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Birth and Early Life:
Paul Armstrong was born on April 1, 1916, in Tennessee. His parents, Winfield and Cora Armstrong, raised their family in Hawkins, where Winfield worked as a letter carrier for the post office. Shortly after his 21st birthday, in 1937, Paul joined the Marine Corps. Enlistment and Boot Camp:
After enlisting in Macon, Georgia on September 17, Private Armstrong was sent to Parris Island for boot training. That November, he was sent to his first assignment with Company B, First Battalion, Fifth Marines. Service Prior to 1941:
Armstrong was with B Company in Quantico until April, 1939, at which time he extended his enlistment for a year in order to serve in Asia. He boarded the transport USS Henderson and sailed for California, where he changed to the USS Chaumont. By August 1939, Armstrong was serving with Company A, First Battalion, Fourth Marines in Shanghai. He was promoted to Private First Class in December, and to Corporal the following September; Armstrongâ??s assignment with Company A would continue through the end of 1940. Wartime Service:
Corporal Armstrong traveled with the Fourth Marines to the Philippines in late 1941 to help prepare defenses against the predicted Japanese attack. He fought through the Philippine campaign, and participated in the siege of Corregidor. During this time, Armstrong was promoted to Sergeant and transferred to Company K; in the spring of 1942, he joined the Regimental Headquarters company. Date Of Loss:
Paul Armstrong was killed on May 6, 1942, when the Japanese overran Corregidor. His exact fate is unknown, but a sergeant from Regimental headquarters, Floyd Tebo, would later swear to having witnessed Armstrongâ??s body shortly after the surrender. Next Of Kin:
Parents, Winfield & Cora Armstrong Status Of Remains:
Unknown.
Other Comments:
Body Not Recovered
Philippine Islands Campaign (1941-42)/Battle of Bataan
From Month/Year
December / 1941
To Month/Year
May / 1942
Description The Battle of Bataan represented the most intense phase of Imperial Japan's invasion of the Philippines during World War II. The capture of the Philippine Islands was crucial to Japan's effort to control the Southwest Pacific, seize the resource-rich Dutch East Indies, and protect its Southeast Asia flank. It was the largest surrender in American and Filipino military history, and was the largest United States surrender since the Civil War's Battle of Harper's Ferry. Ultimately, more than 60,000 Filipino and 15,000 American prisoners of war were forced into the infamous Bataan Death March.
After more than two years of fighting in the Pacific, General Douglas MacArthur fulfilled a promise to return to overseeing the The Campaign for the Liberation of the Philippines. As part of the campaign, the Battle for the Recapture of Bataan (31 January to 21 February 1945) by US Forces and Philippine guerillas avenged the surrender of the defunct United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) to invading Japanese forces.
