| SHINYO MARU (September 7, 1944)
Japanese 2,634-ton transport carrying hundreds of American and Filipino prisoners of war captured at an airstrip near Lasang, were being transported from the island of Mindano to Manila when attacked by an American submarine, the USS Paddle commanded by Lt. Cdr. Byron Nowell. A torpedo hit the Shinyo Maru blowing her apart, the bow section sinking with hundreds of men trapped inside. But many survived the sinking, some making their way to Sindangan Bay in Mindano. There, they contacted Filipino guerrillas who radioed for help. The US submarine USS Norwhal was contacted, and being in the area of the sinking, proceeded at full speed to search for any survivors. As luck would have it, 81 persons were plucked from the water. A total of 667 American and Filipino POW's were killed in the explosion or drowned when the ship went down. Some were shot by the Japanese while attempting to swim to shore.
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On weald of Kent I watched once more
Again I heard that grumbling roar
Of fighter planes; yet none were near
And all around the sky was clear
Borne on the wind a whisper came
'Though men grow old, they stay the same'
And then I knew, unseen to eye
The ageless Few were sweeping by
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