John Newlin Raker was born on April 5, 1906, in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. He was the son of John W. Raker and Amy Mary Newlin Raker. He attended Bethlehem Preparatory School and served as a soldier at Schofield Barracks. He entered the United States Military Academy at West Point and graduated with the Class of 1931. After graduating from West Point, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Field Artillery, serving with the 15th Field Artillery at Fort Sam Houston and later as assistant executive officer. He resigned his commission in 1933 but reenlisted about five years later. Serving with the 34th Fighter Squadron in the Philippines, he rose from Sergeant to Major in the Army.

After the surrender of Bataan, he endured the Death March and imprisonment at Camp O’Donnell, where he helped bury fallen comrades and distribute scarce food, and later transferred to Camp Cabanatuan. In October 1944, Raker was among 1,800 American prisoners forced aboard the Arisan Maru for transport to Japan. Enduring horrific conditions in the ship’s sealed holds, he and hundreds of others suffered from heat, starvation, and exhaustion. On October 24, the ship was torpedoed and sunk by a U.S. submarine, unaware that it carried POWs. Raker perished in the sinking.

Maj Raker's name is memorialized in the Tablets of the Missing in the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Manila, Capital District, National Capital Region, Philippines.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, alumni.westpointaog.org, weremember.abmc.gov