| Original photo caption: “Captain S. W. Little, Sergeant John G. Graham, Lieutenant I. W. Frutiger, Corporal R. L. Carter, ducking shrapnel at Lamao, Bataan, Philippine Islands, while the ammunition dump was on fire after Jap[anese] bombing. Original newspaper caption, April 1942: “American Officers in Bataan foxhole. This picture, one of the latest to be received from the Bataan Peninsula, now lost to American forces, shows American officers in a foxhole, ducking shrapnel fire from Japanese guns. Left to right are: Captain S. O. Little, Sergeant John G. Graham, Lieutenant P. W. Frutiger, and Corporal R. L. Carter.” 4 United States Army soldiers – Captain Samuel W. Little (March 25, 1908 – December 15, 1944); 1st Lieutenant Thomas W. Frutiger (November 24, 1911 – January 9, 1945); Master Sergeant Richard L. Carter (December 10, 1921 – June 2, 2004); and Staff Sergeant John G. Graham (December 29, 1912 – August 13, 1973) take cover from an exploding ammunition dump after a Japanese air attack on Barrio Limao, Limay, Luzon, on February 8, 1942. United States Army Forces Far East (USAFFE) was under increasing pressure from Imperial Japanese Army artillery and air strikes. Still, it was able to defeat amphibious landings by the Imperial Japanese Army 2nd Battalion, 20th Infantry, 16th Division, which was utterly annihilated by naval and air force crews turned into infantry. On February 8, Imperial Japanese Army General Masaharu Homma (November 27, 1887 – April 3, 1946) paused combat operations to wait for reinforcements. But the Americans and Filipinos trapped on Bataan were on a starvation diet. A meat processing plant at Lamao ran through the pack mules, horses, and carabao on Bataan, and even pigs smuggled in from Cavite. Meat was frozen at Corregidor and brought to the front lines, but it still arrived covered in flies and maggots from the hot tropical sun. The starving men ate it anyway. By early April, USAFFE was out of ammunition, medical supplies, fuel, and food. Those who could retreated to Corregidor; some 72,000 Filipinos and Americans began the Bataan Death March. United States Army Reserve Captain Samuel W. Little of Washington, District of Columbia, an Engineer for the Balaton Mining Company, 1st went to the Philippines in 1935. Called to active duty in February 1941, Little was assigned to Ordinance, Philippine Department Headquarters. He survived the Bataan Death March to Camp O’Donnell and was incarcerated for a time at Cabanatuan. In December 1944, he was packed with thousands of other Americans on the “hell ship” Okokyu Maru. The transport sailed from Manila on December 13, 1944, and was bombed on December 15, 1944. The attack was suspended when the Americans realized it was carrying Prisoners of War, but Little was already dead. He was awarded a 2nd Silver Star in October 1945. He is listed in the Tablets of the Missing in the Manila American Cemetery. This photo was all the news his family had of their son until the notice of his death. 1st Lieutenant Thomas W. Frutiger of Red Lion, Pennsylvania, enlisted on April 1, 1941, at Aberdeen Proving Grounds. Assigned to the 454th Aviation Ordinance Company, 27th Bomb Squadron, which was supposed to staff the new airfield at San Marcelino, Frutiger moved artillery shells instead of bombs on Bataan. He also surrendered and survived the Bataan Death March. Incarcerated at Davao, he joined Little on the Okokyu Maru in December 1944, but survived the sinking. He then boarded the Enoura Maru, bound for Taiwan. That “hell ship” was sunk by air attack on January 8, 1945, killing Frutiger. Corporal Richard L. Carter of Boise, Idaho, 228th Signals, graduated in 1940 and immediately joined the United States Army. survived the Bataan Death March. The Idaho Statesman reported on March 26, 1944, that his parents received a letter that he was confined to the hospital. In September 1944, he boarded the hell ship Noto Maru and was shipped to Nagoya, Japan, where he was incarcerated in the 6 “B” Nomachi Factory Prisoner of War Camp. Here, Carter labored in the smelter, machine shop, and quarry until he was liberated on September 26, 1945. His parents were overjoyed to learn he was alive in October 1945. He was promoted to Master Sergeant and served as an Army court reporter for 20 years after World War II. Sergeant John G. Graham of Seneca, North Carolina, enlisted on January 27, 1941. He was assigned to the 454th Aviation Ordinance Company, 27th Bomb Squadron, delivering ammunition to artillery positions on Bataan. Graham survived the Bataan Death March and was held at Bilibid Prison in Manila for a time. Graham was shipped to Japan aboard a hell ship, possibly the Canadian Inventor, in September 1944. Graham was liberated in September 1945. He remained in the United States Air Force through the Korean War. | |
| Image Filename | wwii2425.jpg |
| Image Size | 626.63 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2716 x 2168 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | United States Army Signal Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | February 8, 1942 |
| Location | Lamao |
| City | Limay |
| State or Province | Luzon |
| Country | Philippines |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | 111-SCA-2884 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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