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Acknowledging receipt of a photograph of a just-born American name-sake, the late great soldier’s poet Rudyard Kipling wrote the infant’s proud father:</p>
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“He looks a splendid Man-child!”</p>
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This Man-child was Rudyard Kipling Grimes, West Point ‘39, who died in the hands of the Japanese after the fall of Bataan—just where, when, and how his widow and parents may never know, unless some survivor of that terrible Jornada del Muerto northward from Bataan volunteers the information. Official war department date: June 30, 1943, when the Japs gave notice.</p>
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Captain <em>Rudyard K. Grimes</em>, Inf., U.S.A., was born September 29, 1917, at Abilene, Texas, to Frank and Mary Ellen Futrelle Senter Grimes. He graduated from Abilene high school in 1934 and that fall, just under 17, he entered Texas A&M College, the great school which has spawned so many fine army officers. He finished his freshman year with the Aggies and on July 1, 1935, entered the United States Military Academy, receiving his diploma and second lieutenant’s commission from President Roosevelt in 1939. He tried for the air corps but was turned down because of defective eye-sight. His half-brother. Colonel William O. Senter, West Point ‘33, now commands the A.A.F.’s weather wing. Rudy, as his friends called him, wound up in the infantry and became a passionate and devoted worshiper of the Queen of Battles.</p>
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On August 5, 1939, the young second lieutenant was married in Austin, Texas, to Azile W. Coffey, who had been his O.A.O. since Aggie days. Temporarily assigned to the Presidio of San Francisco, he sailed with his wife for the Philippines October 4, 1939, having chosen that station for his first tour of duty. At Ft. Wm. McKinley he was assigned to Company A, 57th Inf., Philippine Scouts, first as a junior lieutenant, then as second in command to Major (<em>name unknown), </em>West Point ‘33. Later he was switched over to Company M of the 57th. Having been advanced to 1st Lieutenant in September, 1940, he became commanding officer of M Company about a year later, took on the extra duty of acting executive officer of the 3rd Battalion under the same major a week before hostilities broke out, was promoted to captain December 19th, and fought through the Philippine campaign up to the fall of Bataan in both capacities. Most of the time he commanded two companies of the 3rd Battalion, and there were moments when the whole battalion was under his combat direction.</p>
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Commanding Officer of the 57th was Colonel George S. Clarke, at whose feet young Grimes had sat in the months before hostilities, drinking in military lore. In a desperate effort to get provisions into Bataan, General Wainwright promoted Colonel Clarke to brigadier general, assigned him the job of getting to Cebu the best way he could with a view to arranging for supplies. Colonel Clarke, the only man available who spoke Cebuano, left Bataan a few hours before the surrender, and found himself a man without a mission. Eventually Colonel Clarke reached the United States where he is now on active duty. He has written this tribute to Captain Grimes:</p>
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“Rudy commanded Company M, 3rd Battalion, 57th Infantry. The 3rd withstood the first eleven attacks made by the Japanese on Bataan. All but three officers of this battalion were killed in these attacks. During these terrific initial attacks we were forced to learn the tactics of the Japanese the hard way. Rudy was indefatigable. Several times he commanded two companies at the same time and was a tower of strength to his battalion commander. He was under my personal observation during these first eleven attacks and subsequent ones. His coolness under fire, his command ability together with his stamina in holding up when others were ready to drop with fatigue characterized his battle service. Duty, honor, country were engraved on his heart and were exemplified by him in battle. As his regimental commander, I am very proud of him as an officer who served gallantly under my command in the Philippines. He reflected great credit on his regiment, the Army, his Alma Mater and his country.”</p>
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In an earlier letter Col. Clarke had written Captain Grimes’ father the following:</p>
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“Rudy was acting Executive Officer for Major Wood and perhaps because of his long legs covering miles of ground daily practically commanding all of the companies in the battalion, he came through the first phase safely though how the Jap snipers missed that fine big body of his, I will never know. All of this was done with utter disregard for personal safety. He seemed to bear a charmed life.”</p>
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At the end, like all his comrades, his body had been shrunken by hunger and racked by disease. In a letter to his wife dated March 6,—just a little more than a month before the surrender—Captain Grimes wrote that the “open air exercise” and living out under the stars and the constant walking had “brought me down to my old fighting weight of 170.” His normal weight was around 190, and his wife and father guessed that he had exaggerated his actual weight to keep them from worrying. This was proved in subsequent reports. In none of the half-dozen letters written after the war began, up to the final one dated March 6, was there a single word of complaint. The only note of sadness came when he described how he had buried his classmate, Lt. Victor Crowell, “in a little barrio cemetery nearby,” and had taken pictures of the grave. Vic’s death had seemed particularly tragic because of their close friendship and the circumstances under which Vic died.</p>
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At the Point Cadet Grimes, even though he was six feet one, had to watch his diet to keep his weight down; yet he made no reference in his letters from Bataan to the vile and scanty rations on which he and his comrades were forced to live and fight incessantly, day and night. His letters were invariably bright and cheerful. “… Shaved and bathed this morning (January 2nd)—an event! It took me quite a while—every time high-flying planes come over we duck, just a precaution, of course”. “Surprising as it may seem, we manage to have a little fun now and then. I guess a sense of humor is a great asset.” “… The guy who used to be bouncer at the Alcazar is working in the hospital here—saw him the other day. He says, with a grin on his face, that he is the Chaplain’s assistant.”</p>
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It takes a battle to produce a real fighting man. We know that Rudy qualified with the highest kind of rating in this capacity. We are sure that before he joined that “long grey line” he had done his best. What more could be asked of any man—other than his life. He gave that, too.</p>
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His father, a Texas newspaper editor, has said:</p>
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“God honored me, beyond my deserts in giving me such a son. My grief is mingled with a fierce pride in his gallant and sacrificial service to our country and to our sometimes uncomprehending, sometimes ungrateful and forgetful, but always worthwhile civilization.”</p>
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