Eugene P. Nielsen was born on January 23, 1916 in Logan, Utah to Jens Peter and Martha Ann Sorenson Nielsen. His father died when he was 12 in 1929, leaving the family to struggle through the Great Depression. In April 1940, he enlisted in the United States Army and was assigned to Ft. Mills, Corregidor, Philippine Islands. He was placed in the 59th Coast Artillery and trained as a range setter on huge coastal defense guns and infantry. When Pearl Harbor was attacked, the Philippines were also attacked. He then endured five straight months of intense combat and artillery and aerial bombardment. On May 6, 1942, the Corregidor garrison surrendered due to lack of food and ammunition and he became a prisoner of war of the Japanese. Almost three years of starvation, beatings, hard labor and cruelty followed. On December 14, 1944, Eugene was among 150 POWs at Puerta Princessa, Palawan Prison Camp. The POWs were forced by their Japanese captors into covered air raid trenches. A massacre followed where only 11 survived, including Eugene. Despite being shot and suffering from starvation and malaria, he swam through the night to escape down the island and made contact with brave Filipino guerillas who contacted US forces in Australia. Eugene was picked up in a behind-the-lines air rescue and flown to Moratai, New Guinea, then taken to San Francisco. The Army finally caught up to him and sent him to Washington, D.C. where he reported to General George C. Marshall, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. One of his proudest moments was when General Marshall pinned the Bronze Star on him. For his wartime duties he received the Silver Star, Bronze Star, two Purple Hearts, and the POW Medal. He assisted the military in the war crimes trials that followed.

Eugene died on February 3, 2011 at the age of 95 in Ogden, Utah and is now buried in the Lindquists Memorial Gardens of the Wasatch, South Ogden, Weber County, Utah, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com