The US army Reserve Hall in Everett Wa is named for the Major.
Is there anyone who remembers the Major and can provide details of the battle in which he received his wounds> He died 20 Jan 1945 and I suspect his action was at Binalon (Dinalonan) Luzon, Phillipines.
Respectfully,
Victor C Harris

Victor:

You posting on the 25th Infantry website caught my eye as my Father, from the 161st, was wounded at San Manuel, Luzon, 5 days after the Major was killed in action. There’s a chance they knew each other. I will keep the Major’s name in my head as I do further research. As far as details of the battle where the Major was lost, it probably had to do with clearing out the Japanese, village by village. They used flamethrowers effectively during those battles but getting close enough to use them was at times, horrific. Hand-to-hand combat, Japanese snipers, and terrible terrain to move men and vehicles caused a lot of casualties.

I try to picture my father, at 24 years old, running across that field near San Manuel, carrying that spool of wire in clear view of the Japanese. The only words I ever heard from him about being hit was, “They saw me.”

My Father passed away in 1999. He is buried here in the Seattle area at Tahoma National Cemetery. Victor, whenever I visit my Father, I will also think of Major David P Oswald. They both deserve our thoughts and so much more.

Let’s try to keep in touch with any information we come across.

Dale Schmidt
daleschmidt1@comcast.net