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James Philip Shockman

PFC James P. Shockman served with Mike Company, Third Battalion, 4th Marines.
He was killed in action at Fort Hughes, Corregidor area, on 6 May 1942.

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

Branch

Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 275167

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

Current Status

Remains not recovered.

Pursuit Category

The DPAA has not publicized this information.

Capsule History

Pre-War Life

Birth

June 15, 1919
at Grand Rapids, ND

Parents

Mikael Leonard “Mike” Shockman
Kathryn M. (Rausch) Shockman (d. 1944)

Education

Details unknown

Occupation & Employer

Details unknown

Service Life

Entered Service

September 27, 1939
at Denver, CO

Home Of Record

La Moure, ND

Next Of Kin

Mother, Mrs. Kathryn Shockman

Military Specialty

Primary Unit

M/3/4th Marines

Campaigns Served

Philippine Islands / Corregidor

Individual Decorations

Soldier’s Medal
Prisoner of War Medal
Purple Heart

Additional Service Details

Loss And Burial

Circumstances Of Loss

James Shockman was stationed in the Philippine Islands when the United States entered World War II. At the outbreak of hostilities, his outfit was re-designated as the Third Battalion, 4th Marines, and Shockman became a member of Mike Company. He participated in the defense of the Philippines and the siege of Corregidor, where he was one of a handful of Marines assigned to man the batteries at Caballo Island (Fort Hughes).

On the night of 5 May 1942, the Japanese started their all-out assault against Corregidor itself. Fort Hughes was bombarded mercilessly to prevent the garrison from firing its heavy weapons in support of the beleaguered defenders. Shortly after noon, word arrived from Corregidor: the garrison had surrendered, and all resistance was to stop at once. Soldiers, sailors, and Marines set about destroying their weapons and equipment. A few tried to escape in small boats – and a few others, according to Marine veteran Glenn McDole, committed suicide in despair. The rest glumly awaited their fate.

About five hours after the surrender, Shockman and Marine PFC William J. Lang wandered down to the beach, where they met PFC George Bilhardt of the 59th Coast Artillery. A body was seen floating in the bay; Shockman and Bilhardt swam out to the rescue but turned around when they realized that the man was wearing a life belt. Japanese aircraft were droning overhead, and suddenly they heard the whistle of falling bombs. The two Americans were blasted off the rock. Bilhardt resurfaced, stunned and spluttering, and straggled in to shore. Shockman never reappeared.

Burial Information or Disposition

In 1943, American POWs at Cabanatuan began attempting to reconcile casualty lists and create a roster of men known to be dead. Servicemen gave formal affidavits about friends and comrades who had been killed in action or died in captivity. PFC Lang gave an unusually detailed account of Shockman’s final moments, with additional information supplied by PFC Bilhardt.

The tale of Shockman's heroic act and subsequent death was told in this sworn affidavit by PFC William Lang of the Fort Hughes garrison. Philippine Archives Collection.

Lang’s statement was sufficient to confirm Shockman’s death, and may have contributed to a posthumous Soldier’s Medal “for heroism involving voluntary risk of life.”

In 1946, an Army Graves Registration detachment arrived at Caballo to exhume remains from three known burial plots on the island. One plot was incorrectly mapped and could not be found; another was “no longer intact due to landslides and bombings” and looked like a “sheer cliff.” The third,a two-row plot located by Flag Hill, was somewhat more promising but still problematic: it was beside a pond, and many graves were waterlogged.

The AGRS men exhumed twelve partially submerged bodies from the first row – nine of which were in a mass grave. They could do nothing about the second row, which was fully underwater: “the pond at the time of burial was evidently dammed up and very low because of dry season.” At least one other member of Mike Company was identified from remains found at this location.

Plot of the Caballo Island mass grave, 1946. Antman IDPF.

The whereabouts of James Shockman’s remains are unknown to this day. If the body that washed ashore was truly his, then he may be interred at Fort William McKinley as an unknown. Or, he may still lie on Caballo Island in one of the inaccessible burial plots.

Next Of Kin Address

Address of mother, Mrs. Kathryn Shockman.

Location Of Loss

Shockman was killed somewhere along the shoreline of Caballo Island.
The pond which troubled AGRS in 1946 is clearly visible today.

Related Profiles

Members of the 4th Marines lost at Corregidor, 6 May 1942.
Third Battalion
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