Walter F. Cigoi was born on August 18, 1917, in DuPage County, Illinois. An Illinois National Guardsman, he was called to federal service on November 25, 1940, as a member of Company B, 192nd Tank Battalion. He fought in some of the first tank battles involving American tanks during World War II in the Philippines.

After the surrender of Bataan, he endured the Bataan Death March and was imprisoned at Camp O’Donnell and later at Cabanatuan. He was later selected for transfer to Manchuria as forced labor, but while aboard the Japanese “hell ship” Tottori Maru, he became ill. He was taken off the ship on Formosa (now Taiwan), where he died on November 3, 1942. He was buried in Taiwan at Daichoku Cemetery in a grave with another American POW, Private Billy Lay. After the war, the remains of the two men were reburied at Sai Wan Bay Cemetery in Hong Kong, since their remains were mixed with those of British POWs.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com