Howard Max Pahl was born on June 20, 1908, in Davenport, Iowa. He was the son of Judge Max and Melanie Pahl. He was married to Evelyn Saddler. He attended West Point and graduated on June 11, 1931. He began his Army career with the 2nd Infantry at Fort Sheridan. In 1935, he was assigned to the elite 45th Infantry (Philippine Scouts) at Fort McKinley, where he served as company commander and assistant adjutant, earning promotion to First Lieutenant. After completing the Infantry School at Fort Benning in 1938, he joined the 23rd Infantry at Fort Sam Houston before volunteering to return to the Philippines in 1940. Promoted to Captain, Pahl took command of Company G, 31st Infantry, an all-American unit stationed in Manila. His leadership contributed to preparing and training personnel who later formed the backbone of mobilized Philippine Army units.

As war loomed in 1941, dependents were evacuated from the Philippines, and Pahl joined a group of officers briefed by General MacArthur to help organize and train the new ten-division Philippine Army. Working with Philippine Scouts and American NCOs, his regiment was mobilized in Occidental Negros. After the Japanese attack on December 7, Pahl was recalled to the 31st Infantry and fought during the defense of Bataan. In January 1942, he earned the Bronze Star for Valor for his leadership at Agaloma Point, where his outnumbered and starving troops repelled a major Japanese landing attempt.

After the fall of the Philippines, Pahl endured the Bataan Death March and survived the brutal conditions of Camps O’Donnell and Cabanatuan before being transferred to Bilibid Prison in Manila in October 1944. On December 13, 1944, he was among the prisoners crammed into the unmarked Oryoku Maru. The next morning, U.S. Navy planes, unaware that the ship carried POWs, attacked it. After limping into Subic Bay, the Oryoku Maru was bombed again on December 15, killing Max and many others.

Maj Pahl'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