Individual Details
John Dewitte Rutherford
(10 Feb 1920 - 9 Jan 1945)
John D. Rutherford
Corporal, U.S. Army Air Forces
Service # 18006590
Headquarters Squadron, 5th Air Base Group
Entered the Service from: Texas
Died: 9-Jan-45 Takeo, Formosa (now Taiwan)
Awards: Purple Heart
John Dewitte Rutherford was born February 10, 1920 in the little farming town of Anna, Texas north of Dallas. His parents, Herman and Grady Rutherford were simple "salt of the earth" people who raised a family of five boys and one girl. Four of the boys went to war and only two returned. Bill, George and James served in Europe while John went to the Pacific.
John was a Corporal in the U.S Army Air Forces, Headquarters Squad, and part of the Medical Detachment of the 5th Air Base Group. This Detachment was organized from Salt Lake City, Utah and headquartered in Australia during the fighting in the Pacific. He was a medical technician and received his initial training at Fort Douglas, Salt Lake City, Utah in 1940-41. There he met a young Utah girl, Betty Rasmussen, working at a local USO club and they were married just before he was transferred to the Philippines on 21 October 1941 less than two two months before Pearl Harbor.
08 December 1941: The Japanese attack the Philippines.
09 April 1942: US and Philippine forces on Bataan surrender.
06 May 1942: Corporal John D. Rutherford taken prisoner when Corregidor surrendered to the Japanese at noon.
On 08 May 1942 over 11,000 prisoners were herded to the old 92nd Coast Artillery garage area. On 24 May, all personnel were taken to Manila and forced to march to Bilibid Prison. From there John was taken to Cabanatuan.
On 17 June 1942 his wife, Betty Rasmussen Rutherford gave birth to a son and was given his name, John Dewitt Rutherford. During the month of June, 1942 over five hundred prisoners died in the camps at Cabanatuan.
John Rutherford was held at Cabanatuan 2½ years until October, 1944, when he was taken with a group of prisoners from Cabanatuan to the Bilibid Prison in Manila for transport by ship to Japan. On 13 December 1944, approximately 1,619 American prisoners (mostly officers) were marched through the streets of Manila to Pier 7 to board the 7,000 ton Japanese freighter SS Oryoku Maru. The prisoners were crammed into the holds. Also on board are around 700 civilians plus 100 crew and 30 Japanese guards. Already overloaded, the SS Oryoku Maru then takes on about 1,000 Japanese seamen, survivors of ships sunk in Manila Harbor.
Fearing it was too dangerous to proceed the journey from Manila or to stay in the Manila Port Area, the Captain of the Oryoku Maru moved the ship to Subic Bay, anchoring about a mile off shore. She is spotted the next day out at sea by USN planes from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-19) and attacked. The ship was bombed twice by US planes, first on Dec. 14 and finally on Dec. 15, when she took a 500 lbs. bomb into her third cargo hold, 286 POWs are killed. The ship began to sink and the 925 survivors were forced to swim ashore. They were rounded up and corralled in a tennis court at Olongapo for the next several days. They were then taken by truck and train to San Fernando, Pampanga. They spent the night in San Fernando, where those too weak to continue were taken to a cemetery and executed. The next day, the rest boarded another train for San Fernando, La Union (another San Fernando). The next day the majority of them boarded the Enoura Maru and a smaller group of them boarded the Brazil Maru. Their destination was Moji, Japan, after a brief stop in Takao, Formosa.
John Rutherford was assigned to a forward hold below the main deck of the freighter "Enoura Maru."
On 27 December 1944 the convoy of ships got underway.
December 30 - "All through the night of December 30th, the Enoura Maru tossed in heavy seas....That night three corpses were buried at sea.
On 31 December 1944, New Year's Eve, "the Enoura Maru dropped anchor in the harbor of Takao, on the southwest tip of Formosa, about six hundred and fifty miles north of Manila. It had required nineteen days to cover those six hundred fifty miles. Early in the morning (New Years Day) the bodies of four more men who had died during the night were thrown overboard.
Once in Takao the deprivation continued as the Japanese celebrated their New Year holiday for four days and left the POWs to fend for themselves during that time. The prisoners had little food or water from January 1 – 4, and thirty-four died on the Enoura Maru, and five died on the Brazil Maru.
By January 6, ten men had died on the Brazil Maru and then the remaining 230 were transferred across the harbor to the Enoura Maru. At this time some 240 POWs from the second hold on the Enoura Maru were moved up into the first hold to join the men from the Brazil Maru who had been put there. This made a total of about 470 men in the first hold.
On the morning of 09 January 1945 USN planes – again from the USS Hornet (CV-19), attacked the dock area. "John Jacobs, aboard Enoura Maru, recalled that they were just finishing their only meal of the day when the first air raid sounded. Panic spread in the hold as men tried to remove the hatch covers." The Enoura Maru drew the attention of the American pilots as it was tied up alongside a Japanese tanker. One bomb exploded alongside Enoura Maru wrenching the bulkheads between the two prison holds. A second bomb exploded directly in the forward hold killing about 250 and wounding the rest. Corporal John D. Rutherford was killed by this blast. Another bomb landed aft and sent hatch planking crashing down on top of the prisoners there, killing about 40 and pinning 80 under the debris. "Moments later, "there was a blinding orange flash and a deafening explosion followed by blindness." Planks, hatches and other debris flew through the air. Some men were pinned by the hatches. One floor gave way, dropping prisoners thirty or forty feet below. When it was over, only three doctors remained to care for seventy-five injured. Thirty-five dead were placed in a pile. With the hatches gone, the temperature plummeted.
The Japanese refused to allow the wounded to be sent ashore for treatment nor did they allow the prisoners to receive medical supplies. A portion of the hold was set aside to serve as a make-shift hospital. "On January 10, Jacobs was asked to look into the forward hold where a bomb fragment left a gaping hole. "There were mangled Americans, some 300 of them, piled three deep and pinned down with large steel girders and hatch covers," he remembered."
The dead were stacked up under the hatch but the Japanese prevented the bodies from being removed for 4 days. On January 12, fellow prisoners were ordered by the Japanese guards to bury the dead on the beach at Takao, and there they were placed in a mass grave of more than 300 casualties.
Sources: 1) http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2003/winter/hell-ships-2.html 2) Crews J, Hostetter R. "Prisoners' Voyage of Doom," Hospital Corps Quarterly; 1948 21(3), p 40.
"Finally on January 12th they began to remove the dead from the ship. The stronger and mostly younger men were called upon to help remove the bodies. They placed the bodies - their comrades, friends of years, or days, or just hours before, into a rope cargo net lowered into the holds. Few were now recognizable even to close friends. The net then lifted these lifeless remains into cargo lighters brought alongside the damaged Enoura Maru, and over the next three days more than 300 POWs were buried on the outer spit of Kaohsiung Harbor in a mass grave." Source: ttp://www.powtaiwan.org/archives_detail.php?THE-STORY-OF-THE-BOMBING-OF-THE-ENOURA-MARU-17
In May 1946 the American Graves Recovery Team exhumed the bodies of 311 men who were buried in a mass grave on the beach at Nakasu, Takao, Formosa following the bombing of the Enoura Maru. They were first taken to Shanghai, China where they were buried among Shanghai Remains Dept Unknowns. The remains of this group were then transferred to Hawaii on 13 April 1947 where identification was attempted. Only a few were identified. The rest were reburied as UNKNOWN in several mass graves at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punch Bowl) in two rows (Section Q), Hawaii.
For more about the recovery of the remains please read: http://www.wfirg.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/ENOURA_MARU.24633529.pdf
For more about John D. Rutherford Jr. read: http://www.awon.org/awrutherford.html
John D. Rutherford Corp.
John D. Rutherford, 24, whose widow is Mrs. Betty Rasmussen Rutherford, Magna, and who was a son of Mr. and Mrs. H. P. Rutherford, Anna, Tex., was killed Dec. 15, while a prisoner of war on a Japanese transport sunk in the Pacific. Born Feb. 10, 1920, in Anna, Tex., Corp. Rutherford was stationed at Fort Douglas with the army air forces medical corps during 1940-41. He was sent overseas Oct. 21, 1941. Survivors, include his parents and widow; a three-year-old son, John D. Rutherford Jr., Magna; two brothers, Sgt. George W. Rutherford, with field artillery, Austria; T/5 James G. Rutherford, cavalry, en route home from Europe,*- and a sister, Laura Grace Rutherford, Anna, Tex. Source: The Salt Lake Tribune 27 July 1945, Page 11
To read more about the American POWs Killed 9 JAN 1945: http://ancestryforums.custhelp.com/posts/1b77d96a06
Corporal, U.S. Army Air Forces
Service # 18006590
Headquarters Squadron, 5th Air Base Group
Entered the Service from: Texas
Died: 9-Jan-45 Takeo, Formosa (now Taiwan)
Awards: Purple Heart
John Dewitte Rutherford was born February 10, 1920 in the little farming town of Anna, Texas north of Dallas. His parents, Herman and Grady Rutherford were simple "salt of the earth" people who raised a family of five boys and one girl. Four of the boys went to war and only two returned. Bill, George and James served in Europe while John went to the Pacific.
John was a Corporal in the U.S Army Air Forces, Headquarters Squad, and part of the Medical Detachment of the 5th Air Base Group. This Detachment was organized from Salt Lake City, Utah and headquartered in Australia during the fighting in the Pacific. He was a medical technician and received his initial training at Fort Douglas, Salt Lake City, Utah in 1940-41. There he met a young Utah girl, Betty Rasmussen, working at a local USO club and they were married just before he was transferred to the Philippines on 21 October 1941 less than two two months before Pearl Harbor.
08 December 1941: The Japanese attack the Philippines.
09 April 1942: US and Philippine forces on Bataan surrender.
06 May 1942: Corporal John D. Rutherford taken prisoner when Corregidor surrendered to the Japanese at noon.
On 08 May 1942 over 11,000 prisoners were herded to the old 92nd Coast Artillery garage area. On 24 May, all personnel were taken to Manila and forced to march to Bilibid Prison. From there John was taken to Cabanatuan.
On 17 June 1942 his wife, Betty Rasmussen Rutherford gave birth to a son and was given his name, John Dewitt Rutherford. During the month of June, 1942 over five hundred prisoners died in the camps at Cabanatuan.
John Rutherford was held at Cabanatuan 2½ years until October, 1944, when he was taken with a group of prisoners from Cabanatuan to the Bilibid Prison in Manila for transport by ship to Japan. On 13 December 1944, approximately 1,619 American prisoners (mostly officers) were marched through the streets of Manila to Pier 7 to board the 7,000 ton Japanese freighter SS Oryoku Maru. The prisoners were crammed into the holds. Also on board are around 700 civilians plus 100 crew and 30 Japanese guards. Already overloaded, the SS Oryoku Maru then takes on about 1,000 Japanese seamen, survivors of ships sunk in Manila Harbor.
Fearing it was too dangerous to proceed the journey from Manila or to stay in the Manila Port Area, the Captain of the Oryoku Maru moved the ship to Subic Bay, anchoring about a mile off shore. She is spotted the next day out at sea by USN planes from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-19) and attacked. The ship was bombed twice by US planes, first on Dec. 14 and finally on Dec. 15, when she took a 500 lbs. bomb into her third cargo hold, 286 POWs are killed. The ship began to sink and the 925 survivors were forced to swim ashore. They were rounded up and corralled in a tennis court at Olongapo for the next several days. They were then taken by truck and train to San Fernando, Pampanga. They spent the night in San Fernando, where those too weak to continue were taken to a cemetery and executed. The next day, the rest boarded another train for San Fernando, La Union (another San Fernando). The next day the majority of them boarded the Enoura Maru and a smaller group of them boarded the Brazil Maru. Their destination was Moji, Japan, after a brief stop in Takao, Formosa.
John Rutherford was assigned to a forward hold below the main deck of the freighter "Enoura Maru."
On 27 December 1944 the convoy of ships got underway.
December 30 - "All through the night of December 30th, the Enoura Maru tossed in heavy seas....That night three corpses were buried at sea.
On 31 December 1944, New Year's Eve, "the Enoura Maru dropped anchor in the harbor of Takao, on the southwest tip of Formosa, about six hundred and fifty miles north of Manila. It had required nineteen days to cover those six hundred fifty miles. Early in the morning (New Years Day) the bodies of four more men who had died during the night were thrown overboard.
Once in Takao the deprivation continued as the Japanese celebrated their New Year holiday for four days and left the POWs to fend for themselves during that time. The prisoners had little food or water from January 1 – 4, and thirty-four died on the Enoura Maru, and five died on the Brazil Maru.
By January 6, ten men had died on the Brazil Maru and then the remaining 230 were transferred across the harbor to the Enoura Maru. At this time some 240 POWs from the second hold on the Enoura Maru were moved up into the first hold to join the men from the Brazil Maru who had been put there. This made a total of about 470 men in the first hold.
On the morning of 09 January 1945 USN planes – again from the USS Hornet (CV-19), attacked the dock area. "John Jacobs, aboard Enoura Maru, recalled that they were just finishing their only meal of the day when the first air raid sounded. Panic spread in the hold as men tried to remove the hatch covers." The Enoura Maru drew the attention of the American pilots as it was tied up alongside a Japanese tanker. One bomb exploded alongside Enoura Maru wrenching the bulkheads between the two prison holds. A second bomb exploded directly in the forward hold killing about 250 and wounding the rest. Corporal John D. Rutherford was killed by this blast. Another bomb landed aft and sent hatch planking crashing down on top of the prisoners there, killing about 40 and pinning 80 under the debris. "Moments later, "there was a blinding orange flash and a deafening explosion followed by blindness." Planks, hatches and other debris flew through the air. Some men were pinned by the hatches. One floor gave way, dropping prisoners thirty or forty feet below. When it was over, only three doctors remained to care for seventy-five injured. Thirty-five dead were placed in a pile. With the hatches gone, the temperature plummeted.
The Japanese refused to allow the wounded to be sent ashore for treatment nor did they allow the prisoners to receive medical supplies. A portion of the hold was set aside to serve as a make-shift hospital. "On January 10, Jacobs was asked to look into the forward hold where a bomb fragment left a gaping hole. "There were mangled Americans, some 300 of them, piled three deep and pinned down with large steel girders and hatch covers," he remembered."
The dead were stacked up under the hatch but the Japanese prevented the bodies from being removed for 4 days. On January 12, fellow prisoners were ordered by the Japanese guards to bury the dead on the beach at Takao, and there they were placed in a mass grave of more than 300 casualties.
Sources: 1) http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2003/winter/hell-ships-2.html 2) Crews J, Hostetter R. "Prisoners' Voyage of Doom," Hospital Corps Quarterly; 1948 21(3), p 40.
"Finally on January 12th they began to remove the dead from the ship. The stronger and mostly younger men were called upon to help remove the bodies. They placed the bodies - their comrades, friends of years, or days, or just hours before, into a rope cargo net lowered into the holds. Few were now recognizable even to close friends. The net then lifted these lifeless remains into cargo lighters brought alongside the damaged Enoura Maru, and over the next three days more than 300 POWs were buried on the outer spit of Kaohsiung Harbor in a mass grave." Source: ttp://www.powtaiwan.org/archives_detail.php?THE-STORY-OF-THE-BOMBING-OF-THE-ENOURA-MARU-17
In May 1946 the American Graves Recovery Team exhumed the bodies of 311 men who were buried in a mass grave on the beach at Nakasu, Takao, Formosa following the bombing of the Enoura Maru. They were first taken to Shanghai, China where they were buried among Shanghai Remains Dept Unknowns. The remains of this group were then transferred to Hawaii on 13 April 1947 where identification was attempted. Only a few were identified. The rest were reburied as UNKNOWN in several mass graves at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punch Bowl) in two rows (Section Q), Hawaii.
For more about the recovery of the remains please read: http://www.wfirg.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/ENOURA_MARU.24633529.pdf
For more about John D. Rutherford Jr. read: http://www.awon.org/awrutherford.html
John D. Rutherford Corp.
John D. Rutherford, 24, whose widow is Mrs. Betty Rasmussen Rutherford, Magna, and who was a son of Mr. and Mrs. H. P. Rutherford, Anna, Tex., was killed Dec. 15, while a prisoner of war on a Japanese transport sunk in the Pacific. Born Feb. 10, 1920, in Anna, Tex., Corp. Rutherford was stationed at Fort Douglas with the army air forces medical corps during 1940-41. He was sent overseas Oct. 21, 1941. Survivors, include his parents and widow; a three-year-old son, John D. Rutherford Jr., Magna; two brothers, Sgt. George W. Rutherford, with field artillery, Austria; T/5 James G. Rutherford, cavalry, en route home from Europe,*- and a sister, Laura Grace Rutherford, Anna, Tex. Source: The Salt Lake Tribune 27 July 1945, Page 11
To read more about the American POWs Killed 9 JAN 1945: http://ancestryforums.custhelp.com/posts/1b77d96a06
Events
| Birth | 10 Feb 1920 | Anna, Collin County, Texas | |||
| Census (family)-shared | 3 Apr 1930 | (Herman Pike Rutherford and Harriette Gradie Greer) Anna, Collin County, Texas |  |  | |
| Census (family)-shared | 4 Apr 1940 | (Herman Pike Rutherford and Harriette Gradie Greer) Anna, Collin County, Texas | | | |
| Death | 9 Jan 1945 | Kaohsiung City, Taiwan | |||
| Burial | Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Philippines | | |
Families
| Father | Herman Pike Rutherford (1883 - 1969) |
| Mother | Harriette Gradie Greer (1890 - 1969) |
| Sibling | Herbert Benbrook Rutherford (1910 - 1942) |
| Sibling | William Ellis Rutherford (1912 - 1943) |
| Sibling | George W. Rutherford (1915 - 1971) |
| Sibling | James Glyn Rutherford (1926 - 2016) |
| Sibling | Living |
Notes
Census (family)-shared
Herman Rutherford Head Male 46 Arkansas - Farmer, grain farmGrady Rutherford Wife Female 40 Texas
Herbert Rutherford Son Male 19 Texas
William E Rutherford Son Male 17 Texas
George W Rutherford Son Male 15 Texas
John D Rutherford Son Male 10 Texas
James G Rutherford Son Male 4 Texas
Census (family)-shared
Herman Rutherford Head Male 56 Arkansas - FarmerGrady Rutherford Wife Female 50 Texas
George W Rutherford Son Male 25 Texas - Farmer
John D Rutherford Son Male 20 Texas - Farmer
Jim Rutherford Son Male 14 Texas
Lara Grace Rutherford Daughter Female 8 Texas
Herbert Rutherford Son Male 29 Texas - Salesman, retail grocery
Thelma Rutherford Daughter-in-law Female 23 Texas
Burial
Cenotaph: Wall of the Missing - Army and Army Air ForcesEndnotes
1. United States Census, 1930 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:CWS5-PPZ.
2. United States Census, 1940 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KWJD-B91.
3. Find A Grave Memorial 56750269.