Charles Henry Killian - Pioneer Cemetery - Olney, TX
N 33° 21.771 W 098° 45.963
14S E 521764 N 3691537
A cenotaph to Charles Henry Killian serves as a memorial in Pioneer Cemetery, Olney, TX. He was killed during World War II while aboard a prison ship which was torpedoed and sunk.
Waymark Code: WM15FE9
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 12/27/2021
Views: 1
The cenotaph stands near the final resting places of Mr. Killian's parents, a sister who died at birth, and his brother and sister-in-law, both of whom served in the military during World War II and went on to have long lives. The cenotaph is a government-issued headstone, and it reads:
In Memory of
Charles
Henry
Killian
BM2
US Navy
World War II
Sep. 25, 1918
Oct. 24, 1944
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Mr. Killian is listed on the Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines, and his Findagrave page (see below) notes that he joined the Navy in 1938, and was captured sometime around the Battle of Corregidor in 1942. He was initially held as a POW in a camp in the Philippines before being placed on a ship to Japan. For whatever reason, the ship returned to Manila, and Mr. Killian was still aboard when it was sunk off the eastern coast of China a few days later. He initially served on the Battern and then the Flint, and was awarded a Purple Heart.