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<em>Fred Obediah Tally</em> was born in Council Grove, Kansas on 7 October 1902. Fred’s parents were farmers and he grew up in a large family. He had four brothers and three sisters who all helped run the farm. Graduating from Council Grove High School, Fred attended Bethany College, Lindsberg, Kansas for three semesters before fulfilling a lifelong ambition by gaining an appointment to West Point.</p>
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Fred entered the Military Academy in July 1924 to become a member of the Class of 1928. The class was relatively small, with 271 starting and 261 graduating. He had little difficulty with academics, managing to stay safely in the middle of the class. His experiences on the farm caused him to be one of the best marksmen in the Corps. His write-up in the Howitzer provides an insightful glimpse into the character of Fred Tally. It reads in part:</p>
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“Inured to hard driving toil in the Kansas wheat fields, he found that his mind was free and tranquil despite the labor of the threshers … Indifferent to standings for themselves alone, he spent much time in studying the men around him—and in aiding them in their difficulties … Accustomed from childhood to a quiet endurance of hardships, he never condones a grumbler, but seeks to dissuade him from his wrong—usually the result of fatigue and imagination.”</p>
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Graduation saw Fred commissioned in the Infantry, with his first assignment to Fort Sam Houston, Texas. In those doldrum days for the Army, Fred took the course of many other graduates and transferred to the then expanding Army Air Corps in 1930. He gained his wings at Kelly Field near San Antonio. His first operational assignment in his new branch was to the elite 3rd Attack Group at Fort Crockett, Texas, near Galveston. He joined the 3rd in 1934; it was commanded by Colonel Horace Hickham (USMA ‘08) and contained another officer destined to be Air Force Chief of Staff, Major Nathan Twining (USMA ‘19). When Fred joined the unit, it was in the process of replacing its older A-3 and A-8 aircraft with the new A-12’s. In February 1934, the President cancelled civilian airmail contracts and ordered the Army to fly the mail. Fred arid his comrades had to remodel aircraft, removing gunner’s equipment and enlarging baggage compartments and installing improved flight instruments. At the same time, Colonel Hickham moved with a cadre to form a new headquarters at Chicago, thus increasing the effort required of Fred and the others who remained at Crockett. It was about this time that Fred was promoted to first lieutenant. The unit was under intense pressure, and Fort Crockett’s airfield was poor by any standards: short, rough and with bad approaches, a situation that contributed to Colonel Hickham’s death in a landing accident there in November 1934. Fortunately, in February 1935 the unit moved to Barksdale Field, near Shreveport, Louisiana, where a new airdrome had just been completed. Just before the unit moved, Fred married Miss Margaret Maier in San Antonio.</p>
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Operations and living conditions were greatly improved at Barksdale, and cancellation of the airmail requirement that following spring helped relax the pressure on the 3rd Attack Group, now part of the larger 3rd Attack Wing. Fred was promoted to captain in 1935.</p>
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In 1937, Fred and Margaret received orders to Nichols Field, the Philippines. It was there that a daughter, Mary Margaret, was born. The family returned to CONUS in 1939, visiting China and Japan en route. Fred’s new assignment was to Moffet Field near Palo Alto, California. After a year at Moffet, Fred was moved to Fort Douglass, Utah, which later in 1939 would be designated Ogden Air Depot. It was there that Fred was promoted to major in early 1941. Later that year, the Tallys were blessed with a second daughter, Cynthia. In October 1941, Fred received orders to return to the Philippines, being assigned to the headquarters of the Philippine Department. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel shortly after reporting to his new assignment. When the Japanese attacked the Philippines on 8 December 1941, Fred, of course, was there.</p>
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Fred O. Tally was taken prisoner by the Japanese when Corregidor fell in early May 1942. He survived the well-documented ordeal of the “Bataan Death March.” His family received six postcards from him during his three years of captivity, spaced at regular intervals. The last card, received in January 1945, had been written in July 1944. In it, he told his wife that he had received mail from home, including pictures of his children. As US forces began their drive to liberate the Philippines, the Japanese gave orders to evacuate American POW’s back to Japan, Taiwan, Korea and Manchuria. On 13 December 1941, one of three transports designated to carry US POW’s, the Oryoka Marti, loaded 1865 POW’s at Manila’s Pier 7 into the ship’s three unventilated holds. The tropic sun made the temperature well above 100 degrees in these holds. The forward and aft holds were so cramped that only one in four could sit down. The events aboard the Oryoku Maru are taken from Major General Chester L. Johnson’s articles in <em>ASSEMBLY</em>, June 1986 and March 1987, “The Memorials at Cabanatuan and the Tragedies They Record;” and Part II—”The Hell Ships.” The ship left the dock shortly after dark on the 13th and took almost all night to navigate the sunken ships in the harbor to reach deep water. The men in the holds began to suffer from lack of oxygen and no water. After daylight on the 14th the unmarked Oryoku Maru came under continuous attack by US Naval aircraft. Because of the attacks, the prisoners below decks received no food or water. In the last attack of the day, a near-miss seriously damaged the rudder and propeller shaft of the ship. After darkness, the Oryoku Maru limped into Subic Bay and offloaded all the surviving Japanese who had been in the cabins. The prisoners remained below the decks with neither food nor water. Finally, on the morning of 15 December 1944, permission was given for the prisoners to leave the holds. Those able to do so climbed out, but many were unable to. All were gaunt and in terrible condition. Those who could swam to shore. Not long after many of the prisoners reached the shore, word spread that some men were still in the aft hold and could not free themselves. At about that time, the ship was again attacked by American aircraft. A bomb struck the aft end of the deck and exploded in the rear hold, killing several hundred prisoners. Set afire by the bombing, the Oryoku Maru sank and became the final resting place for the ill-fated prisoners trapped in its holds. Most of the Academy graduates who died aboard the Oryoku Maru were killed in that final action. Fred Obediah Tally was among that unfortunate group. He was survived by his wife and two daughters.</p>
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At the memorials at Cabanatuan in the Philippines, there is the West Point Monument. Under the carved replica of the Academy Crest is an inscription and then, by class, the names of the 176 graduates who lost their lives either in combat against the enemy or as his captives or prisoners of war. Under the Class of 1928 is listed Fred O. Tally, LTC. There are no words to reflect the bravery and sacrifice of Fred and his comrades in arms. Duty, Honor, Country were the guideposts of his life. It can truly be said of Fred Obediah Tally, “Well Done, Be Thou At Peace!”</p>
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<em>JCMc: BP and his daughters, Mary and Cynthia</em></p>
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