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Lenard Barben Rice

PFC Lenard B. Rice served with HQ Company, Third Battalion, 4th Marines.
He was captured at Bataan and died while a prisoner of war at Cabanatuan, Philippine Islands, on 21 October 1942.

Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019

Branch

Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 229926

Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019

Current Status

Remains not recovered.

Pursuit Category

This case is under Active Pursuit by the DPAA.

Capsule History

Pre-War Life

Birth*

July 28, 1912
at Baton Rouge, LA

Parents

Charles Henry Rice
Laura Olivia Jane (Lott) Rice

Education

Bolton High School

Occupation & Employer

Details unknown

*Marine Corps records give the year as 1911.

Service Life

Entered Service

December 7, 1939
at Dallas, TX

Home Of Record

Houston, TX

Next Of Kin

Parents, Charles & Laura Rice

Military Specialty

Radioman

Primary Unit

HQ/3/4th Marines

Campaigns Served

Philippine Islands / Bataan

Individual Decorations
Additional Service Details

Rice served an earlier hitch in the Marine Corps from 1930 to 1934.

Loss And Burial

Circumstances Of Loss

PFC Lenard (or Leonard) Rice, a pre-war China Marine serving his second hitch in the Corls, was stationed in the Philippine Islands when the United States entered World War II. As a skilled radioman, Rice was detached from his regular duties and assigned to the Marine Air Warning Service – one of the few units able to provide advance notice of incoming Japanese raids. This group (known colloquially as “the Rogues” and led by Marine Gunner John T. Brainard and First Lieutenant Lester A. Schade) operated independently, but were still backed into the Bataan peninsula and surrendered with the Allied forces there on 9 April 1942.

Rice survived the Bataan Death March and wound up in a POW camp at Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija province. Unsanitary living conditions, harsh treatment by guards, and a starvation diet took a rapid toll on the prisoners of war; the malnourished Rice contracted malaria in June, and was finally admitted to the camp hospital. The disease proved fatal on 21 November 1942.

Rice's death report from Cabanatuan Camp #1. Philippine Archive Collection.
Burial Information or Disposition

Rice was buried in Grave 509 of the Cabanatuan cemetery, along with fourteen other prisoners – among them a fellow Marine, PFC Richard B. Maxson.

NameRankService NumberAgeStatus
Nanny, Clyde G.Private624414041Identified
Rice, Lenard B.PFC22992630Unaccounted
Maxson, Richard B.PFC26740925Unaccounted
Sims, James D.Corporal3801199224Identified
Lafromboise, FrankPrivate1905432321Unaccounted
Tubb, James T.Private621084542Identified
Paul, Clifford A.Technical Sergeant672246733Identified
Trotter, Elmer K.Sergeant700046222Identified
Hall, Milus L.Sergeant3801189933Identified
Looney, Virgel L.Private3801234936Identified
Walsh, Patrick H.Private1506180521Identified
Spensley, Homer V.PFC2084299921Identified
Wiggins, Elwood L.Private1905024123Identified
Hughes, James A.PFC34084162[unknown]Identified
Morgan, George E.PFC3703358027Identified

Grave 509 was exhumed in 1946, and the remains sent to Manila for examination. In the years after the war, all but three remains were successfully identified. Rice, Maxson, and Private Frank Lafromboise of the 60th Coast Artillery are likely buried in Fort William McKinley Cemetery, Manila, as unknowns.

The unknowns listed above are associated with X-1224, X-1225, and X-1226, Manila Mausoleum #2.

Next Of Kin Address

Address of parents, Charles & Laura Rice.

Location Of Loss

PFC Rice died at Cabanatuan Camp #1.

Related Profiles

Members of the 4th Marines non-recovered from Cabanatuan Camp #1.
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