"Francis Galligan survived the Bataan Death March" is not accurate.
Francis A. Galligan a member of the 60th Coast Artillery, was taken prisoner by the Japanese on Corregidor 06 May 1942. None of the prisoners on Corregidor were part of the Death March which happened in April 1942.
Contributor: steve s (47126287)
Age 91
Obituary Daily Hampshire Gazette, Tuesday 27 November 2012, pB2
Thursday, Dec 06, 2012 Taunton Daily Gazette
Taunton's Francis Galligan survived the Bataan Death March, the Palawan Massacre and three and half years in a Japanese prison camp during World War II before returning to action to serve in the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
Galligan died Nov 21, 2012 at Baystate Medical Center. He was 91.
Members of Galligan's family said that during his time as a prisoner of war, they believed he was likely dead, after being captured by the Japanese Imperial Army on May 06, 1942, in Corregidor, Philippines.
"The family was shocked when they got a telegram saying that he was found after the war," said Gregory Galligan, a Taunton firefighter who is his nephew.
"They knew he was captured but didn't know where he was. They thought he was going to die until he was found him in a zinc mine, where he was forced to do slave labor."
Galligan did slave labor at the Mitsubishi Mining Company, when he was held at the Sendai Prison no. 3 in Japan. Gregory Galligan said that records show that his uncle was liberated two months after the war ended in 1945 by Australian soldiers whose presence in the area caused his Japanese captors to shed their uniforms, don civilian clothing and flee.
"At the very end he talked about his last days in the prison camps, and being found," Gregory Galligan said. "The Japanese were gone in the morning when he woke up and all the uniforms were thrown on the ground and they dispersed into town. He just wanted to come home."
Gregory Galligan said the worst of his uncle's ordeal came on the so-called "hell ship" called the Hokusen Maru that brought him from the Philippines to Japan. There were 40 men in a cage on the ship, including Galligan, and 36 of them died, he said.
"From what he said, the most suffering he really had was inside the hell ship," he said. "That changed his life."
Gregory Galligan also said his uncle was tortured by the Japanese on the Palawan island in the Philippines. "They tied him to a tree for stealing a papaya while on the island of Palawan," Galligan said. "They beat him with a pole until he passed out. At a young age, he said he knew that he made the mistake, he thought at the time, of going into the military.
Of course he went on to become a lifelong member of the military."
Gregory Galligan said his uncle was under the command of Col. Paul Bunker, of the 60th Infantry Division, who died of starvation and disease in a Japanese prison camp in 1943. Bunker is the namesake of a housing development in Taunton. For his fighting before a surrender on Corregidor, Francis Galligan received the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. The fighting lasted for 60 days, and soldiers had limited food or water.
When Galligan returned to Taunton from the prison camp, a "hero's welcome" was held in his honor, Gregory Galligan said.
In 2010, the prisoner of war was honored as the grand marshal of the Taunton Memorial Day Parade.
Francis Galligan, among a family with eight brothers and sisters, was a graduate of Coyle High School in 1939.
Galligan, known as Frank, retired after 30 years as a chief master sergeant, serving on the ground in Vietnam and Korea. Then, from 1971 to 1998, he was an air traffic control specialist at Westover Air Force Base.
He spent the last years of his life in Longmeadow, Gregory Galligan said.
The younger Galligan described his uncle as a quiet man, who often acted as the peacemaker among family members. "He was a very unassuming guy if you met him," Gregory Galligan said. "You would never know this guy had been through so much in his life."
(Member #47601455)
Francis A. Galligan a member of the 60th Coast Artillery, was taken prisoner by the Japanese on Corregidor 06 May 1942. None of the prisoners on Corregidor were part of the Death March which happened in April 1942.
Contributor: steve s (47126287)
Age 91
Obituary Daily Hampshire Gazette, Tuesday 27 November 2012, pB2
Thursday, Dec 06, 2012 Taunton Daily Gazette
Taunton's Francis Galligan survived the Bataan Death March, the Palawan Massacre and three and half years in a Japanese prison camp during World War II before returning to action to serve in the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
Galligan died Nov 21, 2012 at Baystate Medical Center. He was 91.
Members of Galligan's family said that during his time as a prisoner of war, they believed he was likely dead, after being captured by the Japanese Imperial Army on May 06, 1942, in Corregidor, Philippines.
"The family was shocked when they got a telegram saying that he was found after the war," said Gregory Galligan, a Taunton firefighter who is his nephew.
"They knew he was captured but didn't know where he was. They thought he was going to die until he was found him in a zinc mine, where he was forced to do slave labor."
Galligan did slave labor at the Mitsubishi Mining Company, when he was held at the Sendai Prison no. 3 in Japan. Gregory Galligan said that records show that his uncle was liberated two months after the war ended in 1945 by Australian soldiers whose presence in the area caused his Japanese captors to shed their uniforms, don civilian clothing and flee.
"At the very end he talked about his last days in the prison camps, and being found," Gregory Galligan said. "The Japanese were gone in the morning when he woke up and all the uniforms were thrown on the ground and they dispersed into town. He just wanted to come home."
Gregory Galligan said the worst of his uncle's ordeal came on the so-called "hell ship" called the Hokusen Maru that brought him from the Philippines to Japan. There were 40 men in a cage on the ship, including Galligan, and 36 of them died, he said.
"From what he said, the most suffering he really had was inside the hell ship," he said. "That changed his life."
Gregory Galligan also said his uncle was tortured by the Japanese on the Palawan island in the Philippines. "They tied him to a tree for stealing a papaya while on the island of Palawan," Galligan said. "They beat him with a pole until he passed out. At a young age, he said he knew that he made the mistake, he thought at the time, of going into the military.
Of course he went on to become a lifelong member of the military."
Gregory Galligan said his uncle was under the command of Col. Paul Bunker, of the 60th Infantry Division, who died of starvation and disease in a Japanese prison camp in 1943. Bunker is the namesake of a housing development in Taunton. For his fighting before a surrender on Corregidor, Francis Galligan received the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. The fighting lasted for 60 days, and soldiers had limited food or water.
When Galligan returned to Taunton from the prison camp, a "hero's welcome" was held in his honor, Gregory Galligan said.
In 2010, the prisoner of war was honored as the grand marshal of the Taunton Memorial Day Parade.
Francis Galligan, among a family with eight brothers and sisters, was a graduate of Coyle High School in 1939.
Galligan, known as Frank, retired after 30 years as a chief master sergeant, serving on the ground in Vietnam and Korea. Then, from 1971 to 1998, he was an air traffic control specialist at Westover Air Force Base.
He spent the last years of his life in Longmeadow, Gregory Galligan said.
The younger Galligan described his uncle as a quiet man, who often acted as the peacemaker among family members. "He was a very unassuming guy if you met him," Gregory Galligan said. "You would never know this guy had been through so much in his life."
(Member #47601455)
"Francis Galligan survived the Bataan Death March" is not accurate.
Francis A. Galligan a member of the 60th Coast Artillery, was taken prisoner by the Japanese on Corregidor 06 May 1942. None of the prisoners on Corregidor were part of the Death March which happened in April 1942.
Contributor: steve s (47126287)
Age 91
Obituary Daily Hampshire Gazette, Tuesday 27 November 2012, pB2
Thursday, Dec 06, 2012 Taunton Daily Gazette
Taunton's Francis Galligan survived the Bataan Death March, the Palawan Massacre and three and half years in a Japanese prison camp during World War II before returning to action to serve in the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
Galligan died Nov 21, 2012 at Baystate Medical Center. He was 91.
Members of Galligan's family said that during his time as a prisoner of war, they believed he was likely dead, after being captured by the Japanese Imperial Army on May 06, 1942, in Corregidor, Philippines.
"The family was shocked when they got a telegram saying that he was found after the war," said Gregory Galligan, a Taunton firefighter who is his nephew.
"They knew he was captured but didn't know where he was. They thought he was going to die until he was found him in a zinc mine, where he was forced to do slave labor."
Galligan did slave labor at the Mitsubishi Mining Company, when he was held at the Sendai Prison no. 3 in Japan. Gregory Galligan said that records show that his uncle was liberated two months after the war ended in 1945 by Australian soldiers whose presence in the area caused his Japanese captors to shed their uniforms, don civilian clothing and flee.
"At the very end he talked about his last days in the prison camps, and being found," Gregory Galligan said. "The Japanese were gone in the morning when he woke up and all the uniforms were thrown on the ground and they dispersed into town. He just wanted to come home."
Gregory Galligan said the worst of his uncle's ordeal came on the so-called "hell ship" called the Hokusen Maru that brought him from the Philippines to Japan. There were 40 men in a cage on the ship, including Galligan, and 36 of them died, he said.
"From what he said, the most suffering he really had was inside the hell ship," he said. "That changed his life."
Gregory Galligan also said his uncle was tortured by the Japanese on the Palawan island in the Philippines. "They tied him to a tree for stealing a papaya while on the island of Palawan," Galligan said. "They beat him with a pole until he passed out. At a young age, he said he knew that he made the mistake, he thought at the time, of going into the military.
Of course he went on to become a lifelong member of the military."
Gregory Galligan said his uncle was under the command of Col. Paul Bunker, of the 60th Infantry Division, who died of starvation and disease in a Japanese prison camp in 1943. Bunker is the namesake of a housing development in Taunton. For his fighting before a surrender on Corregidor, Francis Galligan received the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. The fighting lasted for 60 days, and soldiers had limited food or water.
When Galligan returned to Taunton from the prison camp, a "hero's welcome" was held in his honor, Gregory Galligan said.
In 2010, the prisoner of war was honored as the grand marshal of the Taunton Memorial Day Parade.
Francis Galligan, among a family with eight brothers and sisters, was a graduate of Coyle High School in 1939.
Galligan, known as Frank, retired after 30 years as a chief master sergeant, serving on the ground in Vietnam and Korea. Then, from 1971 to 1998, he was an air traffic control specialist at Westover Air Force Base.
He spent the last years of his life in Longmeadow, Gregory Galligan said.
The younger Galligan described his uncle as a quiet man, who often acted as the peacemaker among family members. "He was a very unassuming guy if you met him," Gregory Galligan said. "You would never know this guy had been through so much in his life."
(Member #47601455)
Francis A. Galligan a member of the 60th Coast Artillery, was taken prisoner by the Japanese on Corregidor 06 May 1942. None of the prisoners on Corregidor were part of the Death March which happened in April 1942.
Contributor: steve s (47126287)
Age 91
Obituary Daily Hampshire Gazette, Tuesday 27 November 2012, pB2
Thursday, Dec 06, 2012 Taunton Daily Gazette
Taunton's Francis Galligan survived the Bataan Death March, the Palawan Massacre and three and half years in a Japanese prison camp during World War II before returning to action to serve in the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
Galligan died Nov 21, 2012 at Baystate Medical Center. He was 91.
Members of Galligan's family said that during his time as a prisoner of war, they believed he was likely dead, after being captured by the Japanese Imperial Army on May 06, 1942, in Corregidor, Philippines.
"The family was shocked when they got a telegram saying that he was found after the war," said Gregory Galligan, a Taunton firefighter who is his nephew.
"They knew he was captured but didn't know where he was. They thought he was going to die until he was found him in a zinc mine, where he was forced to do slave labor."
Galligan did slave labor at the Mitsubishi Mining Company, when he was held at the Sendai Prison no. 3 in Japan. Gregory Galligan said that records show that his uncle was liberated two months after the war ended in 1945 by Australian soldiers whose presence in the area caused his Japanese captors to shed their uniforms, don civilian clothing and flee.
"At the very end he talked about his last days in the prison camps, and being found," Gregory Galligan said. "The Japanese were gone in the morning when he woke up and all the uniforms were thrown on the ground and they dispersed into town. He just wanted to come home."
Gregory Galligan said the worst of his uncle's ordeal came on the so-called "hell ship" called the Hokusen Maru that brought him from the Philippines to Japan. There were 40 men in a cage on the ship, including Galligan, and 36 of them died, he said.
"From what he said, the most suffering he really had was inside the hell ship," he said. "That changed his life."
Gregory Galligan also said his uncle was tortured by the Japanese on the Palawan island in the Philippines. "They tied him to a tree for stealing a papaya while on the island of Palawan," Galligan said. "They beat him with a pole until he passed out. At a young age, he said he knew that he made the mistake, he thought at the time, of going into the military.
Of course he went on to become a lifelong member of the military."
Gregory Galligan said his uncle was under the command of Col. Paul Bunker, of the 60th Infantry Division, who died of starvation and disease in a Japanese prison camp in 1943. Bunker is the namesake of a housing development in Taunton. For his fighting before a surrender on Corregidor, Francis Galligan received the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. The fighting lasted for 60 days, and soldiers had limited food or water.
When Galligan returned to Taunton from the prison camp, a "hero's welcome" was held in his honor, Gregory Galligan said.
In 2010, the prisoner of war was honored as the grand marshal of the Taunton Memorial Day Parade.
Francis Galligan, among a family with eight brothers and sisters, was a graduate of Coyle High School in 1939.
Galligan, known as Frank, retired after 30 years as a chief master sergeant, serving on the ground in Vietnam and Korea. Then, from 1971 to 1998, he was an air traffic control specialist at Westover Air Force Base.
He spent the last years of his life in Longmeadow, Gregory Galligan said.
The younger Galligan described his uncle as a quiet man, who often acted as the peacemaker among family members. "He was a very unassuming guy if you met him," Gregory Galligan said. "You would never know this guy had been through so much in his life."
(Member #47601455)
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