Army Cpl. Frederick G. Collins, 23, killed in World War II, has now been accounted for.
On Dec. 8, 1941, Collins was a member of the 263rd Quartermaster Company, Quartermaster Corps (QMC) located at Nichols Field, in Manila, Philippines, when hostile Japanese forces sent the QMC on a gradual withdrawal into Bataan Province. Following the April 9, 1942 surrender to the Japanese, Collins and other members of the QMC captured in Bataan began the torturous 65-mile “Bataan Death March” northward, where they were imprisoned at Camp O’Donnell. Because of overcrowding and an excessive death rate at Camp O’Donnell, Collins and other POWs were transferred to Camp Cabanatuan.
More than 2,800 POWs perished in Camp Cabanatuan during the remaining years of the war. On Nov. 19, 1942, 14 Americans, including Collins, were reported to have died and were buried by their fellow prisoners in Common Grave 717 in Cabanatuan Camp #3 Cemetery.
In 2014, the Secretary of the Army granted permission to exhume the graves associated with Common Grave 717.
Lab analysis, in conjunction with the totality of circumstantial evidence available, determined Collins' remains were included.
Interment services are pending.