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<em>Russell John Nelson</em><span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span>was born April 24, 1897 in Big Rapids, Michigan. He received his early education in the public schools of Greenville, Michigan, after which he was appointed to the United States Military Academy. Upon graduation from West Point in 1919, Russell was commissioned in the Infantry. He accompanied his class on a tour of the European Battle Fields returning in time to enter the Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia as a student that same autumn.</p>
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Russell graduated from the Infantry School in 1920 and then served successively at Camp Jackson, S. C.; at Jefferson Barracks, Mo.; in the Panama Canal Zone; at the University of Missouri; at Fort Meade, Md., again at Fort Benning, Ga.; with the Gold Star Pilgrimage, Europe; at Fort Hamilton, N. Y.; and at the Massanutten Military Academy, Woodstock, Virginia. Upon completion of his tour as Professor of Military Science and Tactics at Massanutten in 1939, Russell was sent to the Philippine Islands where he was serving at the time of Pearl Harbor.</p>
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“Rusty”, as Russell was affectionately known to his family and his many friends, was married on June 9, 1928 to Mary Turner Guitar. Mary and Rusty enjoyed an unbroken companionship until May 1941 when the approaching war forced the families of our Army and Navy personnel to leave the Philippines.</p>
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In August of 1941, Rusty, then a Lieutenant Colonel, went to Davao where he organized and directed a training school for officers of the 101st Philippine Division. When the war started he received command of the 102nd Infantry Regiment of the same division and retained this command until he was ordered to surrender May 10, 1942. He was in command of the Cotabato Sub-sector of Mindanao when the Japanese landed there with a superior force. His regiment fought successive delaying actions across Mindanao destroying everything of value to the enemy. On May 10, 1942 when ordered by General Sharpe to surrender, his regiment was occupying a defensive position in the Davao Area.</p>
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After the surrender of the American Forces in Mindanao, Rusty was held as a prisoner of war by the Japanese at Malaybalay until September when he was removed to Davao. He was the American Officer in Charge of the camps until April 1943 when he was replaced as a result of the escape of several prisoners. In June 1944, Rusty was transferred to Cabanatuan on Luzon and in October he was sent to Bllibid Prison with a group of Americans then awaiting transportation to Japan. On December 13, 1944 Rusty embarked with more than sixteen hundred other American prisoners on the Oryoku Maru, then in Manila Harbor. The next day the ship was bombed several times but managed to limp in to the bay at Olongapo. On the morning of December 15, 1944, while lying in the harbor the ship was again bombed, one bomb landing in the hold in which Rusty’s group was packed. Almost two hundred officers and men were killed, Rusty among them.</p>
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At the end of the war Mary was advised that the records of the War Department showed that Rusty had been recommended for promotion to the grade of Colonel but that he had died before action could be completed on the recommendation. Later she received a letter from the War Department in which the following corrective action had been taken, “A formal commission and promotion orders evidencing the appointment of your husband as Colonel, Army of the United States effective 14 December 1944 are enclosed.”</p>
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The Bronze Star Medal was awarded Rusty—”For meritorious service while in command of the 102nd Infantry, Philippine Army from 8 December 1941 to 10 May 1942 on Mindanao, P. I. During that period Lt. Colonel Nelson organized and trained the 102nd Infantry, Philippine Army, and with it, during the attack of the Japanese in the vicinity of Catabato on 29 April 1942, he skillfully delayed the enemy advance in successive positions until 10 May 1942, he was ordered to surrender”.</p>
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Before and during combat Rusty proved himself to be a most capable and gallant soldier. He was an officer and a gentleman of the highest type and one which the Army could ill afford to lose. During the two and one-half years in prison camp Rusty’s fine character and perseverance were acknowledged by all who knew him. One friend wrote. “Rusty was a little man in stature but great in heart. He thought of others first and when they had been cared for, he began to think of himself. Where welfare of the group was at stake, then no friendship, no intimacy he had with anyone interfered with him in doing his duty. He had character that all wished for in an Army officer”. While in prison camp, although suffering from malaria and nutritional diseases, and undergoing many hardships, Rusty was always cheerful, thoughtful and considerate. Even when the veneer of civilization on most of us had worn thin, Rusty remained a gentleman.</p>
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Rusty is survived by his wife, Mary, of Corona Del Mar, California; five brothers, Harry, Peter, Winfred, Floyd and Irving, and two sisters, Evelyn Nelson Chase and Vivian Nelson Ross, all of Michigan.</p>
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The family has lost a fine brother, Mary a wonderful husband, the Army a grand officer, the world a perfect gentleman, and many of us a real friend.</p>
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<em>—I. A.</em></p>