Morton, Cecil R.
Pfc. Cecil B. Morton, son of Mr. and Mrs. R. E. Morton, graduated from Hollister High School. Entered Coast Guard in Feb., 1941, trained in San Francisco, Cal.; served in the Philippines; was taken prisoner when Corregidor fell; died in Japanese Prison Camp in Osaka, Japan in Jan, 1943. (per original 1940's publication).
The following information is from the book, "History of Tillman County (OK), Volume II", a 1978 publication of the Tillman county Historical Society and is used with their consent.
Mr Morton was one of four Hollister men who died in service during World War II. The article states he graduated from Hollister in 1934 and was living in california when the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred. Soon after, he volunteered for the U. S. Army. After basic training, he was sent to Corregidor where he was captured by the Japanese.
His family only heard from his once afterwards, and that was a form letter, signed by Cecil, saying he was in a prison camp in Osaka, Japan. After the war was over, the family heard through the Red Cross that he had died with pneumonia on January 8, 1943. Some time later he was buried in a cemetery for war dead in Manila."
