Dr. Rollin Slossin FILLMORE, Sr.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Census: 1900, Living with parents in Blue Rapids, Marshall Co., Kansas
• Census: 1905, Living with parents in Blue Rapids, Marshall Co., Kansas
• Census: 1910, Living with parents in Blue Rapids, Marshall Co., Kansas
• Census: 1920, Living in Magor, Hancock Co., Iowa
• Census: 1925, Living in Corwith, Hancock Co., Iowa
• Census: 1930, Living in Jacksboro, Jack Co., Texas
• Census: 1940, Living in Jacksboro, Jack Co., Texas

Family/Spouse: Kathryn HATTERSCHEID. Kathryn was born on 23 Mar 1887 in Corwith, Hancock Co., Iowa; died on 15 Jul 1950 in Temple, Bell County, Texas; was buried in Waco Memorial Park, Robinson, McLennan Co., Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Ruth CHISHOLM. Ruth was born on 9 Dec 1896 in Copeland, Boundary Co., Idaho; died in May 1990 in Temple, Bell County, Texas; was buried in Grandview Cemetery, Bonners Ferry, Boundary Co., Idaho. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Census: 1920, Living with parents in Magor, Hancock Co., Iowa
• Census: 1925, Living with parents in Corwith, Hancock Co, Iowa
• Census: 1930, Living with parents in Jacksboro, Jack Co., Texas
• Census: 1940, Living with parents in Jacksboro, Jack Co., Texas

Rollin married Vernell CAMERON on 4 Jun 1955 in Harnett, North Carolina. Vernell was born on 26 Jun 1928 in Harnett, North Carolina; died on 27 Dec 1997 in Temple, Bell County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Census: 1925, Living with parents in Corwith, Hancock Co, Iowa
• Census: 1930, Living with parents in Jacksboro, Jack Co., Texas
• Census: 1940, Living with parents in Jacksboro, Jack Co., Texas

Notes:

Name:
Buried October 28, 2006.

World War II Army Veteran out of Jack County, TX

Maternal link provided by F.A.G. volunteer, R.D. Herring (#47360929). Thank you!

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Benjamin DeWitt Fillmore was a member of the 36th Infantry Division, U.S. Army and survived 42 months of forced labor as a Japanese captive in World War II.

The story was memorialized in the Congressional Record by U.S. Senator John Cornyn III, Texas in March, 2017:

?Texas? most decorated unit remains the group of 532 brave men we now call the ?Texas Lost Battalion,? who were captured by the Japanese 75 years ago, in March 1942.
The story starts earlier, in the fall of 1940, when the 36th Division of the Texas National Guard arrived just outside of Brownwood at one of Texas? largest training centers, Camp Bowie. World War II had engulfed both Europe and Asia, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt had issued orders in late August to mobilize the National Guard.
After a brief period of training, the unit traveled to a port in San Francisco, embarked on 'The Republic' as the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery, 36th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army, and set sail for the Pacific Theater.
Two weeks into the journey, on December 7, 1941, 'The Republic' and its convoy were just west of Hawaii when troops heard the news of Japan?s attack on Pearl Harbor. The United States officially joined the war, and 'The Republic' shifted course from its original destination, the Philippines, to defend the Dutch East Indies.
The 36th Infantry Division arrived on the island of Java on January 11, 1942, the very same day the Japanese began their invasion of the Dutch Islands. The 36th Infantry Division supported the 19th Heavy Bombardment Group as they fought off the Japanese. But when that Group left Java for Australia, the 36th was left behind in the increasingly grim Java.
It was then, after most other Allied units had retreated to Australia, that the Japanese completed the demise of the Dutch Islands and took the remaining units prisoner. The Japanese neglected to file the identities of the captured units, so the 36th Infantry Division fell off the United States? radar. The U.S. Military and the soldiers? families had lost track of the 36th Infantry Division, and so they earned the fabled name ?Texas Lost Battalion.?
For the next three years, the Texas Lost Battalion was forced to endure brutal conditions in Japanese Prisoner of War (POW) camps. The Texas soldiers were dragged through the Dutch East Indies, Singapore, Burma, and Thailand, working back-breaking jobs in brutal conditions as their fellow POWs perished around them, including the Railroad of Death connecting Burma and Bangkok and the infamous Bridge over the River Kwai.
The Texas Lost Battalion was ? figuratively ? found on September 16, 1944. On that day, American submarines sank two Japanese freighters transporting British and Australian POWs in the Pacific, and the surviving POWs told stories of working alongside Texas soldiers from the 36th Infantry Division.
On August 15, 1945, the soldiers of the Texas Lost Battalion were finally liberated ? some 42 months after their capture. Unfortunately, not all of the 532 brave troops that embarked on The Republic in 1941 returned home after the war. Each of them has a story to tell, and the legacy of their heroic service lives on.?

Thanks & regards,
RD Herring

Family/Spouse: Harriet INGE. Harriet was born on 19 Mar 1926 in Dallas, Dallas Co., Texas; died on 29 Jun 2002 in Dallas, Dallas Co., Texas; was buried in Sparkman Hillcrest Memorial Park, Dallas, Dallas Co., Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Census: 1925, Living with parents in Corwith, Hancock Co, Iowa
• Census: 1930, Living with parents in Jacksboro, Jack Co., Texas
• Census: 1940, Living with parents in Jacksboro, Jack Co., Texas

Family/Spouse: Dorothy G. GILLIAM. Dorothy was born on 9 Aug 1918 in Huntsville, Madison Co., Alabama; died on 14 Jul 2013 in DeLand, Volusia Co., Florida; was buried in Florida National Cemetery, Bushnell, Sumter Co., Florida. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]