Samuel C. Grashio

Who is Samuel C. Grashio?

Samuel C. Grashio was a United States Army Air Forces pilot who was captured by the Japanese in World War II. He survived the Bataan Death March and participated in the only successful mass escape from a Japanese prison camp.

Grashio was born and raised in Spokane, Washington. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps in September 1940. After training, he was sent to the Philippines, arriving in Manila on November 20, 1941, to join the 24th Pursuit Group's 21st Pursuit Squadron as a second lieutenant.

On December 8, the same day as the attack on Pearl Harbor, he flew from Nichols Field to engage in aerial combat against the Japanese in his Curtis P-40E fighter airplane. Along with the rest of the 24th Group, he ended up at Bataan, where he flew the last combat mission on April 8, 1942. The Battle of Bataan ended the next day with an Allied surrender.

Grashio joined the other prisoners of war in the infamous Bataan Death March. He was imprisoned first at Camp O'Donnell, north of Manila. Two months later, he was transferred to a camp at Cabanatuan. Finally, in October, he was among 1000 prisoners judged fit to work; they were moved to a lumber camp on Mindanao to engage in manual labor.