Rodgers, Marc
Posted on 15 September, 2021 by in Veterans By Name, R
Marc Rodgers born 1937 POW of Japanese. These notes are from memory on 21 August 2019 since
Marc will not give me a interview. He feels that he did nothing and it would detract from what the 11th Airborne men did when they and the Philippine scouts rescued about 2,000 men, women and children from Los Banos camp on February 23 1945. Marc was a POW from 8 December 1941 until 23 February 1945. He was age 4-8 when a POW.
His story is that he and his parents were aboard a civilian ship going from England to India to set up a print shop. Their ship pulled into Manila Philippines and they were told by the ships Captain that they should go see the “Pearl of the Orient” because it was a very beautiful city. The day happened to be December 7/8 1941 and the Japanese had just bombed Pearl Harbor. The civilian ship received orders to immediately leave for Australia leaving whoever was not on the ship at that time. This started Marc’s captivity at both Santo Tomas and Los Banos POW camps. Marc was personally lifted up by 11th Airborne parachutist Jack McGrath (who I Larry Martin personally visited Jack in Arnold Missouri). I also interview on DVD Mr. McGrath. Jack had a ardent dislike for Barack Obama. I went to Jack’s home several times for visits.
Through Jack McGrath I met over the phone a man named Brig. Gen. Henry Muellar from California who was a Lt. Col. In the 11th Airborne during WW II who was the G-2 or intelligence officer for the entire 11th Airborne Div. He is alive and well at 102 living on his own in California as of this writing.