William J. Balchus was born on October 15, 1921. He served in Battery I, 60th Coast Artillery Regiment (AntiAircraft), Coast Artillery Corps as a Corporal during World War II. An American prisoner of war, he was one of the Japanese massacre victims in Puerto Princesa, Palawan Philippines. In order to prevent the rescue of prisoners of war by the advancing Allies, on 14 December 1944, units of the Japanese Fourteenth Area Army (under the command of General Tomoyuki Yamashita) brought the POWs back to their own camp. An air raid warning was sounded to get the prisoners into the shelter trenches, the 150 prisoners of war at Puerto Princesa entered those trenches, and the Japanese soldiers set them on fire using barrels of gasoline. Prisoners who tried to escape the flames were shot down by machine gun fire. Others attempted to escape by climbing over a cliff that ran along one side of the trenches, but were later hunted down and killed. Only 11 men escaped the slaughter; 139 were killed. Those that did escape to southern Palawan, and eventual rescue, were aided by Filipino scouts and guerrillas under the command of Nazario Mayor. Private First Class Balchus was one of the 11 prisoners who escaped the massacre. He returned to live in Shenandoah, PA and married Helen. He died on December 11, 2013 at the age of 92 and is now buried in the Our Lady of Lourdes Cemetery, Shenandoah Heights, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. He was the last of the 11 survivors who passed away.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.wikipedia.com