Daniel Willard Griswold

First Lieutenant Daniel W. Griswold was born in Agra, Oklahoma, in 1917 into a farming family. After graduating from Tryon High School in 1936, he earned a degree in Agriculture from Oklahoma A&M in 1940. He was commissioned through Army ROTC and entered active duty in July 1940 as war threatened Europe and Asia.

After infantry training at Fort Benning, Georgia, Griswold joined the 31st Infantry Regiment, known as the “Polar Bear Regiment,” assigned to the Philippine Division in Manila, Luzon. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, Japanese forces invaded the Philippines. On 24 December, General Douglas MacArthur ordered American and Philippine forces to withdraw to the Bataan Peninsula and establish defensive positions to delay the Japanese advance.

On 21 January 1942, near Abucay Hacienda, Bataan, Griswold led Company K in a heroic attack against an enemy force that had penetrated the American defensive line. He led his unit forward, engaged the Japanese, and successfully destroyed the enemy force. For his extraordinary heroism, Griswold was awarded the Silver Star. His citation reads in part: “… he led his unit forward, contacted the enemy, and wiped out a Japanese force that had penetrated the stabilized line.”

Over the next two months, American and Philippine forces, weakened by hunger and without adequate re-supply, valiantly fought a determined defense while slowly withdrawing toward their final defensive positions near Mount Samat. On 9 April 1942 Major General Edward P. King concluded that further resistance was futile and surrendered the forces on Bataan. Griswold and the surviving members of Company K were taken prisoner and forced to endure the approximately 65-mile Bataan Death March to Camp O’Donnell. Although he survived the march, the brutal conditions severely weakened him, and he died on 3 July 1942 at age 24. His remains have never been recovered. 1LT Griswold’s Silver Star was posthumously awarded in 1950.