Conditions Governing Access
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Arrangement
Biographical / Historical
Preferred Citation
Scope and Contents
Conditions Governing Use
Contributing Institution:
Center for American War Letters Archives
Title: Robert Benjamin Fugate Second World War correspondence
source:
Lantz, Matthew
Creator:
Fugate, Robert Benjamin
Identifier/Call Number: 2014.149.wc.r
Identifier/Call Number: 267
Physical Description:
0.05 Linear Feet
(1 folder)
Date (inclusive): 1941-1946
Abstract: This collection contains a bound booklet of 33 photocopied letters between Lt. Robert B. Fugate, USA and his parents. Fugate
served in the Philippines, surviving Bataan and a P.O.W. camp before being killed in a Manila Bay bombing.
Language of Material:
English
.
Container: Resource Copies 1
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Matthew and Ben Lantz.
Arrangement
The entire collection is bound in a booklet. Letters within are arranged first by author, then chronologically.
Biographical / Historical
Information on Robert Benjamin Fugate, written by the donor:
"My great uncle, Robert Fugate, participated in World War II. We have his letters and I would like to donate copies to your
project (I can't seem to find the originals). Robert was from Brazil, Indiana (20 miles west of Terre Haute) and was the first
person in my family to graduate from college (Purdue class of 1940). The letters are to my great grandparents and begin in
June 1941 from Ohio, where he is a second lieutenant in the US Marine Corp (4th Marine Regiment, D Company 1st Battalion).
The letters follow him across country to San Francisco (one is on beautiful Sir Francis Drake Hotel letterhead) to Hawaii
to the Philippines where he is stationed starting in the summer of 1941. They describe life in the Philippines on a US Marine
base. The last letter is dated a week before December 7, 1941 (this got through).
"The letters then transition to my great grandmother writing him in the Philippines first expressing concern about him and
the attack and then just general concern. All of these letters are returned undeliverable.
"The final two documents are a letter to my great grandfather at the end of the war from a friend saying although the world
is rejoicing, I know you are not, and a letter from American Express settling an insurance claim with Robert's death.
"Robert was taken prisoner by the Japanese. He survived the Bataan Death March and was held prisoner for four years by the
Japanese at Davao Penal Colony (POW Barracks) - PMPC #2 on Mindinao. He was killed after he was put on a Japan ship in the
Philippines to move him to Japan to be force labor and the US bombed the ship in Manila Harbor. They did not know US POWs
were on the ship. Hampton Sides writes about this incident in Ghost Soldiers. We know this because a fellow POW visited my
great grandparents and grandmother on his way back to Brooklyn to explain what happened. He apparently died in transport after
the bombing."
Preferred Citation
[Item title / description; Box "n" / Folder "n"], Robert B. Fugate Second World War correspondence (2014.149.w.r), Center
for American War Letters Archives, Chapman University, CA.
For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this
collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.
Scope and Contents
This collection contains a bound booklet of 33 photocopied letters between Lt. Robert B. Fugate, USA and his parents. Fugate
served in the Philippines, surviving Bataan and a POW camp before being killed in a Manila Bay bombing.
The bound booklet contains:
- 1 program, 1940 Purdue University Commencement Ceremony
- 23 letters, Robert B. Fugate to Mr. and Mrs. Ben Fugate
- 9 letters, Mr. and Mrs. Ben Fugate to Robert B. Fugate
- 1 letter, Rinn Kidd to Ben Fugate
- 1 funeral script, Brazil Methodist Parish
- 1 letter, American Express to the Brazil Trust Company re: Robert B. Fugate
Early camp letters before deployment to the Phillipines are cheerful and informative, with Fugate seemingly excited about
his service. He was happy with his service in Manila, giving lighthearted details about sights and weather, even telling
his parents he is "having a wonderful time." Of particular note is one letter to Fugate's father from a friend, expressing
his condolences for the death of Fugate in 1945.
Conditions Governing Use
There are no restrictions on the use of this material except where previously copyrighted material is concerned. It is the
responsibility of the researcher to obtain all permissions. For further copyright information, please contact the archivist.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
World War (1939-1945)
Correspondence -- World War, 1939-1945
World War (1939-1945) -- Philippines.
World War (1939-1945) -- Prisoners and prisons
Prisoner of war
Bataan, Battle of, Philippines, 1942
World War (1939-1945) -- Pacific Area
United States -- Army -- Pacific Theater of Operations
Lantz, Matthew