James George Barna
PFC James G. “Jimmy” Barna served with Mike Company, Third Battalion, 4th Marines.
He was captured at Corregidor on 6 May 1942, and died later that year while a prisoner of war.
Branch
Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 280701
Current Status
Remains not recovered.
Pursuit Category
The DPAA has not publicized this information
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth*
October 6, 1923
at Rockford, OH
Parents
George Barna (d. 1936)
Barbara (Kaschak) Barna
later Mrs. Barbara Samborec
Education
Details unknown
Occupation & Employer
Details unknown
*On civilian records. Military documentation (possibly falsified for underage enlistment) shows 30 December 1919.
Service Life
Entered Service
January 15, 1940
at Detroit, MI
Home Of Record
8710 St. Aubin Street
Hamtramck, MI
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Barbara Samborec
Military Specialty
Machine gunner
Primary Unit
M/3/4th Marines
Campaigns Served
Philippine Islands / Corregidor
Individual Decorations
Prisoner of War Medal
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
Private First Class “Jimmy” Barna served with Mike Company, Third Battalion, 4th Marines during the defense of the Philippine Islands and the siege of Corregidor. He was captured when the garrison capitulated on 6 May 1942, and after a few days sweltering in the 92nd Garage, was shipped off to Palawan for imprisonment in “Camp 10-A.” There, Barna and his fellow prisoners worked as slave labor building an airstrip with hand tools.
While working on the airstrip, Barna and a few other prisoners began communicating with a Filipino civilian, leaving notes and money in a can in exchange for food and information. The Japanese intercepted Barna’s last note on 18 November 1942, and hauled the Marine and five other prisoners out of their barracks for punishment. Former POW Glenn McDole described what happened next:
[Manichi] Nishitoni smiled as he ordered one of the other guards to beat [Marine PFC Jack] Taylor across the small of the back with a small wire whip. It tore into his flesh, ripping his skin away from the bone. When the guard tired, Nishitoni ordered still another guard to take his turn. Slowly they turned Taylor's backside into raw, bleeding meat. Still another guard was ordered to beat him again, and this time with a large pole.... When they finished with Taylor they moved on to the next prisoner, who received the same treatment..... When the beatings ended, guards dragged the six men to the brig, where Tomiko [a guard called "The Bull"] beat each man about the face until he was unconscious.
A few days after the beatings, McDole relates, the six men were sent to Manila with the other sick and infirm prisoners. Replacements arriving at Palawan reported that four of the six wound up in Old Bilibid Prison, while the other two – Barna and MM3 Robert Laidlaw – were supposedly executed. No official record of their demise is known to exist, nor were their bodies ever found. Both men were declared dead as of 6 January 1946.
Burial Information or Disposition
None. Because the exact location and date of Barna’s death are not known, recovering identifiable remains is only a remote possibility.
Memorials
Next Of Kin Address
Address of mother, Mrs. Barbara Samborec.
Location Of Loss
Barna was last confirmed alive at POW Camp 10-A, Palawan.
