Remember...
John Nicholas Comuntzis
1914-1944
A man more pure and bold and just, was never born on earth.
- Motto in Fairmont High School yearbook describing John Comuntzis
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Remember...John Nicholas Comuntzis
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John Nicholas Comuntzis was born May 12, 1914, at Fairmont, Marion County, West Virginia, to Nicholas John Comuntzis and Cornelia Tutules Comuntzis. Nicholas and Cornelia had been married in Chicago, Illinois, in 1913; she was 21 and he was 35 years old at the time of their marriage. Nicholas was a confectioner. A daughter, Pauline, a year younger than John, rounded out the Comuntzis family. Nicholas died in 1919 of spinal meningitis; a death notice in the Fairmont West Virginian ("Dies Suddenly This Morning," 4 April 1919) refers to him as a "prominent" citizen and states that his wife would eventually take his remains back to his native Greece. Apparently, this removal never happened, as a marker in Woodlawn Cemetery in Fairmont indicates he is buried there. Cornelia remarried, and she and J. G. Papageorge, who operated the Star restaurant in Fairmont, raised John and Pauline.
School yearbooks contribute much of the story of those who lost their lives in twentieth century conflicts. John Nicholas Comuntzis and his sister Pauline attended and graduated from Fairmont High School. John was apparently a good student and active in extracurricular affairs. Yearbook photos show him to be class vice president, a member of the football team, and a participant in the Rifle Club and the National Honor Society. From Fairmont High School, both John and Pauline went on to the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University). The 1934 yearbook at Carnegie Tech shows John to be a pledge of the Alpha Gamma chapter of Alpha Sigma Phi. He graduated from Carnegie Tech with a degree in civil engineering. The next official record of John Nicholas Comuntzis is in the 1940 Federal Census, which shows him to be living in Kimball, McDowell County, and engaged in "private work" as an engineer. His draft card states that he was working for the Koppers Coal Company. But his civilian career was not long-lasting.
On January 4, 1941, John enlisted in the U.S. Army at Fort Hayes, Columbus, Ohio. With his engineering degree, he might likely have served in a non-combat role. He elected to take a more rigorous route. Just 10 days after his enlistment, a newspaper in the state's capital reported his appointment to a training course that would ensure his commission as a second lieutenant in the Army Air Corps. This was nearly a year before the U.S. became actively involved in World War II, but it was clear that the country was gearing up for a war that, from a military point of view, was inevitable. John's appointment to the program was prestigious, as noted in the following article:
Eight West Virginians were among the 191 fifth corps area youths who this week began training as army flying cadets, it was announced yesterday by Lieutenant Colonel George W. Price, chief of staff of the West Virginia military area.The West Virginians were enrolled at the Missouri Institute of Aeronautics, Sikeston, Mo., while most of the 135 Ohio cadets were enrolled for pilot instruction at Parks Air college, East St. Louis, Ill.
It was also announced that an additional 245 flying cadet scholarships are being offered every month to youths living in West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. They lead to second lieutenants' commission in the air corps reserve with active flying duty salaries of $205 a month, plus free living quarters.
To qualify, according to Colonel Price, applicants must be unmarried, reputable male citizens at least 20 and not yet 27 years old who are physically fit and possess the ability to pass an educational examination. While in training, cadets receive $75 a month, plus living expenses, including free equipment.
West Virginia youths accepted for training are: Jack Grenfell Dunlop, Alderson; Lock M. Evans, Bradshaw; John M. Communtzis [sic], Kimball; Davis Kyle Stewart, Mt. Clare; Elza Ellsworth Shahan, St. George; Hilbert S. Rader, Walkersville; and James Nile Sammons, Webb. ("Flying Cadets Start Course," Charleston Daily Mail, 14 January 1941.)
First Lieutenant Comuntzis, now an Army flyer in the Philippines, was captured and became a prisoner of war when the Philippines fell in 1942. He was held there for two years, but on September 7, 1944, as the Japanese were transporting a number of prisoners to their home country via the Shinyo Maru, John lost his life when the unmarked ship was torpedoed by an Allied submarine. His death was recorded by the War Department on February 14, 1945.
The Shinyo Maru was one of the Japanese hellships ("Hellships of World War II"), so-called because the requisitioned merchant vessels were overloaded with prisoners being transferred to internment camps in Japan proper. According to the Wikipedia article on the Shinyo Maru disaster, "[It] occurred in the Philippines on September 7, 1944, in the Pacific theater of World War II. In an attack on a Japanese convoy by the United States Navy submarine USS Paddle, 668 Allied prisoners of war were killed fighting their Japanese guards or killed when their ship, Shinyo Maru, was sunk. Only 82 Americans survived and were later rescued." ("Shin'yo Maru Incident," Wikipedia, last edited 10 March 2025, accessed 19 September 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shin%27y%C5%8D_Maru_incident.)
Since 1942, thousands of Allied POWs had been held in the Philippines following the surrender to the Japanese. Realizing the Philippines were about to be invaded by General MacArthur in 1944, the Japanese were wary of the liberation of their Allied prisoners, who would turn against them. Their hellships were intended to remove these prisoners to Japan. At the time of the incident, there were 750 prisoners aboard the hellship, with nearly 300 who were survivors of the Bataan Death March. The USS Paddle had received intelligence that the Shinyo Maru was carrying Japanese soldiers, so they were actively searching. Because of this misinformed intelligence, the Paddle torpedoed the prisoner ship. The Japanese convoy attempted to pick up their survivors and kill the living prisoners who were attempting escape. Eighty-three Americans were able to reach the shore of Sindangan Bay, although one died the following day. The rest of the survivors were rescued by the USS Narwhal. It was not until 1946 that the crew of the Paddle was informed of the incident.
| Buried at sea, Lieutenant John Comuntzis is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery. For his sacrifice, he was awarded the Purple Heart. |  |
This article is based on the original posting on the West Virginia Archives and History website (John Nicholas Comuntzis). Additional research was conducted by Randy Marcum, Jessica Batten, and Patricia Richards McClure
September 2025
West Virginia Archives and History welcomes any additional information that can be provided about these veterans, including photographs, family names, letters and other relevant personal history.