Obituary for Ralph L. Cullinan - Rockland, MA

After seeing a post from SP5 Mark Kuzinski about the annual Bataan Death March in White Sands, NM from 2 weeks ago, it got me thinking about my grandfather. He was also a survivor of the March of Bataan having been captured April 1942 until the war ended in August 1945. A great man who did great things as so many of his generation did. Below is his obituary; I've kept it with me since his passing.

Ralph L. Rudy Cullinan, 87, of Weymouth died Sunday July 28, 2001 at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth after a short illness. The son of the late Michael and Bessie Collings Cullinan, he was born in Rockland on May 4, 1914. He was raised in Rockland and at the age of 16 was a 1930 graduate of Rockland High School, he lived in Rockland until moving to Nashua, NH in 1973 and he has lived in Weymouth the past year. * Mr. Cullinan served as a member of the Civil Conservation Corps for three terms, once using his older brother John's name because he was too young. He traveled across country as far as Oregon and Washington helping to build roads and parks and helping his family during the Depression. * He enlisted in the Army Air Corps on November 28, 1940 and following training at Savannah Georgia and Roosevelt Field, New York, he was sent to the Philippines with the 27th Bomb Group, arriving at Clark Field on November 20, 1941, just days before the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7 and Clark Field on December 8 , 1941. * As the fighting continued, Cullinan's unit moved to the Bataan Peninsula, a spit of land jutting into Manila Bay. Having been cut off from any source of supplies for months and without food or ammunition the allied forces defended the tiny Bataan Peninsula for 98 days against a force of more than 200,000 Japanese troops. His unit has captured on April 9, 1942. The Japanese forced the American and Philippino prisoners to march roughly 90 miles to Camp O'Donnell. Most were already sick and malnourished before beginning the three day march. Without food and water, under brutal conditions, where collapsing meant being killed, thousands died on what was to become known as the Death March of Bataan. Mr. Cullinan worked on the Tabias Road Detail, where becoming so ill he weighed less that 80 pounds, he was transferred to Bilibid Prison, which had a Navy run medical unit. From there he went to Cabantian, Clark Field, back to Bilibid and them sailed on a ?death ship? to Japan in the fall of 1944. He served as slave labor in a copper mine until the war was over and his camp was liberated in August of 1945. He retired from the Air Force as a Master Sergeant in June of 1961 after serving 21 years. He was the recipient of the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Good Conduct Medal, American Defense Medal, American Campaign, Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal, WW2 Victory Medal, National Defense Medal, the Prisoner of War Medal, Philippine Defense Ribbon, the Philippine Independence Ribbon and the Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation. After retiring from the Air Force, Mr. Cullinan worked for the former Eastern Airlines at Logan Airport as a Production Controller. He was a member of the American Legion, the Disabled American Veteran's and a member of the top 3. The husband of the late Mildred C. White Cullinan, he is survived by 2 sons, Michael E. Cullinan of Whitman and Timothy J. Cullinan of East Weymouth, a daughter, Jane Killinger of Kingston, a brother John Cullinan of Long Island NY, a sister, Mary Bennett of VA, 9 grandchildren and 4 great grandsons. He was also the brother of the late Elizabeth Perchard. Funeral Mass on Friday August 3, 2001, at 9 AM in Holy Family Church 403 Union Street, Rockland. Internment in Holy Family Cemetery. Visiting hours in the Sullivan Funeral Home, 41-45 East Water Street, Rockland on Thursday 2-4 and 7-9 PM. Memorial donations may be made to the WWII Memorial Fund, c/o American Battle Monuments Commission, P.O. Box 96074, Washington, DC 20090-6074.