Lieutenant Colonel
United States Army Finance Corps
Kenneth Sharp ‘Swede’ Olson, the son of George Frederick and Mary Ann (Lusty) Olson, was born on 6 October 1898 in Kemmerer, Wyoming. George and the family later moved to Salt Lake City, Utah.
Kenneth graduated from Salt Lake City’s LDS College in 1917. He received an appointment from Utah Senator George Sutherland to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York and eventually graduated in 1921.
On 3 March 1921, Kenneth married the former Cathryn Dooley at Fort Benning, Georgia. From this marriage they had two sons, Kenneth Jr. and Robert Earle Olson.
After graduating from West Point, Kenneth and the entire West Point Class of 1921 went to Europe for a four-month tour of the World War I battlefields. Upon his return to the United States, Kenneth received orders for Fort Benning, Georgia where he served as an Infantry Officer. Other early assignments took him to Fort Warren, Wyoming and Fort Douglas, Utah as a Reserve Officer instructor. Remaining in his home state of Utah, he was ordered to Salt Lake City in 1929 where he was assigned to the Third Military Area as a recruiter. In 1935 Kenneth was promoted to Major and a transfer to Fort Belvoir, Virginia as a Finance Officer. Kenneth eventually received orders that other only dream about; in October 1940, the Olson Family was headed for The Philippines. Shortly after his arrival, Kenneth was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. With the Japanese activity intensifying in Asia and the South Pacific, Kenneth decided it was time to sent Cathryn and the boys back to the United States. On 5 May 1941, Cathryn and the boys left The Philippines and settling in her hometown of Columbus, Georgia.
After the Japanese invasion of The Philippines, Kenneth escaped Corregidor and headed for Cebu, where the Japanese eventually captured him. He would spend the next two years at Davao Penal Colony. On 13 October 1944 and under the cover of darkness, Kenneth and approximately 1,800 other POWs arrived at Manila’s Bilibid Prison in Manila. For the next two months, Kenneth and his fellow POWs would endure harsh living conditions and the attacks by U.S. Naval aircraft. At 11:00 a.m. on 13 December, Kenneth and the rest of the POWs passed through the gates of Bilibid Prison and in the sun and humidity, march through the streets of Manila arriving at Pier 7 three hours later. After arrival at Pier 7, the POWs were ordered to board the Oryoku Maru for loading in the Number 1, 2, and 5 holds. The forward hold consisted of around 600 men, the Number 2 hold held around 260 medics, and the rear Number 5 hold held nearly 860 POWs (It is unknown which hold Kenneth was placed in). The air in the Number 5 hold grew hot and foul. Latrine facilities consisted of five gallon buckets that overflowed quickly once they were issued. In order to empty these buckets, the POWs passed the buckets over heads in total darkness. These buckets were continually spilled as the POWs passed them to the front. Conditions grew worse during the night. Many of the POWs suffered from many tropical diseases, among them dysentery. Added to the diseases, starvation and exposure took its toll on the men. Several officers and men suffocated during the night in the Number 5 hold.
On the morning of 14 December, dive bombers from the USS Hornet (CV-12) located the Oryoku Maru off of Subic Bay. Attacks on the convoy continued all day. The reactions of the POWs in the holds ranged from sheer terror to complete excitement. Due to the attacks, the POWs would receive no food or water. The night of 14 December proved worse than the previous. Conditions resulting from the hysteria and the cruel treatment led to many prisoners committing acts of insanity. Men slowly died of disease and in some cases, murder by their fellow soldiers driven insane by the conditions in the holds. This night of madness took the lives of nearly 50 men.
Around 5:00 a.m. on 15 December, the Japanese called down into the holds and
informed the prisoners to prepare to disembark. With Oryoku Maru off Olongapo
Point in Subic Bay, the Japanese ready to move Kenneth and the rest of the POWs
ashore. As they started to climb from the holds, U.S. Naval aircraft appeared.
The first aircraft dropped its ordinance and kept flying. As the move
continued, another flight of aircraft showed up and dropped a bomb directly into
the Number 5 hold and exploded at the bottom of the ship. A second bomb hit
close to the port side aft of the Oryoku Maru. In the hold beams and hatch
covers fell everywhere. The POWs started to climb the ladder to get out of the
burning hold. One of the Japanese guards assigned to the hold, started firing
his rifle into the hold. The POWs jumped back from the ladder. The guard fired
several shots into the hold. After the smoke cleared, the scene in the Number 5
hold proved horrible. Mangled bodies and dead prisoners lined the deck. Two
hundred and fifty POWs died. The order finally came to abandon. The POWs came
out of the hold orderly and calm. Once the POWs left the hold they received
orders to swim ashore. The water and fresh air revived many of the POWs.
During this time Japanese machine guns periodically opened fire of the swimming
POWs. Reports indicate a current pulled many POWs away from their instructed
path. The result was death at the hands of a Japanese Marine machine gunner.
As this happened the Hornet's aircraft returned and attached the vessel several
more times. The POWs waved and yelled at the aircraft. In apparent recognition
the plane dipped it's wings and ceased the attack.
The War Department notified Cathryn, that Kenneth was listed as Missing in Action. It is unknown which event of 15 December led to Kenneth’s status.
In addition to his wife, two sons, and his mother; two sisters Afton Bedal and June Baughman; and three brothers, Gleason Frederick, George Lewis, and Richard Lusty, survived Kenneth. His father preceded him in death.
Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth Sharp Olson, United States Army, is still official listed as Missing In Action. His name can be found on the Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery; Manila, Philippines.
Among Kenneth’s awards and decorations is the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.
Source of information:
1. National Archives and Records Administration. World War II Prisoners of War, 1941-1946 [database online]. Provo, Utah: MyFamily.com, Inc., 2005. Original data: World War II Prisoners of War Data File [Archival Database]; Records of World War II Prisoners of War, 1942-1947; Records of the Office of the Provost Marshal General, Record Group 389; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD.
2. United States. National Archives and Records Administration. World War II & Korean Conflict Veterans Interred Overseas. [database online] Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, 2000. Original data from: United States. National Archives and Records Administration. Register, World War II Dead Interred in American Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil and World War II and Korea Missing or Lost or Buried at Sea. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 19xx.
3. American Battle Monuments Commission (www.abmc.gov).
4. Center for Research Allied POWS Under the Japanese (http://www.mansell.com/pow-index.html).
5. Newspaper articles provided by William ‘Scott’ Fisher. Scott is an Olson/Olsen Family Historian.