WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL - CMFC Russell E. Skiver

 

Carpenter's Mate First Class

Russell Elwood Skiver

Russell Skiver entered the Navy in 1923 as a career military man. The son of Clayton E. Skiver and Electa Letitia Sanford, he grew up in Defiance. His mother died when he was about 10 and his father remarried. Russell eventually moved to San Diego, married, divorced, and continued on in his naval career.

He was reported missing in May 1942. The Crescent-News reported on May 21, 1942, on page one, the telegram received by his parents:

"Russell Elwood Skiver, 37, son of Clayton Skiver of 417 Summit street, has been reported missing by the U.S. Navy following capitulation of the Manila Bay territory, according to a telegram received here today.  The telegram said no report of his death or injury has been received and stated that he may be a prisoner of war.

Skiver, who has been with the Navy for 17 years, was an electrician mate first class. His last message to his father was sent from Singapore about a year ago while he was attached to the U.S. battleship Indiana.

Skiver has traveled the seven seas as a U.S. sailor. He was in Nicaragua during the revolt and for two years was in Chinese waters.

His father, Clayton, is now employed in construction work at Patterson Field near Dayton. He has two sisters Mrs. Alfred Burns, Okolona, and Mrs. Layman Grundy, Elyria. His stepmother and several half-brothers and half-sisters reside here.

The Navy's telegram, signed by Rear Admiral Randolph Jacobs, said Skiver was 'performing his duty in the service of the country in the Manila Bay when that station capitulated. He will be carried on the records of the Navy department as missing pending further information...It will probably be several months before definite official information can be expected concerning his status..."

 

In May, 1943, the conclusion was that Skiver was a prisoner of war of the Japanese and the family was notified. In September 1943, the family received a postcard from "Philippine Military Prison Camp No. 2, otherwise known as Davao. It was a printed card where the soldier was to underline words to describe himself. Russell indicated that his health was fair and that he was not under treatment. In the brief space to write, he directed that his sisters and former wife be notified that he was alive and a friend in San Diego was to "take care of everything; will see you soon."

The Americans used airstrikes over the Philippines, and as they did so, the Japanese, known for their harsh, abusive prisoner of war camps, were trying to get the able-bodied POWS back to Japan, while leaving the sick and weak behind. Davao was last in line for liberation with the Americans.

From the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency:

"Carpenter's Mate First Class Russell Elwood Skiver, who entered the U.S. Navy from California, served aboard the USS Mindano in the Philippines during World War II and was captured and taken as a POW following the Japanese invasion and was interned in the islands until December 1944, when he was put aboard the Oryoko Maru for transport to Japan.

On the morning of December 13, 1944, Japanese forces in the Philippines began the transfer of 1,621 Allied Prisoners of War to Japan. The POWS were to make the journey aboard transport ships whose harsh conditions and extreme overcrowding led survivors to refer to them as 'Hell Ships.'  The ships also lacked markings that would distinguish them from any other military target, causing some of them to be attacked by Allied forces who could not identify them as POW transports.

On December 14, 1944, Allied aircraft attacked the first ship, the Oryoku Maru, in Subic Bay, killing many Allied POWS who became lost in the water, sank with the ship, or were washed ashore. Survivors of the bombing were put on two other ships, the Enoura Maru and the Brazil Maru, to continue on to Japan..."

Oryoku Maru, a luxury ship repurposed for transport. POWS at the bottom in a very hot and airless hold, while Japanese soldiers and some civilians were in the cabins above.

"Records indicate CM1 Skiver died on January 10, 1945, due to wounds received several weeks later in the attack on the Enoura Maru. However, these reports often involve information solely furnished by enemy governments with some casualties given multiple dates of death. Further reports might find these were inaccurate. Reports also indicated that he was buried in a common grave in Takao Harbor and these collective remains were recovered and buried as unknowns in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. He is still unaccounted for today.

Carpenter's Mate First Class Skiver is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines."

Dianne Kline, Researcher