Robert Edward Bourke

PFC Robert E. Bourke, a pre-war China Marine, served as a radio operator. Originally assigned to Headquarters Company, 4th Marines, he was transferred to H/2/4 around the start of hostilities with Japan, and fought with them in the defense of the Philippines and the siege of Corregidor.

Bourke was one of thousands of American and Filipino fighters forced to surrender when Corregidor fell on 6 May 1942. The learning curve for prisoners of war was extremely steep and unforgiving; brutal punishments were meted out for seemingly trivial offenses. The men themselves were emotionally fraught, too, after the long siege and the trauma of capture. Most managed to keep their emotions in check – but Bourke made the fatal mistake of talking back to a Japanese soldier.

The bullet smashed through Bourke’s left chest and lung, fracturing two ribs and clipping his arm as it exited his body. Marine Loren Stamp helped bring Bourke to the medical facilities at Malinta Tunnel, but the damage was too great. Records disagree as to the exact date, but Robert Bourke died of his wounds at some point between 6 May and 8 May 1942. (In the years after the war, 6 May 1942 was “arbitrarily” chosen as his official date of death.)