Staff Sergeant
United States Army Finance Corps
Paul F. Moyer, son of Reno and Bertha Moyer, was born circa 1916 in Pennsylvania.
A graduate of Lewisburg High School (Lewisburg, Pennsylvania), Paul entered the Unites States Army in 1938 and served two years in Panama. In 1940 he left for the Philippines. Some time after the Japanese attacked the Philippines; Paul made his way to Corregidor where he stayed to defend the island until captured by the Japanese on 7 May 1942. He would spend the next two and a half years confined to a prisoner of war camp in the Philippines. On 24 October 1944, Paul and approximately 1,800 other prisoners of war were herded aboard the Arisan Maru. On their way to one of Japan’s labor camps, the Arisan Maru was attacked by American dive bombers and sank 200 miles off the coats of China. Only eight or nine of the prisoners survived.
In addition to his parents, one brother, Harold, survived Paul.
Staff Sergeant Paul F. Moyer, United States Army, is still listed a Missing in Action. His name can be found on the Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery; Manila, Philippines.
Among Paul’s awards and decorations is the Purple Heart.
Source of information:
1. Gazette and Bulletin (Williamsport, Pennsylvania), 22 June 1945, page 5.
2. National Archives and Records Administration. U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: MyFamily.com, Inc., 2005. Original data: Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, 1938-1946 [Archival Database]; World War II Army Enlistment Records; Records of the National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 64; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD.
3. National Archives and Records Administration. World War II Prisoners of War, 1941-1946 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: 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.
4. National Archives and Records Administration. World War II and Korean Conflict Veterans Interred Overseas [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: MyFamily.com, Inc., 2000. Original data: 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.
5. American Battle Monuments Commission web site (http://www.abmc.gov).