George C. Sherman
Private First Class, U.S. Army

George C. Sherman was born in New York in 1906 to Mr. and Mrs. Cecil Harvey Sherman. In 1920 the family, which included younger brother John H., lived in Philadelphia PA. They later moved to Ventnor, NJ, where George began high school at Atlantic City High. The Sherman family moved to Camden, NJ, where George graduated from Camden High School in the mid 1920s. He was a star tennis player at both high schools. After high school, George attended Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, PA.

In April 1930, the Sherman family moved to Los Angeles, CA. During this time George and John Sherman became the contract bridge champions of California, and operated a contract bridge academy in Hollywood for a time. In 1932, the brothers won a national bridge championship.

Military Service

George Sherman enlisted in the U.S. Army on 22 February 1941 and, after completing training, was assigned to duty in the Philippine Islands, in the Pacific Theater of Operations. In the fall of 1941, Private First Class Sherman was serving in the 808th Military Police Company at Fort William McKinley in Manila. The 808th Military Police Company was a racially-integrated unit in the Army with Filipinos and Americans serving side by side. The 808th had only 69 men in July of 1941, but its numbers increased to 160 by 30 November of 1941. While at Fort William McKinley, PFC Sherman spent a week in the hospital in October 1941.

In December 1941, immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December, the Japanese invaded the Philippine Islands. PFC Sherman survived the initial onslaught and took part in the desperate defense the U.S. forces mounted in the winter and spring of 1942. Cut off from any chance of reinforcement or resupply, the American and Filipino soldiers, sailors, and airmen did what they could with what they had. PFC Sherman was reassigned to Company L, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division.

When the Japanese Fourteenth Army came ashore at Lingayen Gulf, General MacArthur's beach defense troops, composed solely of recently-drafted Philippine Army soldiers, collapsed. After two days of fighting and delaying actions near the beaches, MacArthur decided to retreat to the Bataan Peninsula. His army fought a series of delaying actions as they withdrew south toward Bataan. The poorly-trained Philippine Army soldiers held in some places but fled in others. The elite Philippine Scout 26th Cavalry, American light tanks, and Filipino and Scout artillery were the only units that could successfully fight the Japanese. Because the Japanese were more concerned with capturing Manila, they sent only modest forces against the Philippine Army as it entered Bataan.

The Americans kept the Japanese out of the peninsula for as long as they could while the divisions of Filipinos and Americans dug in on their new lines. The only real hope of delaying the Japanese was to position the U.S. 31st Infantry Regiment directly in their path. The 31st Infantry went on the line at Layac, with Philippine Army soldiers on its right and the 26th Cavalry on its left. There, at the northern approaches to Bataan, American infantrymen first faced the Japanese.

Later the 31st fought at the Abucay hacienda, where it launched a counterattack against a Japanese penetration of the II Philippine Corps' left flank. The Regiment fought grimly for eight days but could only blunt the Japanese advance. Nothing the American infantrymen tried could evict the determined Japanese 65th Brigade. When MacArthur realized the American counterattack had failed, he decided to withdraw the entire army to its reserve battle position.

The 31st Infantry remained in reserve through February and March 1942, suffering continuously from starvation and sickness. PFC Sherman was hospitalized from 3 to 11 February 1942, and again from 3 to 7 March 1942, both times at General Hospital No. 2.

The 31st Infantry was called upon one last time in early April 1942 to counterattack Japanese penetrations of Filipino lines. The Americans were now so weak that many could not march into combat. The starving men cautiously probed into the Japanese advance force and stalled the enemy for a short time. With only 800 men remaining and both flanks open and threatened, the Regiment was forced to retreat, leaving only small groups of men to fight the last, hopeless delaying actions. The Japanese pushed to the southern reaches of Bataan. By the time Bataan surrendered on 9 April 1942, the 31st Infantry had been destroyed. However, it fought to the last and sustained its motto, Pro Patria (for country).

Not all troops of the 31st Infantry laid down their arms in April 1942. Most of the survivors underwent brutal torture and humiliation on the Bataan Death March and during nearly four years of captivity. But a few hundred of the 31st's survivors escaped to continue resisting. About 300 men from the 31st escaped the advancing Japanese and escaped to Corregidor; PFC Sherman was one of them.

The Japanese began their final assault on Corregidor with an artillery barrage on 1 May 1942. On the night of 5 May, two battalions of the Japanese 61st Infantry Regiment landed at the northeast end of the island. Despite strong resistance, the Japanese established a beachhead that was soon reinforced with tanks and artillery. The defenders were quickly pushed back toward the stronghold of Malinta Hill. During this battle, PFC George C. Sherman was Killed in Action.

Late on 6 May, General Wainwright asked Japanese General Homma for terms of surrender. Homma insisted that surrender include all Allied forces in the Philippines. Believing that the lives of all those on Corregidor would be endangered, Wainwright accepted. On 8 May, he sent a message to General Sharp, still resisting the Japanese elsewhere in the Philippines, ordering him to surrender the Visayan-Mindanao Force. Sharp complied, but many individuals carried on the fight as guerrillas.

Due to the circumstances of war on 5 May 1942 and the days thereafter, PFC Sherman's body was not recovered and he was listed as Missing in Action, effective 7 May 1942. After the war, records were found establishing that he had been killed on 5 May. A Finding of Death was issued for PFC George C. Sherman on 1 February 1946.

Medals, Awards and Badges

Purple Heart
American Defense Service Medal
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
World War II Victory Medal
Combat Infantryman Badge

Memorialization

The remains of Private First Class George C. Sherman were never recovered. He is memorialized with his name inscribed on the Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery in Manila, Philippine Islands.

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