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West Virginia Veterans Database Record Detail
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Item Details: |
Record Id:
4113 |
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War: |
WWII |
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Name: |
John
Nicholas
Comuntzis |
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Sex: |
M |
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Race: |
W |
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County: |
Marion |
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Community: |
Fairmont |
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Branch of Service: |
AAF |
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Rank: |
1st Lt |
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Service Number: |
0-343115 |
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Date of Death: |
1944/09/07 |
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Place of Death: |
freighter - Shinyo Maru |
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Cause of Death: |
POW |
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Place of Burial: |
at sea |
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Unit: |
28th Material Sq, 20th Air Base |
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Date of Birth: |
1914/05/12 |
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Place of Birth: |
Fairmont, Marion County |
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Father:
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N. J. Comuntzis |
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Mother: |
Mrs J. Gpapageorge (Camille) Comuntzis |
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Spouse: |
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Date of Marriage: |
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Place of Marriage: |
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Children:
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Date Added to Memorial: |
Original |
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Source: |
WV Vet Mem Application; Information submitted by C.G. Comuntzis (cousin); Fairmont West Virginian - death notice - 1945/02/26; American Battle Monuments Commission website - 2003; Forrest W. Aurentz of Norfolk, VA; Fairmont West Virginian - death notice - 2/26/1945; WV Veterans Affairs, Charleston WV - bonus application; National Archives - WWII Prisoners of War Data File (Record Group 389); "Americans Know Very Little About the Hell Ships of WWII" by Ruth E Jorgenson; Fairmont Times-West Virginia 1943/01/08; Marion Co. births |
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Notes: |
Died off East Coast of Japan in a POW Ship which sunk. Graduate of West HS and attended Carnegie Tech in civil engineering; Purple Heart; sister: Pauline; Information from the War Department to Mrs. Papageorge in 1945 was " that the vessel sailed from Davao, Mindanao, 20 Aug 1944 with 750 prisoners of war aboard. The vessel was sunk by torpedoes on 7 Sept 1944 off the western shore of Mindanao. The indications are that relatively few of the prisoners had opportunity to leave the sinking ship and of those who did, many were killed by enemy fire." National Archives - WWII Prisoners of War Data File has that he was first recorded on 7 May 1942 and last recorded on 7 Sept 1944, first being held at an undisclosed POW camp in the Philippines and then being on the Shinyo Maru on 7 Sept 1944. "Americans Know Very Little About the Hell Ships of WWII" by Ruth E Jorgenson notes that the Shinyo Maru was torpedoed on 7 Sept 1944 by the USS Paddle off the coast of Mindanao. There were 750 American POW's aboard - 668 died.
On-Line Biography
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Photograph:
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y |
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Documents:
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