous experiment by Unit 731 of the Kempeitai or military police. This reportedly resulted in the deaths of 186 prisoners – the single leading cause of death at the camp in its three-year existence.

Escape was foolhardy. Situated in Northeast China more than 100 miles north of the Yalu River of North Korea, the area was under Japanese control for hundreds of miles. Three prisoners who attempted escape were rounded up by local Chinese and turned over to the Japanese who court-martialed and executed them. Later, a 4th Marines sergeant named Evans attempted to escape, was run down by Chinese farmers and turned over to the Kempeitai. His body was never located.

The day after the Japanese surrender, 15 Aug 1945, a six-man OSS team parachuted into Hoten Camp and began work with Colonel Matsuda for the repatriation of the American prisoners. A few days later, the Soviet 6th Guards Army arrived in Mukden to take control of the local area. What few personal possessions the POWs were stolen by the Russians.

On 29 August 1945, the nineteen-man POW Recovery Team No. 1 arrived in Mukden to reinforce and assist the initial OSS contact team. With the arrival of the larger team, processing of the liberated POWs began in earnest. Much of this effort involved paperwork; POWs filling out identification forms and completing questionnaires concerning possible war crimes violations by their Japanese captors. It also involved immunizations and other medical treatment of the prisoners and graves registration work. Remains of POWs buried in the camp cemetery were identified and prepared for exhumation and eventual reburial in permanent American military cemeteries.

American cemetery at Hoten POW camp.

Evacuation of American POWs from the Mukden area began shortly after the initial OSS team arrived and ended by mid-September. The first group left by air on 21 August, eighteen POWs needing immediate medical assistance. Another thirty medical cases were evacuated by air on 24 August. On 27 August General Wainwright and the other VIPs departed by air. But most of the POWs went by train from Mukden to the port of Darien, where they boarded US Navy ships, the hospital ship USS Relief and the transport USS Colbert, for evacuation to Okinawa and then home. Aboard ship they were deloused, issued new clothing, and received additional medical and dental treatment as needed. The railroad movements (loading rosters with name & rank by nationality) from Mukden to Darien occurred on 10 and 11 September. USS Relief sailed from Darien for Okinawa on 12 September; Colbert departed on the 13 August. The POW Recovery Team closed out its operation on 19 September 1945 and left Mukden by air for China Theater headquarters in Kunming.

Upon return to CONUS, Corporal Haase joined Casual Company #1 at Marine Barracks US Naval Base, Treasure Island (San Pedro Annex) while he recovered at US Naval Hospital, Corona, California. He remained in therapy for nearly a year, before being released from active duty to return home. When he registered for the draft on 4 September 1946, he still only weighed a slim 133 pounds. The hard work and meager rations had taken their toll.

For his World War II service, Corporal Haase received the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Army Distinguished Unit Badge with Oak Leaf Cluster, American Defense Service Medal with Base Clasp, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with Bronze Star, Victory Medal, and the Philippine Defense Ribbon with Bronze Star.

Taking full advantage of the GI Bill, he first earned his high school equivalency and then graduated from Minnesota State College earning a degree in aeronautical engineering. While a student, he met and married Leone Wieland in Clay, Minnesota in September 1948. After becoming a civilian pilot, he worked for the Department of Defense for many years at Yuma Test Station before transferring and eventually retiring at Nellis Air Force Base in 1970. Howard was a member of the Experimental Aircraft Association and a former lieutenant in the Civil Air Patrol. He passed away in Las Vegas on 1 April 2006.

Sources:

Findagrave.com

Nevada, U.S., Death Index, 1980-2012

U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010

U.S., Veterans’ Gravesites ca. 1775-2019

Canada Census, 1921

1930, 1940, 1950 United States Federal Census

U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947

U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007

U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014

US Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1940-1946

U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995