Bill Ingram joined the U.S. Navy in June, 1941 on his seventeenth birthday. At the time of the Pearl Harbor attack he was on a transport ship in the Pacific steaming toward a rendezvous with the USS Houston, a heavy cruiser sailing in the seas west of the Philippines. The Houston was sunk on February 28, 1942 in the battle of Sunda Strait, and Ingram was eventually taken captive by the Japanese. After being interrogated and being moved several times, Ingram spent the rest of the war as a POW working on the Burma Railroad; the brutal working conditions resulted in tens of thousands of deaths among the prisoners.
Interview Links
Feature Excerpt
Ship is sunk and alone in the ocean.
Abstract
Interview Session 01 (Audio)
Service on USS Houston, and capture by Japanese in Feb, 1942
Interview Session 02 (Audio)
Experiences as a POW working on the Burma Railway
Transcript
Videos
Photos
Caption
A proud Seaman Bill Ingram has his picture taken on Nob Hill, in San Francisco on November 4th, 1941.
Where:
San Francisco
When:
November 4th, 1941
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
Chief Petty Officer Bill Ingram replicates the photo taken in November, 1941 at Nob Hill in San Francisco seventy-one years later on November 5th, 2012. Ingram retired from the Navy on October 2nd, 1961.
Where:
Nob Hill in San Francisco
When:
November 5th, 2012
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
USS Houston off San Diego, California, in October 1935. The ship was commissioned in June, 1930.
Where:
San Diego, California
When:
October 1935
Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.
Caption
Seaman Bill Ingram was on leave in 1941 following his Basic Training. In the background is the Chicago and Alton Railroad station in Springfield, Illinois.
Where:
Springfield, Illinois
When:
1941
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
Bill during his ‘Boot Leave ‘in September, 1941. He’s holding his baby brother John and standing next to his mother outside their home in Springfield, Illinois.
Where:
Springfield, Illinois
When:
September, 1941
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
The USS Houston at dawn in February, 1942.
Where:
Unknown
When:
February, 1942
Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.
Caption
While Bill Ingram was a prisoner of war held by the Japanese in Burma, his captors allowed him to send this postcard to his parents in Springfield, Illinois.
Where:
Burma
When:
Circa 1944-1945
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
This is the second postcard that POW Bill Ingram was allowed to send to his parents in Springfield, Illinois by his Japanese captors. The typed comments provided by the Japanese were largely untrue.
Where:
Burma
When:
Circa 1944-1945
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
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Caption
This is the third and last postcard that POW Bill Ingram was allowed to send to his parents in Springfield, Illinois by his Japanese captors. Note the propagandistic language created by the Japanese.
Where:
Burma
When:
Circa 1944-1945
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
This group of veterans flew into New York City in the fall of 1945. Bill, front row in dark sweater, still recovering from malaria and the ravages of his POW experiences, does not remember the flight.
Where:
New York City
When:
1945
Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.
Caption
Bill Ingram in Boston, Massachusetts in 1945, shortly after his return to the United States.
Where:
Boston, Massachusetts
When:
1945
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
Bill Ingram, with his mother and father during a visit to Springfield in 1946. “The happiest day of our lives,” his mother wrote. “Our second son Billy had arrived home after three years and eight months in a Japanese Prison Camp.”
Where:
Springfield, Illinois
When:
1946
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
Bill Ingram with Dr. and Mrs. Henri Hekking while they attended a reunion in Houston Texas. Dr. Hekking, from Holland, is credited with saving countless lives while he was a POW. Hekking’s two children, 10 and 12 years old, were also prisoners.
Where:
Houston Texas
When:
Circa 1950
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
Fellow POWs Eddie Fung, Dr. Henri Hekking, Bill Ingram (in front) and Captain Archibald Fitzsimmons at a reunion in Houston, Texas sometime in the 1950s.
Where:
Houston, Texas
When:
Circa 1950
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
Bill Ingram is flanked by two Filipinos, both survivors of the Bataan Death March in 1942. The three were attending a reunion in Jacksonville, Florida in May, 2014.
Where:
Jacksonville, Florida
When:
May, 2014
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
A contemporary photo of Chief Petty Officer Bill Ingram, still able to wear his dress uniform some fifty years after his retirement.
Where:
Unknown
When:
Unknown
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo