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Captain <em>Augustus John Cullen</em>, son of Mr. and Mrs. A. I. Cullen, of Bucyrus, Ohio, was born July 12, 1915 at Columbia City, Indiana. He attended Bucyrus High School where he was a leader in student activities, honor student, and the recipient of the American Legion Merit Award given to the outstanding senior in Bucyrus High School each year. Captain Cullen was also a member of the Bucyrus Unit of the Ohio National Guard during three years of his high school career.</p>
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Captain Cullen attended the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Michigan during the year 1935-1936 and in the year 1936 he received an appointment to the United States Military Academy by the late Honorable Brooks Fletcher, Congressman of the Eighth Ohio District. He entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, N. Y., in July 1936.</p>
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During his years at the Academy Captain Cullen held the rank of corporal in the second and third year and was company captain in his fourth year. He was active in the traditional Hundredth Night Show and Cadet Orchestra during all four years. Upon his graduation from West Point with the commission of Second Lieutenant he entered the service of his country on June 11, 1940. On July 12, 1940 Captain Cullen married Evelyn M. Phillips, his high school sweetheart, at the West Point Catholic Chapel.</p>
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After his marriage Captain Cullen and his bride spent the summer with their parents in the city of Bucyrus, Ohio, and in September 1940 he and his wife sailed to the Philippine Islands, for his first assignment at Corregidor. It was here that Captain Cullen was captured by the Japanese on May 6, 1942. He was confined as a prisoner of the Japanese at the prison camp of Cabanatuan and in December 1944 he and other fellow prisoners were taken aboard ship by the Japanese in order to be moved to Japan. The first ship on which they sailed was sunk off the Philippines and the surviving prisoners were taken back to the Philippines where they were placed on a second ship which was torpedoed off Formosa. Captain Cullen and his surviving fellow prisoners were then transferred to another ship and were taken to Camp Fukuoka, Japan. Due to the exposure during the trip to Japan Captain Cullen contracted pneumonia and died on February 9, 1945 at Camp Fukuoka, Japan.</p>
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During his imprisonment his family received but two cards, both of which advised them to “keep your chins up”. Information gained by relatives from fellow prisoners who escaped from Japanese prisons was to the effect that Captain Cullen was one of the most cheerful of all American prisoners at Camp Cabanatuan and was constantly building up the spirits of his fellow prisoners. This information further advised the family that Captain Cullen was enjoying excellent health until the time of his removal to Japan. Captain Cullen was possessed of a most cheerful disposition and was one of the best known and best liked young men in his home community of Bucyrus, Ohio.</p>
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Captain Cullen is survived by his parents, and two brothers, Daniel and William of Bucyrus, Ohio; a married sister, Mrs. Leo J. Scanlon of Crestline, Ohio; and, a married brother, Joseph, of Mansfield, Ohio.</p>