Earl was my mother’s older brother, therefore, my maternal uncle. I never met him because he died in 1942, and I wasn’t born until 1945. However…

I remember how my mother, Beryl Mae McKinnis Percy, talked about her older brother, Earl – she emanated a tremendous sense of pride, but it was almost smothered by a palpable sadness at the loss of a favorite brother. She spoke to me about the brother who was kind, and who protected her from the other brothers when their playful teasing got a bit out of hand. She was proud of his service to his country, but at what cost to her… a sentiment I believe to be shared by anyone who has lost a loved one, even if it was considered to be a noble death.

This is the story of his service and his sacrifice.

“Earl H. McKinnis (1921 Iowa), a resident of Aurelia, Cherokee County, Iowa, enlisted as a Private (S/N 6935998) in the U.S. Army Air Corps on 06 December 1939.

He was assigned to the 27th Material Squadron, 20th Air Base Group, U.S. Army Air Corps and sent to the Philippine Islands in April 1940. The 27th Material Squadron was in charge of supplies and aircraft at Nichols Field, just south of Manila.

On 08 December 1941 war came to the Philippines. Over the next couple of days Japanese planes virtually destroyed the U.S. Army Air Corps. Japanese forces began a full-scale invasion of Luzon on 22 December. In response, General Douglas MacArthur, ordered units at Nichols to withdrawal [sic] to the Bataan peninsula to be a part of the Bataan Defense Force. Most of the men in the 27th Materiel Squadron became infantrymen. Manila was declared an open city on 26 December, and by the 28th, Japanese forces occupied the airfield.

After enduring four months of combat, hunger, and illness, Corporal McKinnis was surrendered with the rest of the Luzon Force on 09 April 1942. He, along with 75,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war captured by the Japanese, were subjected to the infamous Bataan Death March.

When the Fil-American soldiers began the Death March they were in terrible physical condition. For 6 to 9 days (depending on their starting point) they were forced to walk the roughly sixty-five miles to San Fernando, enduring abuse by Japanese guards and seeing the deaths of thousands of fellow soldiers. At San Fernando, the Japanese stuffed about 100 men into steel-sided boxcars for the twenty-five-mile trip to Capas. The scorching hot boxcars were packed so tight that the men could not even sit down. When the train arrived at Capas the POW’s were offloaded and marched the final nine miles to Camp O’Donnell.

Corporal Earl Howard McKinnis died as a result of dysentery on 17 May 1942 in Camp O’Donnell. He was buried in the prison cemetery – Plot F, Row 10, Grave 1.

After the war (between December 1945 and February 1946) the remains of all the soldiers in the O’Donnell cemetery that could be found were disinterred and brought to the American Graves Registration Service Manila Mausoleum for identification. After positive identification was made, CPL McKinnis was reburied in 7747 USAF Cemetery, Manila #2, Philippine Islands – Block 2, Row 19, Grave 2439, (D-D No. 8637). The deceased in Manila #2 rested there until their removal to the American Graves Registration Service Manila Mausoleum in the summer of 1948. From there, according to the wishes of his next of kin, (father, Mr. Harley McKinnis), Corporal Earl Howard McKinnis was buried in his final resting place in the 7701 Ft. McKinley Cemetery (now known as the Manila American Cemetery) – Plot N, Row 9, Grave 55.”

Uncle Earl – Never to be forgotten by a grateful country and a loving family.