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| Pvt. Allen Sills served with the 192nd Tank Battalion in the Philippines. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/63042255/allen-franklin-sills https://www.pinterest.com/pin/570901690244346722/?lp=true |
Allen Franklin Sills never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on September 28, 1919 in Texas. His parents Thomas and Myra were born in Mississippi and Tennessee, respectively. His father worked as a farmer and later on a railroad track gang. Allen had an older brother and sister and five younger sisters. By 1940 Allen had completed four years of high school. He was still living at home and worked as a retail clerk.
He was drafted into the army in March 1941 and he became a private in the 753rd Tank Battalion. While in training he learned that the 192nd Tank Battalion, having just received orders to go to the Philippines, was looking for men to replace those 29 years or older, so Allen volunteered. He was assigned to Company C, 192nd Tank Battalion. It arrived in Manilla in November 1941. It fought the first American tank battle of WW2 against the Japanese on December 22, 1941. It retreated to Bataan and did its best to support the American and Filipino infantry with limited supplies until they were forced to surrender on April 8, 1942.
Pvt. Sills most likely took part in the Bataan Death March. He died in a Japanese POW camp on May 30, 1942 of dysentery, due to the appalling health conditions tolerated by the Japanese captors.
His grave is at Myrtle Cemetery in Ennis, Texas.
TOM HARMON
Tom Harmon was born on the exact same day as Allen Sills, but he was born in Indiana. A gifted athlete, Harmon was a All-American college football player who was a halfback at the University of Michigan. In 1940 he won the Maxwell Trophy, the Heisman Trophy, and he was AP Athlete of the Year.
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| http://www.nww2m.com/2013/04/70th-anniversary-tom-harmon-crashes-over-suriname/ https://rgreyh.wordpress.com/2014/05/06/what-is-the-connection-between-mark-harmon-star-of-the-hit-tv-series-ncis-and-the-china-burma-india-cbi-theater-of-world-war-ii-his-father-tom-harmon-university-of-michigan-heisman-trophy-winne/ |
He was transferred to fly P-38s, first in North Africa and then in China. In October 1943, while escorting bombers in his P-38, he lost a dogfight to a Japanese Zero. He bailed out in Japanese territory. Fortunately, friendly Chinese guerrillas rescued him and got him back to his base. He earned the Silver Star and ended up with the rank of captain.
After the war he played a couple years for the Los Angelos Rams, but it was not a well paying career back then. He switched to a successful broadcasting career. His son is the famous actor Mark Harmon (NCIS). Tom Harmon died in 1990.
DSC hero Edward Krygowski, Americal Division, was born one year earlier on the same date as Sills and Harmon. You can read about Edward's exploits at the Battle of Guadalcanal here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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