John Playter, b. 1918
John Playter was born on 4 June 1918 in Joplin, MO, the youngest of
three boys. He graduated from Joplin High School in 1935 (earning a reserve
commission in the Army), then attended Stanford University, graduating in 1940
with a degree in geology. An ROTC member during college, in July 1941 John was
called to active duty and in September sent to the Philippines.
John was assigned to Battery D, 80th Field Artillery,
Philippine Scouts, and stationed at Ft Stotsenburg, north of Manila and near the
Air Corps base Clark Field. He was one of thousands of Americans that
surrendered to Japanese forces at Bataan in April 1942. After the Bataan March
John was held at Camp O’Donnell (Apr – Jun) and Cabanatuan (Jun – Nov), both on
Luzon; especially at he latter he suffered badly from malaria and beriberi. In
November 1942 John was in a group of American POWs transferred to the Davao
Penal Colony, on the island of Mindanao. Here he was on various work details,
including rice paddies and construction. John’s final POW location was Lasang
(Feb – Aug 44), also on Mindanao, where the work was airfield construction for
the Japanese military. In late August 1944, along with approximately 750 other
POWs, John was placed on a ship bound for Japan; this group was transferred to
the Shinyo Maru in early September.
On 7
September 1944 the Shinyo Maru was torpedoed and sunk by the American
submarine Paddle (SS 263); only 83 men survived the sinking. These men
were picked up off Mindanao several weeks later by another American submarine,
and after brief island stops transported back the USA. John had some months of
leave, and ended the war stationed at O’Reilly General Hospital in Springfield,
MO. He was married in October 1945 (wife Charlene), and discharged from active
duty in March 1946.
Again a civilian, John worked several years in the mining business
in AZ and CO, then returned to MO where he operated a turkey farm for ten years
before becoming city engineer in the small town on Bolivar. He spent 25 years
in this position, retiring in 1986. The author of a book about his POW
experience entitled Survivor (2000), John Playter was interviewed in February 2004 at his home in Bolivar, MO.
Biographical information and all interview content © Thomas Saylor, 2001-04
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