John Duresky

I'm working on a book about WWII POWs from Bataan. This site was really helpful in identifying cars that belonged to the main deceased veteran of our book. One thing has led to another, now I'm helping a friend locate information on her family, but now around WWI. In a box she had photos with this car. The closest I can come to identifying it is maybe a Metz around 1911. A photo with the flags on the car is dated July 4, 1916. Can anyone tell the make and model and year? Looks like a hot little car to me, great shape to it, nice bicycle spoke tires. In the photo of the back of it, you can see a shadow on the ground of a person, possibly his wife or girlfriend, with an elbow out. Not hard to imagine they were using one of those box cameras where you had to look down in the top of it to frame the picture.....not quite an iPhone, but it took a really nice shot of the car. Thanks John Duresky

I have to ask, if I had asked that dealer who sold this car to take a better picture for comparison would it have been possible to be any more perfect? Angles and elevation is almost identical. The only thing the blue car that sold is missing is the front spring bumper and Grace standing in front of it. Without a doubt, that is Grace in front of a 1925 Hupmobile.

Do you know if he also flew letters out, and if so from Bataan? Have two letters Lt Britt got out of Bataan in Feb and March 1942 before it fell. I'm guessing they went out on PT boat or submarine. Thanks

You guys all appreciate American history, so see attached photo and 1945 article. This photo was taken in Jan~May 1941 when Grace and Ruth had to be evacuated from the Philippines. Grace has her back to the camera and facing Col Ausmus in the bow. Having figured out who Capt Gray is yet....we want to trace down every life theirs touched back then. Ruth's husband, Lt Charles F Monteith died as a POW in 1942. That little piece of the Corregidor flag is now kept as a national treasure at West Point.

Hey, that's all great info and it makes sense. Looks like it was at a picnic, and there are a lot of nice parks around La Crosse WI where the photo was likely taken. Year for her, and year for the car is probably as close as we can get. As the old saying goes, "It's close enough for horseshoes and hand grenades." Thanks, John p.s. lots of bugs in Wisconsin, so even the bug screen makes sense. State bird is the mosquito.

One thing I have concluded from working on this book is that almost every man and woman who served in WWII deserves their own book. When you dig deep on the personal level it opens up stories about other people that are just as remarkable. We focus so much on the big battles such as D-Day, etc., that we overlook the fact it's just the culmination of the stories of millions of lives wrapped together. I hope you have a lot of his WWII memorabilia. Too many families I've found lost their relatives things over the years. John

Thanks Grog, will do, I'll put a notice on here when it's published and I'll be sure to give credit to this blog for identifying cars, etc. One thing that a lot of people don't know about are the hell ships. These were freighters and converted ocean liners used to transport POWs mainly the Philippines and other places in the Pacific back to Japan. They were not marked as holding POWs. There were roughly 60 of them, about 20 were attacked and damaged or sunk, killing about 20,000 American, British, and other allied POWs. Lt Britt first spent 2-1/2 years as a POW in the Philippines, then was put on the Oryoku Maru which was attacked and sunk killing about 300 Americans, they were then put on the Enoura Maru to go to Takao Formosa (Taiwan) where it too was sunk killing another roughly 300, then he was put on the Brazil Maru to go from Takao to Japan and another 400 died in the hold of that ship from exposure, etc., and when it got to Japan another 100 died within a week from that trip. He then spent 3 months as a POW in Japan and 4 months as a POW in Manchuria. He lost a lot of good friends along the way. Pappy Gunn is another one of the countless little known heroes of WWII. John

Can't see your grandfather with his suitcase, only a medium size photo of the LSM, but can't make out anyone on it clearly. Life and death then was often a matter of just blind luck. Lt Britt was in hold #2 of the Enoura Maru POW hell ship. Bombs dropped on hold #1 killed almost all the men in that hold, another bomb near hold #2 killed about 50. He was wounded in that attack by American planes and also while fighting on Bataan against the Japanese.

The book my friend Dave and I are working on is about his father, the men around him, and the families at home. The surrender of first Bataan and then a month later the better supplied and more defensible Corregidor was inevitable. Some dodge capture, but only a handful. When they surrendered most men were deathly sick and living on starvation rations. General King did the right thing by surrendering Bataan and Gen Wainwright did the right thing the next month by surrendering Corregidor and the remaining forces in the Philippines. To have done anything else would have resulted in an absolute slaughter of the remaining soldiers and would only have resulted in both places being totally overrun in another week or two. The men that did evade capture did a great job then as guerrilla fighters or to send radio messages to the Americans as spotters. That losing battle for the Philippines is one of the brightest points in American military history. The Japanese General Homma told his superiors he would take the Philippines in about 2 weeks, but he was held off for 5 months by men with no hope of supply, no hope of reinforcement, and fighting an enemy with total air and naval superiority around them. It's hard not to find anyone who wasn't a hero during that fight.

Another car I'm hoping this incredibly knowledgeable group can help me with I've come across in the family photos. To me it looks like a Ford Model A about 1928~1929, but that S shaped part on the back of the car I can only find associated with ragtops. Any ideas? Unfortunately Grace, Lt Britt's future wife, is blocking much of the car. Looks like a nice Summer day around La Crosse Wisconsin where Chester, Grace, my friend David Britt Lt Col USAF (Ret), I and our families all grew up. Dave is now in Florida and I'm in Arizona.

Max D Wait, was a civilian who volunteered to go to the Philippines to work on the artillery as an engineer. He served with Lt Chester Britt on Fort Wint on Grande Island in Subic Bay from about November 1940 until December 24, 1941, when the little fort had to be abandoned and the men went to either Bataan or Corregidor to continue the fight. Max and Chester were captured on Bataan. Max was one of the men liberated during The Great Raid. We're in contact with his daughter now who is providing us with things from Max for our book.

He was 6'3" tall, but thin. The tall part had advantages as a POW, but the thin part was not helpful as they were often on starvation rations and he had nothing he could afford to lose. Thanks for the Wis Historical info, that should give some clues.

This is great. Thanks for all the replies. I think you've got it exactly. Using this website https://www.garagekeptmotors.com/vehicles/551/1928-dodge-brothers-128-sedan I blew up the photo showing the old interior and compared to the website....stick shift matches, bulge on the dash under the gauges matches, emblem in the center of the wheel matches, etc. I think this may be a car he owned while going to high school 1930-1934, or to a local college 1934-1937 prior to getting a commission to attend West Point. Well, THAT was so fast and productive, maybe I can get some further help. I have two newer cars he owned based upon multiple photos. A 1940 Chevrolet Deluxe 2 door sedan with 1940 New York plate 6D93-38 (attached photo shows the plate styles). That is his wife Grace. They got married the day after he graduated from West Point. They sailed from NYC to Manila on 9/14/1940 on the USAT Grant. She was evacuated back to the U.S. in May of 1941 along with all the other Army dependents out of worries of impending conflict with Japan. I think this was the first car they owned together. Second is what he had while at West Point 1936 Oldsmobile sedan1938 Wisconsin license plate 529-469 Is there any way to chase down a vehicles history only from those plate numbers? Thanks, John

I am writing a book about the man in this photo, he is the late father of a friend of mine. His name is Chester K Britt, he went to West Point and graduated June 1940, went to the Philippines, was captured when Bataan surrendered and went through the Bataan Death March and much more, until he was finally liberated from a POW camp in August 16, 1945 in Mukden Manchuria. I'm trying to trace as many steps of his life as possible. I'm pretty sure this photo of him was taken between 1934~1938. Can anyone identify the car in this photo. My best guess is something around 1930ish, but I don't recognized the nameplate in the center of the wheel. This is his West Point memorial https://www.westpointaog.org/memorial-article?id=73a5cf7f-479b-48de-baa0-c2214732cc7a Thank you.