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<em>Clarence Riley Bess</em> was born on 29 September 1914 in Hunter, Missouri, the oldest son of Hulda Auguston Bess and Clarence P. Bess. He was graduated from Wyandotte High School in 1932. Riley attended Kansas City Kansas Jr. College and was graduated in 1934. He then served as a private in the Kansas National Guard, Headquarters 2nd Battalion, 137th Infantry for one year. Riley decided that the Army was the career for him and next served as a private in Company K, 17th Infantry and attended the Army Prep School at Fort Snelling, Minnesota for one year.</p>
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In 1935 Riley received a congressional appointment to the Military Academy from Kansas, joining the plebe class entering on 1 July 1935. Upon graduation on 12 June 1939, Riley elected to serve in the Infantry and was assigned to Company F, 31st Infantry as a first lieutenant in Manila, the Philippine Islands.</p>
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During this period, Riley met and married the former Dorothy Saunders of Salem, Massachusetts, in Manila on 23 November 1940. When war with Japan became a certainty, Riley sent Dorothy home to live with his sister Charlene in Kansas City, Kansas until the end of the war.</p>
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As a first lieutenant in command of a service company, Riley survived the January 1942 invasion of the Bataan Peninsula by the Japanese. Three companies of the 31st Infantry Regiment and three companies of the 57th Infantry were left behind to hold the Japanese while other troops were withdrawn. This small contingent along with loyal Filipinos held out for 98 days against overwhelming opposition. Survivors of the siege were then forced into the infamous 70 mile Bataan Death March. Those injured or too weak to walk were shot or bayoneted by their guards, and at least 10,000 were brutally killed. Riley spent the remaining three years of World War II as a prisoner of war at the infamous Camp O’Donnell in the Philippines where another 1,500 Americans died, and later he was transferred on a “hell ship” to Japan. He was liberated from Zentsugi POW camp on the Japanese island of Shikoku in August of 1945.</p>
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Riley was cited for bravery in action by the Army and promoted to the rank of captain while he was a prisoner of war.</p>
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Upon returning home, Riley was assigned as a battalion commander at Fort Benning, Georgia in 1946. He attended the Airborne School, Basic Parachute which he really enjoyed, and the Advanced Infantry Course while serving at Fort Benning. During this happy time, Dorothy and Riley were blessed with the birth of daughter Kathryn, and later a son, James Riley.</p>
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Riley studied Spanish at the Army Language School, Presidio of Monterey, California and attended the CIC School at Camp Holabird, Maryland during 1948-49. In April of 1949, Riley was assigned as an infantry battalion instructor in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.</p>
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In 1950, Riley was promoted to major and assigned to the Headquarters of the Third Army at Fort McPherson, Georgia, as a general staff officer. In 1951, Riley’s life took a difficult change in course. Twice turned down for a transfer to Korea, he resigned his commission, followed by a divorce from his wife and a long separation from his two children.</p>
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During this transition time, Riley’s work as an engineer took him back to his hometown of Kansas City, Kansas three times. Riley worked as an apparatus engineer for the Automatic Electric Company, and was a surveyor and computer for Texaco in oil exploration in Houston, Texas; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Glasgow, Montana.</p>
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As service-connected illness increased, Riley settled in Miami in the late 60’s and worked as an asphalt plant inspector in Palm Beach County. Upon retiring because of illness, Riley now had more time for his love of fishing. Riley entered the Veterans Administration Hospital in Miami, Florida in April of 1987 for an operation for throat cancer and underwent long radiation treatments for lymphatic cancer at the hospital.</p>
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It wasn’t until 4 July 1987 that Riley received the medals due him for his bravery in action during the Japanese invasion and the Bataan Death March that followed. The long delay in the presentation of medals was caused by a fire that destroyed Riley’s service records at the military archives in St. Louis. In front of reporters gathered at the V.A. Hospital from local newspapers and TV cameras from Channels 7 and 10, Riley was decorated by Lieutenant Colonel Peter Smith, commander of the Army’s recruiting battalion in Miami, with the Silver Star for acts of bravery during the siege of the Bataan Peninsula by the Japanese, and a Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster for being an unwilling participant in the infamous Bataan Death March. The other medals presented during the ceremony were the same that other veterans of WW II received who fought in the Pacific Theatre. Riley was very proud of receiving the Combat Infantryman Badge.</p>
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Riley took love of country and dedication to the Army and their ideals very seriously, but never himself. His charisma was special and best expressed in this tribute, “to meet Riley and talk with him was to wish you had been his friend your entire life.”</p>
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Riley left us on 25 August 1987. Ultimately, the value this country attaches to military service is reflected in the “three R’s”—respect, recognition, and remembrance; Riley has that from his country and those that loved him. Riley is survived by his two children, Mrs. Kathryn Thomsen, and James Riley, and three grandchildren. He is also survived by his sister, Mrs. Ben Hall; a brother, Dr. S. Herbert Bess; two nieces and one nephew; and loving friends.</p>
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“I have fought a good fight,<br />
I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.<br />
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing”</p>
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THE HOLY BIBLE (King James Version)</p>
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The Second Epistle of Paul the Apostle to Timothy, Chapter 4, Verses 7 and 8 Joan Wetmore</p>
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