Subscribe
FORT KNOX, Ky. – The remains of U.S. Army Capt. Ralph E. Rowland, 43, killed during World War II, will be interred Aug. 16 at Oakwood Park Cemetery, Santa Cruz, California. Santa Fe Funeral Home will perform graveside services preceding the interment.
Rowland was assigned to Signal Company, Aircraft Warning, Philippines Department on the Bataan Peninsula, in the Philippines. He was held as a prisoner of war by the Empire of Japan in the Philippines from 1942 to 1944 when the Japanese military moved POWs to Manila for transport to Japan aboard the transport ship Oryoku Maru. Unaware the allied POWs were on board, a U.S. carrier-borne aircraft attacked the Oryoku Maru, which eventually sank in Subic Bay. Rowland was then transported to Takao, Formosa, known today as Taiwan, aboard the Enoura Maru. The Japanese reported that Rowland was killed on Jan. 9, 1945, when U.S. forces sank the Enoura Maru.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency accounted for Rowland on March 18, 2025.
The Past Conflict Repatriations Branch, under the Army Casualty and Mortuary Affairs Operations Division at the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, Fort Knox, Kentucky, plays a key role in the process of locating Family members of missing Soldiers from WWII, the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
Media interested in covering and/or obtaining more information about the funeral and interment should contact Santa Fe Funeral Home, 505-603-7130.
| Date Taken: | 08.07.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 08.07.2025 15:31 |
| Story ID: | 545052 |
| Location: | FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, US |
| Hometown: | SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 17 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Remains of World War II Soldier to be buried in Santa Cruz, California, by William Costello, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
