Lloyd J. Lobdell

On Dec. 8, 1941, Lobdell was a member of Company A, 192nd Tank Battalion, in the Far East, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands. Intense fighting continued until May 6. 1942, when American forces on Corregidor Island surrendered. Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were taken prisoner; including many who were forced to endure the Bataan Death March, en route to Japanese prisoner of war (POW) camps, including the POW camp at Cabanatuan on the island of Luzon, Philippines. Lobdell was among those reported captured after the surrender of Corregidor and who were eventually moved to the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the remaining years of the war. Lobdell was admitted to the Cabanatuan Prison Camp Hospital suffering from illness. He died Nov. 19, 1942, and was buried along with fellow prisoners in the local Cabanatuan camp cemetery.

Pfc. Lobdell was initially listed as “Missing in Action” and his name is engraved on the Walls of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery. Starting in 2014, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency started to exhume a series of “Unknown” burials from Manila American Cemetery that were associated with the Cabanatuan POW camp. One of those burial locations included Plot N Row 5 Grave 187. Research and analysis were used to positively identify the remains in this grave as belonging to Pfc. Lloyd J. Lobdell, who served in the 192nd Tank Battalion. In 2017, DPAA identified his remains. Pfc. Lobdell’s name remains permanently engraved on the Walls of the Missing at the cemetery.