Anton Cichy was a member of the 194th Tank Battalion. He was drafted and assigned to A Company which was made up mostly of National Guardsmen from Brainerd, Minnesota. He took part in the Bataan Death March and was held as a Japanese POW in the Camp O'Donnel and Cabanatuan in the Philippine Islands.
On October 24, 1944, while being transported to Japan, the ship he was on, the Arisan Maru, was sunk by an American submarine. 1803 POWs were on the ship. Cichy was one of nine POWs to survive the sinking. He was one of the eight who survived the war.
US Army
WWII Veteran
Suvivor Arisan Maru
===================
Below is provided by Barbara Johnson (#46879813) of this site
===================
Pvt. Anton E. Cichy was born on February 18, 1914 to John P. Cichy & Emelia Klimek-Cichy in Leaf Mountain, Minnesota. With his three brothers and three sisters, he grew up in both Newton, Minnesota. He would later reside in Dent, Minnesota.
Anton was inducted into the U. S. Army in 1941 and sent to Fort Lewis, Washington. There, he was assigned to A Company, 194th Tank Battalion to fill-out the company's roster. The company had been a Minnesota National Guard Tank Company from Brainerd.
In September 1941, Anton's battalion was ordered to San Francisco. There, they were inoculated and given physicals on Angel Island. They were sent by ship to the Philippine Islands.
On December 8, 1941, Anton lived through the Japanese attack on Clark Airfield. On December 26th, his tank platoon was given the duty of holding the bank along the Agno River while Filipino and American forces crossed the river. During this duty he and other tankers wiped out over 500 Japanese troops who had attempted to cross the river. They also were under constant bombardment by Japanese artillery and mortars. After the tankers disengaged, they fought their way through the barrio of Carmen.
On December 28th, Anton's platoon was given the duty of holding the Calumpit Bridge so that Filipinos and Americans could once again withdraw from the area. They were again under heavy shelling.
Anton's tank company continued to fight the Japanese until they were ordered to surrender on April 9, 1942. With his company, he destroyed his tank and made his way to Mariveles at the southern tip of Bataan. He was now a Prisoner of War. From this barrio, he started what became known as "the death march".
During the march, Anton witnessed POWs beaten for no reason. He and the other POWs were denied food and water for no apparent reason. At San Fernando, he was boarded into small wooden boxcars used to haul sugarcane. The cars could hold forty men or eight horses. The Japanese packed 100 men into each car. The dead remained standing until the living disembarked the cars at Capas. From there, he walked the last ten miles to Camp O'Donnell.
As a POW, Anton was held at Camp O'Donnell. This unfinished Filipino Training Camp was pressed into service by the Japanese as a POW camp. There was one water faucet for 12,000 POWs. Men would literally die waiting for a drink of water. As many as fifty POWs died each day from disease. The strong would steal the food from the weak. The situation in this camp was so bad that the Japanese opened a new camp at Cabanatuan a month later.
When the camp opened, Anton was sent to the camp. He spent most of the next two years in this camp. As the tide of the war turned against the Japanese, they began to send large numbers of POWs to other parts of their empire. Anton's name was posted for transport in early October 1944.
On October 10th, Anton's POW detachment arrived at the Port Area of Manila. The ship his group was scheduled to sail on was the Hokusen Maru. Since the entire detachment of POWs had not arrived and the ship was ready to sail, the Japanese boarded another detachment of POWs onto the ship. Anton's detachment was boarded onto the Arisan Maru.
Anton and 1803 other POWs were packed into the ship's number one hold. Along the sides of the hold were shelves that served as bunks. These bunks were so close together that a man could not lift himself up. Those standing had no room to lie down. The latrines for the prisoners were eight five gallon cans. Since the POWs were packed into the hold so tightly, many of the POWs could not get near the cans. The floor of the hold was covered with human waste.
On October 11th, the ship set sail but took a southerly route away from Formosa. Within the first 48 hours, five POWs had died. The ship anchored in a cove off Palawan Island where it remained for ten days. The Japanese covered the hatch with a tarp. During the night, the POWs were in total darkness. This resulted in the ship missing an air attack by American planes, but the ship was attacked by American planes.
During the time off Palawan, the ship was attacked by American planes. Each day, each POW was given three ounces of water and two half mess kits of raw rice. Conditions in the hold were so bad, that the POWs began to develop heat blisters. Although the Japanese had removed the lights in the hold, they had not cutoff the power. Some of the prisoners were able to wire the ship's blowers into the power lines. This allowed fresh air into the hold. The blowers were disconnected two days later when the Japanese discovered what had been done.
The Japanese realized that if they did not do something many of the POWs would die. To prevent this, they opened the ship's number two hold and transferred 600 POWs into it. At some point, one POW was shot while attempting to escape.
The Arisan Maru returned to Manila on October 20th. There, it joined a convoy. On October 21st, the convoy left Manila and entered the South China Sea. The Japanese refused to mark POW ships with red crosses to indicate they were carrying POWs. This made the ships targets for submarines. The POWs in the hold were so desperate that they prayed that the ship be hit by torpedoes.
According to the survivors of the Arisan Maru, on October 24, 1944, about 5:00 pm, some POWs were on deck preparing the meal for those in the ship's two holds. The ship was near Shoonan, off the coast of China. Suddenly, sirens and other alarms were heard. The men inside the holds knew this meant that American submarines had been spotted. The POWS began to chant for the submarines to sink the ship.
The Japanese on deck ran to the bow of the ship. As the POWs watched, a torpedo passed the bow of the ship. Moments later, a second torpedo passed the ship's stern. There was a sudden jar and the ship stopped dead in the water. It had been hit by two torpedoes amidships in its third hold where there were no POWs. It is believed that the submarine that fired the torpedoes was the U.S.S Snook.
One of the Japanese guards took a machinegun and began firing on the POWs who were on deck. To escape, the POWs dove back into the holds. After they were in the holds, the Japanese put the hatch covers on the holds but did not tie them down.
As the Japanese abandoned ship, they cut the rope ladders into the ship's two holds. Some of the POWs in the second hold were able to climb out and reattached the ladders. They also dropped ropes down to the POWs in both holds.
The POWs were able to get onto the deck of the ship. Many raided the ship's fiid lockers to eat their last meal. At first, few POWs attempted to escape the ship. A group of 35 swam to a nearby Japanese ship, but when the Japanese realized they were POWs, they were pushed away with poles and hit with clubs. The Japanese destroyers in the convoy deliberately pulled away from the POWs as they attempted to reach them.
As the ship got lower in the water, some POWs took to the water. These POWs attempted to escape the ship by clinging to rafts, hatch covers, flotsam and jetsam. Most of the POWs were still on deck even after it became apparent that the ship was sinking. The exact time of the ship's sinking is not known since it took place after dark.
Anton was one of four POWs who found and were able to climb into an abandoned lifeboat, but since they had no paddles, they could not maneuver it to help other POWs. One more POW, who had floated near the boat shouted to them and they pulled him into the boat. At one point, a Japanese destroyer approached the lifeboat. The POWs played dead so the Japanese did not fire on the ship.
According to these men, the Arisan Maru sank sometime after dark. As the night went on, the cries for help grew fewer until there was silence.
Anton and the others were able to survive because the Japanese had left a barrel of water and some food in the boat. The POWs, after five hours of hard work, were able to rig the boat's sail. Knowing that China was to the west, they steered the boat in that direction.
The morning of their third day in the boat, the POWs came across two Chinese fishing boats. The Chinese rescued the POWs from the lifeboat and gave them food, water, tobacco and towels. They took the men to a fishing village in a area of Free China.
The former POWs were treated like royalty by the Chinese. They were given Chinese clothing to wear. They were taken to other villages as and had banquet after banquet as they made their way toward American Forces.
One day, they saw an American flag flying from a flagpole. They were taken to an American airfield and flown over the Himalayan Hump. They found themselves in New York City four days later.
Anton Cichy returned to Minnesota. In 1945, he married Arlence Julia Lillis. he would become the father of two sons and a daughter. Anton lived in Marion Lake near Dent, Minnesota. He worked as a well driller.
On October 27, 2009, Anton E. Cichy died in Wadena, Minnesota. He was buried at Richville Cemetery in Richville, Minnesota.
===========================
On October 24, 1944, while being transported to Japan, the ship he was on, the Arisan Maru, was sunk by an American submarine. 1803 POWs were on the ship. Cichy was one of nine POWs to survive the sinking. He was one of the eight who survived the war.
US Army
WWII Veteran
Suvivor Arisan Maru
===================
Below is provided by Barbara Johnson (#46879813) of this site
===================
Pvt. Anton E. Cichy was born on February 18, 1914 to John P. Cichy & Emelia Klimek-Cichy in Leaf Mountain, Minnesota. With his three brothers and three sisters, he grew up in both Newton, Minnesota. He would later reside in Dent, Minnesota.
Anton was inducted into the U. S. Army in 1941 and sent to Fort Lewis, Washington. There, he was assigned to A Company, 194th Tank Battalion to fill-out the company's roster. The company had been a Minnesota National Guard Tank Company from Brainerd.
In September 1941, Anton's battalion was ordered to San Francisco. There, they were inoculated and given physicals on Angel Island. They were sent by ship to the Philippine Islands.
On December 8, 1941, Anton lived through the Japanese attack on Clark Airfield. On December 26th, his tank platoon was given the duty of holding the bank along the Agno River while Filipino and American forces crossed the river. During this duty he and other tankers wiped out over 500 Japanese troops who had attempted to cross the river. They also were under constant bombardment by Japanese artillery and mortars. After the tankers disengaged, they fought their way through the barrio of Carmen.
On December 28th, Anton's platoon was given the duty of holding the Calumpit Bridge so that Filipinos and Americans could once again withdraw from the area. They were again under heavy shelling.
Anton's tank company continued to fight the Japanese until they were ordered to surrender on April 9, 1942. With his company, he destroyed his tank and made his way to Mariveles at the southern tip of Bataan. He was now a Prisoner of War. From this barrio, he started what became known as "the death march".
During the march, Anton witnessed POWs beaten for no reason. He and the other POWs were denied food and water for no apparent reason. At San Fernando, he was boarded into small wooden boxcars used to haul sugarcane. The cars could hold forty men or eight horses. The Japanese packed 100 men into each car. The dead remained standing until the living disembarked the cars at Capas. From there, he walked the last ten miles to Camp O'Donnell.
As a POW, Anton was held at Camp O'Donnell. This unfinished Filipino Training Camp was pressed into service by the Japanese as a POW camp. There was one water faucet for 12,000 POWs. Men would literally die waiting for a drink of water. As many as fifty POWs died each day from disease. The strong would steal the food from the weak. The situation in this camp was so bad that the Japanese opened a new camp at Cabanatuan a month later.
When the camp opened, Anton was sent to the camp. He spent most of the next two years in this camp. As the tide of the war turned against the Japanese, they began to send large numbers of POWs to other parts of their empire. Anton's name was posted for transport in early October 1944.
On October 10th, Anton's POW detachment arrived at the Port Area of Manila. The ship his group was scheduled to sail on was the Hokusen Maru. Since the entire detachment of POWs had not arrived and the ship was ready to sail, the Japanese boarded another detachment of POWs onto the ship. Anton's detachment was boarded onto the Arisan Maru.
Anton and 1803 other POWs were packed into the ship's number one hold. Along the sides of the hold were shelves that served as bunks. These bunks were so close together that a man could not lift himself up. Those standing had no room to lie down. The latrines for the prisoners were eight five gallon cans. Since the POWs were packed into the hold so tightly, many of the POWs could not get near the cans. The floor of the hold was covered with human waste.
On October 11th, the ship set sail but took a southerly route away from Formosa. Within the first 48 hours, five POWs had died. The ship anchored in a cove off Palawan Island where it remained for ten days. The Japanese covered the hatch with a tarp. During the night, the POWs were in total darkness. This resulted in the ship missing an air attack by American planes, but the ship was attacked by American planes.
During the time off Palawan, the ship was attacked by American planes. Each day, each POW was given three ounces of water and two half mess kits of raw rice. Conditions in the hold were so bad, that the POWs began to develop heat blisters. Although the Japanese had removed the lights in the hold, they had not cutoff the power. Some of the prisoners were able to wire the ship's blowers into the power lines. This allowed fresh air into the hold. The blowers were disconnected two days later when the Japanese discovered what had been done.
The Japanese realized that if they did not do something many of the POWs would die. To prevent this, they opened the ship's number two hold and transferred 600 POWs into it. At some point, one POW was shot while attempting to escape.
The Arisan Maru returned to Manila on October 20th. There, it joined a convoy. On October 21st, the convoy left Manila and entered the South China Sea. The Japanese refused to mark POW ships with red crosses to indicate they were carrying POWs. This made the ships targets for submarines. The POWs in the hold were so desperate that they prayed that the ship be hit by torpedoes.
According to the survivors of the Arisan Maru, on October 24, 1944, about 5:00 pm, some POWs were on deck preparing the meal for those in the ship's two holds. The ship was near Shoonan, off the coast of China. Suddenly, sirens and other alarms were heard. The men inside the holds knew this meant that American submarines had been spotted. The POWS began to chant for the submarines to sink the ship.
The Japanese on deck ran to the bow of the ship. As the POWs watched, a torpedo passed the bow of the ship. Moments later, a second torpedo passed the ship's stern. There was a sudden jar and the ship stopped dead in the water. It had been hit by two torpedoes amidships in its third hold where there were no POWs. It is believed that the submarine that fired the torpedoes was the U.S.S Snook.
One of the Japanese guards took a machinegun and began firing on the POWs who were on deck. To escape, the POWs dove back into the holds. After they were in the holds, the Japanese put the hatch covers on the holds but did not tie them down.
As the Japanese abandoned ship, they cut the rope ladders into the ship's two holds. Some of the POWs in the second hold were able to climb out and reattached the ladders. They also dropped ropes down to the POWs in both holds.
The POWs were able to get onto the deck of the ship. Many raided the ship's fiid lockers to eat their last meal. At first, few POWs attempted to escape the ship. A group of 35 swam to a nearby Japanese ship, but when the Japanese realized they were POWs, they were pushed away with poles and hit with clubs. The Japanese destroyers in the convoy deliberately pulled away from the POWs as they attempted to reach them.
As the ship got lower in the water, some POWs took to the water. These POWs attempted to escape the ship by clinging to rafts, hatch covers, flotsam and jetsam. Most of the POWs were still on deck even after it became apparent that the ship was sinking. The exact time of the ship's sinking is not known since it took place after dark.
Anton was one of four POWs who found and were able to climb into an abandoned lifeboat, but since they had no paddles, they could not maneuver it to help other POWs. One more POW, who had floated near the boat shouted to them and they pulled him into the boat. At one point, a Japanese destroyer approached the lifeboat. The POWs played dead so the Japanese did not fire on the ship.
According to these men, the Arisan Maru sank sometime after dark. As the night went on, the cries for help grew fewer until there was silence.
Anton and the others were able to survive because the Japanese had left a barrel of water and some food in the boat. The POWs, after five hours of hard work, were able to rig the boat's sail. Knowing that China was to the west, they steered the boat in that direction.
The morning of their third day in the boat, the POWs came across two Chinese fishing boats. The Chinese rescued the POWs from the lifeboat and gave them food, water, tobacco and towels. They took the men to a fishing village in a area of Free China.
The former POWs were treated like royalty by the Chinese. They were given Chinese clothing to wear. They were taken to other villages as and had banquet after banquet as they made their way toward American Forces.
One day, they saw an American flag flying from a flagpole. They were taken to an American airfield and flown over the Himalayan Hump. They found themselves in New York City four days later.
Anton Cichy returned to Minnesota. In 1945, he married Arlence Julia Lillis. he would become the father of two sons and a daughter. Anton lived in Marion Lake near Dent, Minnesota. He worked as a well driller.
On October 27, 2009, Anton E. Cichy died in Wadena, Minnesota. He was buried at Richville Cemetery in Richville, Minnesota.
===========================
Anton Cichy was a member of the 194th Tank Battalion. He was drafted and assigned to A Company which was made up mostly of National Guardsmen from Brainerd, Minnesota. He took part in the Bataan Death March and was held as a Japanese POW in the Camp O'Donnel and Cabanatuan in the Philippine Islands.
On October 24, 1944, while being transported to Japan, the ship he was on, the Arisan Maru, was sunk by an American submarine. 1803 POWs were on the ship. Cichy was one of nine POWs to survive the sinking. He was one of the eight who survived the war.
US Army
WWII Veteran
Suvivor Arisan Maru
===================
Below is provided by Barbara Johnson (#46879813) of this site
===================
Pvt. Anton E. Cichy was born on February 18, 1914 to John P. Cichy & Emelia Klimek-Cichy in Leaf Mountain, Minnesota. With his three brothers and three sisters, he grew up in both Newton, Minnesota. He would later reside in Dent, Minnesota.
Anton was inducted into the U. S. Army in 1941 and sent to Fort Lewis, Washington. There, he was assigned to A Company, 194th Tank Battalion to fill-out the company's roster. The company had been a Minnesota National Guard Tank Company from Brainerd.
In September 1941, Anton's battalion was ordered to San Francisco. There, they were inoculated and given physicals on Angel Island. They were sent by ship to the Philippine Islands.
On December 8, 1941, Anton lived through the Japanese attack on Clark Airfield. On December 26th, his tank platoon was given the duty of holding the bank along the Agno River while Filipino and American forces crossed the river. During this duty he and other tankers wiped out over 500 Japanese troops who had attempted to cross the river. They also were under constant bombardment by Japanese artillery and mortars. After the tankers disengaged, they fought their way through the barrio of Carmen.
On December 28th, Anton's platoon was given the duty of holding the Calumpit Bridge so that Filipinos and Americans could once again withdraw from the area. They were again under heavy shelling.
Anton's tank company continued to fight the Japanese until they were ordered to surrender on April 9, 1942. With his company, he destroyed his tank and made his way to Mariveles at the southern tip of Bataan. He was now a Prisoner of War. From this barrio, he started what became known as "the death march".
During the march, Anton witnessed POWs beaten for no reason. He and the other POWs were denied food and water for no apparent reason. At San Fernando, he was boarded into small wooden boxcars used to haul sugarcane. The cars could hold forty men or eight horses. The Japanese packed 100 men into each car. The dead remained standing until the living disembarked the cars at Capas. From there, he walked the last ten miles to Camp O'Donnell.
As a POW, Anton was held at Camp O'Donnell. This unfinished Filipino Training Camp was pressed into service by the Japanese as a POW camp. There was one water faucet for 12,000 POWs. Men would literally die waiting for a drink of water. As many as fifty POWs died each day from disease. The strong would steal the food from the weak. The situation in this camp was so bad that the Japanese opened a new camp at Cabanatuan a month later.
When the camp opened, Anton was sent to the camp. He spent most of the next two years in this camp. As the tide of the war turned against the Japanese, they began to send large numbers of POWs to other parts of their empire. Anton's name was posted for transport in early October 1944.
On October 10th, Anton's POW detachment arrived at the Port Area of Manila. The ship his group was scheduled to sail on was the Hokusen Maru. Since the entire detachment of POWs had not arrived and the ship was ready to sail, the Japanese boarded another detachment of POWs onto the ship. Anton's detachment was boarded onto the Arisan Maru.
Anton and 1803 other POWs were packed into the ship's number one hold. Along the sides of the hold were shelves that served as bunks. These bunks were so close together that a man could not lift himself up. Those standing had no room to lie down. The latrines for the prisoners were eight five gallon cans. Since the POWs were packed into the hold so tightly, many of the POWs could not get near the cans. The floor of the hold was covered with human waste.
On October 11th, the ship set sail but took a southerly route away from Formosa. Within the first 48 hours, five POWs had died. The ship anchored in a cove off Palawan Island where it remained for ten days. The Japanese covered the hatch with a tarp. During the night, the POWs were in total darkness. This resulted in the ship missing an air attack by American planes, but the ship was attacked by American planes.
During the time off Palawan, the ship was attacked by American planes. Each day, each POW was given three ounces of water and two half mess kits of raw rice. Conditions in the hold were so bad, that the POWs began to develop heat blisters. Although the Japanese had removed the lights in the hold, they had not cutoff the power. Some of the prisoners were able to wire the ship's blowers into the power lines. This allowed fresh air into the hold. The blowers were disconnected two days later when the Japanese discovered what had been done.
The Japanese realized that if they did not do something many of the POWs would die. To prevent this, they opened the ship's number two hold and transferred 600 POWs into it. At some point, one POW was shot while attempting to escape.
The Arisan Maru returned to Manila on October 20th. There, it joined a convoy. On October 21st, the convoy left Manila and entered the South China Sea. The Japanese refused to mark POW ships with red crosses to indicate they were carrying POWs. This made the ships targets for submarines. The POWs in the hold were so desperate that they prayed that the ship be hit by torpedoes.
According to the survivors of the Arisan Maru, on October 24, 1944, about 5:00 pm, some POWs were on deck preparing the meal for those in the ship's two holds. The ship was near Shoonan, off the coast of China. Suddenly, sirens and other alarms were heard. The men inside the holds knew this meant that American submarines had been spotted. The POWS began to chant for the submarines to sink the ship.
The Japanese on deck ran to the bow of the ship. As the POWs watched, a torpedo passed the bow of the ship. Moments later, a second torpedo passed the ship's stern. There was a sudden jar and the ship stopped dead in the water. It had been hit by two torpedoes amidships in its third hold where there were no POWs. It is believed that the submarine that fired the torpedoes was the U.S.S Snook.
One of the Japanese guards took a machinegun and began firing on the POWs who were on deck. To escape, the POWs dove back into the holds. After they were in the holds, the Japanese put the hatch covers on the holds but did not tie them down.
As the Japanese abandoned ship, they cut the rope ladders into the ship's two holds. Some of the POWs in the second hold were able to climb out and reattached the ladders. They also dropped ropes down to the POWs in both holds.
The POWs were able to get onto the deck of the ship. Many raided the ship's fiid lockers to eat their last meal. At first, few POWs attempted to escape the ship. A group of 35 swam to a nearby Japanese ship, but when the Japanese realized they were POWs, they were pushed away with poles and hit with clubs. The Japanese destroyers in the convoy deliberately pulled away from the POWs as they attempted to reach them.
As the ship got lower in the water, some POWs took to the water. These POWs attempted to escape the ship by clinging to rafts, hatch covers, flotsam and jetsam. Most of the POWs were still on deck even after it became apparent that the ship was sinking. The exact time of the ship's sinking is not known since it took place after dark.
Anton was one of four POWs who found and were able to climb into an abandoned lifeboat, but since they had no paddles, they could not maneuver it to help other POWs. One more POW, who had floated near the boat shouted to them and they pulled him into the boat. At one point, a Japanese destroyer approached the lifeboat. The POWs played dead so the Japanese did not fire on the ship.
According to these men, the Arisan Maru sank sometime after dark. As the night went on, the cries for help grew fewer until there was silence.
Anton and the others were able to survive because the Japanese had left a barrel of water and some food in the boat. The POWs, after five hours of hard work, were able to rig the boat's sail. Knowing that China was to the west, they steered the boat in that direction.
The morning of their third day in the boat, the POWs came across two Chinese fishing boats. The Chinese rescued the POWs from the lifeboat and gave them food, water, tobacco and towels. They took the men to a fishing village in a area of Free China.
The former POWs were treated like royalty by the Chinese. They were given Chinese clothing to wear. They were taken to other villages as and had banquet after banquet as they made their way toward American Forces.
One day, they saw an American flag flying from a flagpole. They were taken to an American airfield and flown over the Himalayan Hump. They found themselves in New York City four days later.
Anton Cichy returned to Minnesota. In 1945, he married Arlence Julia Lillis. he would become the father of two sons and a daughter. Anton lived in Marion Lake near Dent, Minnesota. He worked as a well driller.
On October 27, 2009, Anton E. Cichy died in Wadena, Minnesota. He was buried at Richville Cemetery in Richville, Minnesota.
===========================
On October 24, 1944, while being transported to Japan, the ship he was on, the Arisan Maru, was sunk by an American submarine. 1803 POWs were on the ship. Cichy was one of nine POWs to survive the sinking. He was one of the eight who survived the war.
US Army
WWII Veteran
Suvivor Arisan Maru
===================
Below is provided by Barbara Johnson (#46879813) of this site
===================
Pvt. Anton E. Cichy was born on February 18, 1914 to John P. Cichy & Emelia Klimek-Cichy in Leaf Mountain, Minnesota. With his three brothers and three sisters, he grew up in both Newton, Minnesota. He would later reside in Dent, Minnesota.
Anton was inducted into the U. S. Army in 1941 and sent to Fort Lewis, Washington. There, he was assigned to A Company, 194th Tank Battalion to fill-out the company's roster. The company had been a Minnesota National Guard Tank Company from Brainerd.
In September 1941, Anton's battalion was ordered to San Francisco. There, they were inoculated and given physicals on Angel Island. They were sent by ship to the Philippine Islands.
On December 8, 1941, Anton lived through the Japanese attack on Clark Airfield. On December 26th, his tank platoon was given the duty of holding the bank along the Agno River while Filipino and American forces crossed the river. During this duty he and other tankers wiped out over 500 Japanese troops who had attempted to cross the river. They also were under constant bombardment by Japanese artillery and mortars. After the tankers disengaged, they fought their way through the barrio of Carmen.
On December 28th, Anton's platoon was given the duty of holding the Calumpit Bridge so that Filipinos and Americans could once again withdraw from the area. They were again under heavy shelling.
Anton's tank company continued to fight the Japanese until they were ordered to surrender on April 9, 1942. With his company, he destroyed his tank and made his way to Mariveles at the southern tip of Bataan. He was now a Prisoner of War. From this barrio, he started what became known as "the death march".
During the march, Anton witnessed POWs beaten for no reason. He and the other POWs were denied food and water for no apparent reason. At San Fernando, he was boarded into small wooden boxcars used to haul sugarcane. The cars could hold forty men or eight horses. The Japanese packed 100 men into each car. The dead remained standing until the living disembarked the cars at Capas. From there, he walked the last ten miles to Camp O'Donnell.
As a POW, Anton was held at Camp O'Donnell. This unfinished Filipino Training Camp was pressed into service by the Japanese as a POW camp. There was one water faucet for 12,000 POWs. Men would literally die waiting for a drink of water. As many as fifty POWs died each day from disease. The strong would steal the food from the weak. The situation in this camp was so bad that the Japanese opened a new camp at Cabanatuan a month later.
When the camp opened, Anton was sent to the camp. He spent most of the next two years in this camp. As the tide of the war turned against the Japanese, they began to send large numbers of POWs to other parts of their empire. Anton's name was posted for transport in early October 1944.
On October 10th, Anton's POW detachment arrived at the Port Area of Manila. The ship his group was scheduled to sail on was the Hokusen Maru. Since the entire detachment of POWs had not arrived and the ship was ready to sail, the Japanese boarded another detachment of POWs onto the ship. Anton's detachment was boarded onto the Arisan Maru.
Anton and 1803 other POWs were packed into the ship's number one hold. Along the sides of the hold were shelves that served as bunks. These bunks were so close together that a man could not lift himself up. Those standing had no room to lie down. The latrines for the prisoners were eight five gallon cans. Since the POWs were packed into the hold so tightly, many of the POWs could not get near the cans. The floor of the hold was covered with human waste.
On October 11th, the ship set sail but took a southerly route away from Formosa. Within the first 48 hours, five POWs had died. The ship anchored in a cove off Palawan Island where it remained for ten days. The Japanese covered the hatch with a tarp. During the night, the POWs were in total darkness. This resulted in the ship missing an air attack by American planes, but the ship was attacked by American planes.
During the time off Palawan, the ship was attacked by American planes. Each day, each POW was given three ounces of water and two half mess kits of raw rice. Conditions in the hold were so bad, that the POWs began to develop heat blisters. Although the Japanese had removed the lights in the hold, they had not cutoff the power. Some of the prisoners were able to wire the ship's blowers into the power lines. This allowed fresh air into the hold. The blowers were disconnected two days later when the Japanese discovered what had been done.
The Japanese realized that if they did not do something many of the POWs would die. To prevent this, they opened the ship's number two hold and transferred 600 POWs into it. At some point, one POW was shot while attempting to escape.
The Arisan Maru returned to Manila on October 20th. There, it joined a convoy. On October 21st, the convoy left Manila and entered the South China Sea. The Japanese refused to mark POW ships with red crosses to indicate they were carrying POWs. This made the ships targets for submarines. The POWs in the hold were so desperate that they prayed that the ship be hit by torpedoes.
According to the survivors of the Arisan Maru, on October 24, 1944, about 5:00 pm, some POWs were on deck preparing the meal for those in the ship's two holds. The ship was near Shoonan, off the coast of China. Suddenly, sirens and other alarms were heard. The men inside the holds knew this meant that American submarines had been spotted. The POWS began to chant for the submarines to sink the ship.
The Japanese on deck ran to the bow of the ship. As the POWs watched, a torpedo passed the bow of the ship. Moments later, a second torpedo passed the ship's stern. There was a sudden jar and the ship stopped dead in the water. It had been hit by two torpedoes amidships in its third hold where there were no POWs. It is believed that the submarine that fired the torpedoes was the U.S.S Snook.
One of the Japanese guards took a machinegun and began firing on the POWs who were on deck. To escape, the POWs dove back into the holds. After they were in the holds, the Japanese put the hatch covers on the holds but did not tie them down.
As the Japanese abandoned ship, they cut the rope ladders into the ship's two holds. Some of the POWs in the second hold were able to climb out and reattached the ladders. They also dropped ropes down to the POWs in both holds.
The POWs were able to get onto the deck of the ship. Many raided the ship's fiid lockers to eat their last meal. At first, few POWs attempted to escape the ship. A group of 35 swam to a nearby Japanese ship, but when the Japanese realized they were POWs, they were pushed away with poles and hit with clubs. The Japanese destroyers in the convoy deliberately pulled away from the POWs as they attempted to reach them.
As the ship got lower in the water, some POWs took to the water. These POWs attempted to escape the ship by clinging to rafts, hatch covers, flotsam and jetsam. Most of the POWs were still on deck even after it became apparent that the ship was sinking. The exact time of the ship's sinking is not known since it took place after dark.
Anton was one of four POWs who found and were able to climb into an abandoned lifeboat, but since they had no paddles, they could not maneuver it to help other POWs. One more POW, who had floated near the boat shouted to them and they pulled him into the boat. At one point, a Japanese destroyer approached the lifeboat. The POWs played dead so the Japanese did not fire on the ship.
According to these men, the Arisan Maru sank sometime after dark. As the night went on, the cries for help grew fewer until there was silence.
Anton and the others were able to survive because the Japanese had left a barrel of water and some food in the boat. The POWs, after five hours of hard work, were able to rig the boat's sail. Knowing that China was to the west, they steered the boat in that direction.
The morning of their third day in the boat, the POWs came across two Chinese fishing boats. The Chinese rescued the POWs from the lifeboat and gave them food, water, tobacco and towels. They took the men to a fishing village in a area of Free China.
The former POWs were treated like royalty by the Chinese. They were given Chinese clothing to wear. They were taken to other villages as and had banquet after banquet as they made their way toward American Forces.
One day, they saw an American flag flying from a flagpole. They were taken to an American airfield and flown over the Himalayan Hump. They found themselves in New York City four days later.
Anton Cichy returned to Minnesota. In 1945, he married Arlence Julia Lillis. he would become the father of two sons and a daughter. Anton lived in Marion Lake near Dent, Minnesota. He worked as a well driller.
On October 27, 2009, Anton E. Cichy died in Wadena, Minnesota. He was buried at Richville Cemetery in Richville, Minnesota.
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WWII Vet - US Army
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