John Henry Davis Jr. was born on February 13, 1916, in Lynchburg, City of Lynchburg, Virginia. He was the son of Hilda Forsberg and John Henry Davis. He was married to Mary Louise Plummer. After graduating from E.C. Glass High School, he attended Lynchburg College for two years before earning a Congressional appointment to West Point in 1935, and graduated on June 12, 1939. Davis prepared for a career in the Coast Artillery Corps, serving as a cadet lieutenant, 3rd Battalion adjutant, and member of the Honor Committee.

After receiving his commission, Second Lieutenant John Henry “Jack” Davis joined his chosen branch, the Coast Artillery Corps, and departed in September 1939 aboard the U.S. Army Transport U.S. Grant. He arrived in the Philippine Islands in October 1939, where Davis was assigned to the 91st Coast Artillery Regiment at Fort Mills, Corregidor. He initially served six months at Battery F, Fort Frank, a small island in Manila Bay, before returning to Corregidor in spring 1940. Promoted on February 1, 1942, he commanded a battery on Corregidor, later returning to Fort Frank as battery commander, where he remained until being captured following the fall of Corregidor on May 5, 1942. He was imprisoned at Cabanatuan POW camp near Manila.

In December 1944, as American forces advanced toward Manila, the Japanese began transferring prisoners to Japan. Jack was placed aboard the Oryoku Maru, which was bombed and sunk in Subic Bay on December 15, 1944. He survived the sinking but later died aboard the Enoura Maru on January 1, 1945, from exposure and starvation, and was reportedly buried at sea.

Cpt Davis' name is memorialized in the Tablets of the Missing in the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Manila, Capital District, National Capital Region, Philippines. He also has a cenotaph in the Presbyterian Cemetery, Lynchburg, City of Lynchburg, Virginia, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, alumni.westpointaog.org