<div>
<p>
<em>Godfrey Roland Ames</em> was born on 4 May 1914 in Santa Cruz, California, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest O.F. Ames, one of six children. Known as Roly to all, he attended schools in Sausalito, California and graduated in 1930 from Galileo High School in San Francisco. He attended the University of California, Berkeley from 1931 to 1932 and then enlisted in the Army at the Presidio of San Francisco. He was assigned to Battery A, 6th Coast Artillery and attended the West Point Preparatory School at Fort Scott.</p>
<p>
While stationed at Fort Scott, he distinguished himself by rescuing a boy from drowning in the treacherous waters at the entrance to San Francisco Bay on 2 April 1933. Later he was awarded the Silver Life Saving Medal, under an act of Congress, in recognition of his bravery. He won a Presidential appointment to the United States Military Academy and entered in July 1933.</p>
<p>
Roly entered into cadet life with an enthusiasm and mature outlook that won the affection and respect of his classmates. He was intellectually inclined and enjoyed reading and keeping abreast of current events. His talents were invaluable to the <em>HOWITZER</em> staff on which he served for his three upperclass years. Roly was a loyal and very understanding roommate and was always ready to assist those needing help. His strong character and high ideals were evident in all he did. He graduated comfortably high in the class and selected the Coast Artillery as his branch, thereby maintaining the continuity of service commenced as a soldier in the Harbor Defenses of San Francisco. He chose Fortress Monroe, Virginia, the seat of the Coast Artillery, as his first station.</p>
<p>
Very early in his cadet life he met Katherine (Kay) Gasper of Rockaway Beach, New York. The attraction was instantaneous and mutual. She became his “One and Only” and there never were any others. The memory of the happy couple strolling on the Plain is still vivid. They were married in the Cadet Chapel the day after graduation. Kay and Roly greatly enjoyed their initiation into Army life after reporting to his first assignment at Fort Monroe, Headquarters Battery, 2nd Coast Artillery. On 1 April 1938 son Roland was born.</p>
<p>
Roly then chose assignment in the Philippines with the 60th Coast Artillery Regiment at Fort Mills on Corregidor. In April 1939 they sailed from San Francisco aboard the US AT Grant, arriving in Manila in early June. They found life on Corregidor to be busy and pleasant. Kay was busy with her growing family, as daughter Karol was born on 18 March 1940.</p>
<p>
Promoted to captain in September 1940, Roly assumed command of Battery C, called “Chicago,” on Morrison Hill facing north to Bataan. Chicago was an anti-aircraft battery with four 3-inch caliber guns. Although Roly’s tour in the Philippines was due to be over in June 1941, he extended for six months. However, orders came early in 1941 to evacuate Army dependents. Kay and the children, with hundreds of others, left in May 1941. They returned to her family in New York, hopeful that Roly would leave Manila on 6 December 1941 as planned and be home for Christmas.</p>
<p>
By the time of Pearl Harbor, Battery Chicago was as ready for combat as Roly’s industry and thoroughness could make it. In a few days the men of Chicago became veterans. Their excellent training and preparations permitted them to score heavily against the Japanese bomber formations.</p>
<p>
Roly’s detailed diaries, which were recovered (and some returned to Kay) after the war, have been invaluable to historians and researchers in understanding what occurred in the Philippines during the war. Kay later gave her permission to historians James H. and William M. Belote to use them in research for their excellent book, <em>Corregidor— The Saga of a Fortress</em>. From Roly’s diary: “Jan 7-9 London says '60th CA(AA) most accurate in world! Chicago leads in scores…Gen’l MacArthur visits position…Planes very high…Can’t reach some flights. Last flight 7400 yds, we get 3 with one round— a thrill.’ ” As the Belotes describe this action in their book: “Firing on the lead plane of a vee of three, Ames’s men put a shell neatly into its bomb bay, exploding the bombs reserved for a second run in a blast which also engulfed the planes on either side.” Further quotations from their book illustrate Roly’s high degree of professionalism and dedication to duty: “With the exception of Captain…Ames’s Chicago, none of the antiaircraft batteries had constructed splinterproof positions before the war came” and “Many of the battery commanders, such as Captain Godfrey Ames…were young West Pointers of exceptional ability.”</p>
<p>
After the fall of Bataan on 9 April 1942, heavy artillery emplaced there by the Japanese pounded Corregidor relentlessly. On 5 May Roly recorded Air Raid 300. The Belotes wrote: “With his customary thoroughness Captain Ames…had prepared a line of defenses across the forward slope of Morrison Hill, making certain by drills carried out under fire that each man would occupy his assigned foxhole when the order came to man the line.” The surrender on 6 May cheated them of this last chance to inflict casualties on the enemy.</p>
<p>
An estimate of Chicago’s officers by William E. Davis (then a Private First Class with the battery and a fellow prisoner) reveals the esteem in which Roly and his officers were held by the men of the battery: “The battery was fortunate to have three West Pointers in Captains Ames and Cornwall and Lieutenant Pace. All three were absolute tops. Ames never forgot his duty all the time. A very, very fine officer.”</p>
<p>
Over 13,000 American and Filipino men surrendered on Corregidor. On 23 May Roly, in a group of about one thousand prisoners of war, was shipped to Manila. According to Roly, “We waded ashore at Paranque beach— the same place Americans did 18 August 1898 to take Manila. March to Bilibid (prison)…sleep in Execution Chamber!” On 29 May the group marched to the Tutuban railroad station. “We whistle 'God Bless America’ along the way.” Recently when its composer, Irving Berlin, learned of this, he was deeply touched. They were taken by train to Cabanatuan and marched to Camp No. 1, where they were quartered in a chapel building. With five other captains, close friends, they formed a group and assigned jobs. Roly was appointed mess officer for the barracks. Their days were characterized by looting Japs, monotonous daily existence, inadequate diet, struggle for food, uncontrollable sanitation problems and universal diarrhea. Roly spent the next two years in Cabanatuan characteristically making the best of intolerable conditions, assisting others and maintaining morale and hope.</p>
<p>
In his last letter to Kay, 12 December 1945, from Bilibid Prison, he wrote: “We are very downcast to find that our hopes for…liberation are blasted. . . We waited for 2% years for MacArthur and his boys, I guess he'll have to come to Japan for us…I am sort of skinny, but in good health in spite of that." Ironically his comparatively good physical condition was unfortunate. The able-bodied only were selected for evacuation to Japan. The sick and disabled were left behind at Cabanatuan where they were rescued by Colonel Henry Mucci, USMA '36, and his 6th Rangers on the very day that Roly died in Japan.</p>
<p>
On 13 December, Roly was with over 1600 prisoners who were marched from Bilibid to the pier where they were jammed into the stifling holds of the Oryoko Mam, the first of three “hell ships” they were to board during their tragic 7-week voyage to Japan. Roly had a severe case of dysentery, but in spite of his condition he continued to exhaust himself helping others—bringing them food and water and carrying the bodies of his fellow prisoners topside to see that they had a few proper words said over them before they were buried at sea. According to Paul Cornwall, USMA '38, “he wore himself out on the ship and later developed pneumonia." Of the original 1619 who started out from Bilibid, about 493 arrived alive in Moji, Kyushu. Of these, 109, including Roly, “died later from the effects of the most terrible voyage in modem human history.”</p>
<p>
For a long time after the fall of Corregidor, Kay heard nothing from her husband, but she was convinced that Roly would survive and her faith was rewarded time and again when she would receive word from him after long intervals. He was permitted to write only an occasional postcard and he used one of them to write to a florist to have flowers sent to Kay on their anniversary. During the long vigil that lasted over four years, Kay and the children lived with her parents at Rockaway Beach, New York, where her cheerful optimism and strong faith were an inspiration to anxious relatives of other servicemen.</p>
<p>
It was not until 15 September 1945 that Kay received a telegram from the War Department which stated in part: “A delayed report has just been received from the Japanese government which stated that your husband…died thirty-one January while a prisoner of war of the Japanese." Later, Colonel Arthur C. Peterson, USMA ’30, a fellow prisoner, told her that he was with Roly when he died and that it was his wish that his body might not lie in Japanese soil. In November of 1949, Roly’s family arranged to have his ashes returned to the United States where they were interred with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery.</p>
<p>
Paul Cornwall who was in Roly’s company at West Point and later became his battery executive officer and constant companion during their captivity provided much of the intimate details described herein. He best sums up Roly’s character: “Ames reminded me of those staunch fellows (in the Bible) who had strong principles, ruled with positive force, but were fatherly with it all; forgetting and forgiving all derelictions except those that were adverse to the success of his mission and command. If I had to recap, I’d say Captain Ames was as close to a story book commander as I ever knew."</p>
<p>
In his tragically short career, Roly accomplished more for his country and had greater influence for good on more people than most of us in a full lifetime of service. His dedication to West Point’s motto “Duty, Honor, Country" was total.</p>
<p>
Roly is survived by his widow, Mrs. Katherine Ames Gehrkens of New Port Richey, Florida; his son Roland Chaloner Ames of Wyckoff, New Jersey; his daughter, Karol Ames of Palm Harbor, Florida; and three grandchildren. In late April 1985, Kay and Karol made a bittersweet sentimental journey back to Corregidor, and for the dedication of the West Point Memorial Gate at the site of Cabanatuan P.O.W. Camp on Luzon.</p>
<p>
Decorations: Purple Heart, Silver Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, Bronze Star, Presidential Unit Citation, Philippine Defense Medal.</p>
<p>
Excerpts from the book <em>CORREGIDOR: The Saga of a Fortress</em> by William M. Belote and James H. Belote. Copyright © 1967 by James H. Belote and William M. Belote. Reprinted by permission of Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc.</p>
</div>
<p>
</p>