Attended Harrodsburg High School
Enlisted on 25 November 1940 in Harrodsburg, Kentucky
Joined Harrodsburg's 38th Tank Company with the Kentucky National Guard
Private First Class, U.S. Army, 20523471
192nd Tank Battalion, Company D
WWII POW☆MIA
Cloyd was taken prisoner in the Philippines on 11 April 1942 and trucked to Mariveles where he began the 90 mile Death March eventually ending up at Camp O'Donnell and was later held at Cabanatuan. From December 1942 until April 1944, Cloyd was assigned a work detail for Las Pinas where he worked to build runways with a pick and shovel. He was returned to Cabanatuan until he was again assigned to build runways at Nichols Airfield where he and the other prisoners removed an entire mountain by hand. In October 1944 Cloyd was sent to Manila and boarded the hell ship Arisan Maru bound for Formosa.
On 24 October 1944, around 5:00 pm, near Shoonan off the coast of China two torpedoes from an American submarine struck amidships. The Japanese guards cut the rope ladders to the holds and closed the hatch covers before abandoning ship leaving the POWs. Some of the POWs managed to climb out of the holds and lowered rope ladders. Most of the POWs survived the attack but died because the Japanese refused to rescue them from the water. The ship eventually broke in two and sank during the night. Of the 1,803 POWs on the ship, only nine survived the sinking.
Attended Harrodsburg High School
Enlisted on 25 November 1940 in Harrodsburg, Kentucky
Joined Harrodsburg's 38th Tank Company with the Kentucky National Guard
Private First Class, U.S. Army, 20523471
192nd Tank Battalion, Company D
WWII POW☆MIA
Cloyd was taken prisoner in the Philippines on 11 April 1942 and trucked to Mariveles where he began the 90 mile Death March eventually ending up at Camp O'Donnell and was later held at Cabanatuan. From December 1942 until April 1944, Cloyd was assigned a work detail for Las Pinas where he worked to build runways with a pick and shovel. He was returned to Cabanatuan until he was again assigned to build runways at Nichols Airfield where he and the other prisoners removed an entire mountain by hand. In October 1944 Cloyd was sent to Manila and boarded the hell ship Arisan Maru bound for Formosa.
On 24 October 1944, around 5:00 pm, near Shoonan off the coast of China two torpedoes from an American submarine struck amidships. The Japanese guards cut the rope ladders to the holds and closed the hatch covers before abandoning ship leaving the POWs. Some of the POWs managed to climb out of the holds and lowered rope ladders. Most of the POWs survived the attack but died because the Japanese refused to rescue them from the water. The ship eventually broke in two and sank during the night. Of the 1,803 POWs on the ship, only nine survived the sinking.
Gravesite Details
Entered the service from Kentucky.
Family Members
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Vernon Clyde Cloyd
1888–1952
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Jessie May Miller Shirley
1895–1985
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Martha Ann Cloyd Hardin
1923–1976
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Zylpha Doris Cloyd
1912–1982
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Mary Adalin Cloyd Ransdell
1914–1996
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Irene Faye Cloyd Fields
1917–1990
Flowers
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