Joe Manuel Dominguez
Assistant Cook Joe M. Dominguez served with Headquarters Company, Third Battalion, 4th Marines.
He was captured at Corregidor and died while a prisoner of war at Cabanatuan, Philippine Islands, on 16 July 1942.
Branch
Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 290920
Current Status
Remains not recovered.
Pursuit Category
This case is under Active Pursuit by the DPAA.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
July 8, 1921
at Key West, FL
Parents*
Enrique Dominguez (d. 1924)
Golden Isolina (Villareal) Dominguez
later Mrs. Golden Fornos
Education
Details unknown
Occupation & Employer
Details unknown
* Joe was raised by his mother and stepfather, Genero Fornos Sr. He appears on census records as "Joseph Fornos."
Service Life
Entered Service
August 3, 1940
at Los Angeles, CA
Home Of Record
2201 4th Avenue
Tampa, FL
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Golden Fornos
Military Specialty
Assistant Cook
Primary Unit
HQ/3/4th Marines
Campaigns Served
Philippine Islands / Corregidor
Individual Decorations
Prisoner of War Medal
Additional Service Details
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Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
Private Joe Dominguez was stationed at Cavite, Philippine Islands, when the United States entered World War II. His unit was re-designated as the Third Battalion, 4th Marines, and Dominguez served with the newly formed battalion HQ Company in the defense of the Philippines and the siege of Corregidor during the spring of 1942. He worked in a field kitchen, and was promoted to the rank of Assistant Cook during the campaign.
Dominguez was captured in the fall of Corregidor on 6 May 1942, and held as a prisoner of war at Cabanatuan Camp #1, Nueva Ecija province. Unsanitary living conditions, harsh treatment by guards, and a starvation diet took a rapid toll on the prisoners of war; that summer, Joe Dominguez contracted a virulent case of dysentery. He weakened rapidly and finally died of the disease early in the morning on 16 July 1942.
Burial Information or Disposition
Joe Dominguez was buried in a mass grave in Cabanatuan’s prison cemetery – but unfortunately, the exact location was not recorded at the time.
Graves Registration personnel working in Manila after the war identified a few men who died around the same time as Dominguez from remains returned from Grave 316. Unfortunately, sixteen others from this grave could not be individually identified, and it is not completely certain that Dominguez was in Grave 316 in the first place. His current resting place is unknown; however, there is a high likelihood that Dominguez buried in Manila.
Next Of Kin Address
Address of mother, Mrs. Golden Fornos.
Location Of Loss
Assistant Cook Dominguez died at Cabanatuan Camp #1.
