Captain
United States Army Finance Corps
Raymond Earl Bibee, the youngest son of Pierson C. and Ida Bell Atchley Bibee, was born in Bybee, Tennessee on 17 February 1901.
After his father’s death in 1902, the family moved near his mother’s parents in Rankin, Tennessee. In 1907, the family moved to Knoxville where his mother would eventually find work to support her young family. Circa 1913, Raymond’s mother remarried and with Clarence and Raymond, she moved to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas to be near her husband.
On 20 June 1920, Raymond married the former Ruth A. Cassidy. From this marriage they had one daughter, Louise Avalon.
A career Army officer, Raymond was in the Philippines when the Japanese captured him. It is unknown exactly which Prisoner of War Camp Raymond was in the Philippines. However, we do know that on 14 January 1945, Raymond and 930 other Prisoners of War were put aboard the Brazil Maru. They reached their ultimate destination on 30 January; Moji, Japan. Raymond and his fellow prisoners of war were then transported to Fukuoka Prisoner of War Camp #1 on Kyshu Island, Japan. Unfortunately, Raymond’s stay in Japan was short. He died from malnutrition on 19 February 1945.
Besides his wife and daughter, his brothers Mack, Clarence, and Herman survived Raymond. His parents preceded him in death.
Captain Raymond Earl Bibee, United States Army, was buried in a mass grave in Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery near St Louis, Missouri on 27 September 1949.
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. National Cemetery Administration. U.S. Veterans Cemeteries, ca.1800-2004 [database online]. Provo, Utah: MyFamily.com, Inc., 2005. Original data: National Cemetery Administration. Nationwide Gravesite Locator.
3. Center for Research Allied POWS Under the Japanese (http://www.mansell.com/pow-index.html).
4. Information provided by Patricia A. Bibee Felty and James Bibee. Raymond Bibee is Patricia’s uncle and James’ great uncle.
5. POW Research Network Japan (http://homepage3.nifty.com/pow-j/e/list/bycamp.htm).
6. 1920 Federal Census for Leavenworth County, Kansas (Leavenworth Ward 4, District 104, Sheet 7A).
7. 1930 Federal Census for Leavenworth County, Kansas (District 20, Sheet 3A).