Seldon T. White
PFC Seldon T. White served with How Company, Second Battalion, 4th Marines.
He was executed by Japanese guards at a prisoner of war camp at Palawan, Philippine Islands, on 7 July 1943.
Branch
Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 280438
Current Status
Remains not recovered.
Pursuit Category
This case is under Active Pursuit by the DPAA.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
January 5, 1922
at Sasakwa, OK
Parents
Allen C. “Acey” White
Sarah Elizabeth “Sallie” (Hollingshead) White
Education
Details unknown
Occupation & Employer
Details unknown
Service Life
Entered Service
January 10, 1940
at Oklahoma City, OK
Home Of Record
Sasakwa, OK
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Sallie White
Military Specialty
—
Primary Unit
H/2/4th Marines
Campaigns Served
Philippine Islands / Corregidor
Individual Decorations
Prisoner of War Medal
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
PFC Seldon White served with Company H, Second Battalion, 4th Marines during the campaign for the Philippine Islands in 1942. He was captured, along with the surviving members of his regiment, at Corregidor on 6 May 1942. After six months of imprisonment at Cabanatuan, PFC White was part of a group sent to the POW camp at Palawan.
On 28 June 1943, White and MM1 Earl Vance Wilson escaped from Palawan – the first attempt in the camp’s history. They spent six days on the run before they were captured. Marine veteran Glenn McDole recalled how the Japanese guards vented their rage on White and Wilson
When their escape was discovered, all the prisoners working at the airfield were marched back to the barracks and made to stand at attention for three hours. They were dismissed when the Japanese decided that none of the prisoners knew about or had helped in the escape.
White and Wilson managed to evade capture for six days, but on July 4, they were captured and returned to Palawan Barracks. A pitiful sight awaited the POWs when they returned from work at the airfield that day. White and Wilson were squatting just outside the guardhouse. Their hands were tied behind their backs and it was evident they had been beaten. Their heads were bloodied and their bodies bruised. Then, the man who enjyed torturing prisoners more than any guard at Palawan, Taichi Deguchi, put on a show for the POWs. Everyone was called into formation and forced to watch as Deguchi beat the bloodied prisoners about the head and body. It was the most brutal beating up to that time.
After the demonstration, the two escapees, unable to walk, were dragged to the brig, where they were held for three days without food or water. On the fourth day, Deguchi and other soldiers loaded them on a truck and took them out of camp. They were never seen again. Filipinos later passed word to the prisoners that White and Wilson had been taken to the airfield, where they had been shot and buried. Their graves were never found by the prisoners who worked at the construction site.
Burial Information or Disposition
When we reached the three-fork road, we went to the direction of the airfield. Then I saw the shovels in the truck and began to wonder if we were going to kill the prisoners of war. I looked at the prisoners, but they were looking on the scenery around, sitting. I wondered if they knew they were looking at the view for the last time, and I looked away, because I could hardly bear to look at them. Regardless of my feeling, the truck ran eastward, without going in the front entrance of the airfield. We soon came to the east coast. I thought, “Are we going to kill them here?” But the truck turned to the left into the coconut plantation, where it was almost dark on all sides, and there were coconut trees everywhere. We advanced through them. We stopped suddenly when we were almost at the end of the coconut plantation....
I did not know how far we went, as I kept watching the two prisoners, but I think we walked about twenty meters. The Commander stopped when he came to an unknown luxuriant tree. There was a space of ground covered with sand, about ten square “taubo”. The Commander ordered two or three men to dig a hole, about five feet square.
At that moment I and one or two other soldiers were watching the prisoners. The Commander, Sergeant SUZUKAWA, the interpreter and others watched two or three men dig a hole with shovels. When they had dug up a hole, the Commander spoke to Sergeant SUSUKAWA, who told us “to keep watch at a proper position not to allow the natives living in the neighborhood come near.” I immediately went into a bush on the right side to keep watch. As there seemed no native inhabitants around, I looked toward the prisoners now and then. Just when I looked that way, the prisoners were kneeling down in front of the hole. As I looked from behind them, they were hanging their heads down and I could not see their faces well. Two men were standing behind the prisoners with guns in their hands. At this sight, I thought, “Why did they run away? Were things so hard for them that they had to run away?”
All of a sudden the silence was broken by the report of the gun. I was surprised and nearly dropped my gun. Turning toward the prisoners, I saw them fallen on the edge of the hole. The Commander, Sergeant SUZUKAWA and the interpreter were looking down at the dead bodies. Relieved of duty to watch, we also went to the spot. Blood was gushing out of the forehead of one of the prisoners of war. Looking at the other one, fallen beside him, I immediately left the spot. There was a big hole between the nose and the mouth, and the face was covered with blood. I found myself chanting a prayer.
The ropes were removed from the two prisoners killed by shooting. I think they had their shoes on. They were buried in the hole together.
I saw all this from a distance, but noticed everyone looked pale. When the prisoners were buried, the Commander said, “Do not talk to anyone of the prisoners of war we shot to death."
To date, neither Seldon White nor Earl Wilson have been recivered.
Memorials
Manila American Cemetery and Memorial
Visit Hughes County Historical Society for excellent documentation about Seldon White,
including witness statements about his execution.
Next Of Kin Address
Address of mother, Mrs. Sallie White.
Location Of Loss
PFC White was executed somewhere in the vicinity of the airfield at Palawan.
Thank you for publishing this!!. I have been on a couple of missions to try and find the remains of White and Wilson as part of a volunteer group. We’re still looking……