Cpl. Richard Albert Veal

Corporal Richard Albert Veal passed away in the Cabanatuan Prisoner of War Camp on December 27, 1942.

He is survived by his niece Jennie Charrette and countless other nieces and nephews.

Born on the April 8, 1906, to Father William A. Veal, Jr. and Mother Francisca Jurado in Rodey, Dona Ana County, New Mexico.

He entered the service from New Mexico on the March 14, 1941. He served in the 200th Coast Artillery Regiment, part of the New Mexico National Guard, and was deployed in September to the island of Luzon in the Philippines.

Japanese forces began a full-scale invasion of Luzon on December 22, 1941. In response, Gen MacArthur ordered a withdrawal of USAFFE to the Bataan Peninsula to hold out for reinforcements. Unfortunately, in the wake of the Pearl Harbor attack and other Japanese advances throughout the Pacific, no reinforcements were forthcoming. The 200th Coast Artillery was one of the last units to cover the withdrawal before falling back to Bataan.

Due to shortages in food and medical supplies, disease continuously zapped USAFFE’s strength. The sick, starving USAFFE troops retreated southward, then struggled to hold out against a renewed Japanese assault in the first week of April 1942. By the evening of April 8th, the 200th and 515th Regiments were among the last organized units on southern Bataan. Regiments were ordered to destroy their anti-aircraft pieces and attempted to reorganize as infantry units during the night. Many men went missing. Either swept up in the retreat or lost somewhere in the hills. Due to all the confusion, on April 9, 1942, USAFFE troops on Bataan surrendered to the Japanese, and the majority still alive subjected to the 65-mile “Bataan Death March” into captivity or their death along the way. Corregidor and the other islands in Manila Bay held out another month but finally surrendered on May 6, 1942. By the summer of 1942. The prisoners from Bataan, including Cpl. Veal, had joined those from Corregidor at Cabanatuan Camp #1, Nueva Ecija Province, Philippines.

At its peak, Cabanatuan held approximately 8,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war who were captured during and after the fall of Bataan. Conditions at the camp were poor, with food and water extremely limited, leading to widespread malnutrition and outbreaks of malaria and dysentery.

Camp records indicate that Cpl. Veal was admitted to the Camp #1 Hospital while suffering from pellagra, a disease associated with niacin or tryptophan deficiency leading to gastrointestinal disorders, dementia, and more. He succumbed to his illness at approximately 8:00 a.m. on December 27, 1942.

Camp burial practices at the time would have been to bury all individuals who died on the same day in a common grave. Cpl. Veal was buried in Common Grave 837, along with other deceased American POWs. By the time the camp became liberated in early 1945, approximately 2,800 Americans had died at Cabanatuan.

In 1947, the American Graves Registration Service recovered two of the sets of remains from Common Grave 837 and they could not be identified at the time. They were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial as Unknowns.

In 2020, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, the unidentified remains associated with Common Grave 837, were disinterred and sent to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency or DPAA laboratory for scientific analysis. The laboratory analysis and the totality of the circumstantial evidence available established an association between one set of unknown remains and Cpl. Veal.

May the memories of his remarkable courage, honor, and sacrifice bring all that read this, understanding of the great man he was.

Corporal Richard Albert Veal will be laid to rest with military honors on Friday, April 24, 2026 at 10:00am at the Santa Fe National Cemetery located at 501 N Guadalupe St., 87501.