STUART W. KING, LTCOL, USMC
Stuart King '20
Date of birth: September 25, 1897
Date of death: January 12, 1945
Age: 47
Lucky Bag
From the 1920 Lucky Bag:
Loss
Stuart died in Japanese captivity, probably on January 12, 1945, following his transport aboard the Hell Ship Enoura Maru. (One listing has December 31, 1944; another has January 19, 1945. Believe that the list here, with January 12, 1945, is more accurate.) Stuart had survived the bombing of the Oryoku Maru in December, and was transferred to Enoura Maru where he died right before reaching Takao, Formosa (Jan. 1) or after that ship, too, was bombed (Jan. 9).
He had been captured upon the fall of Corregidor in May 1941.
His wife, Mary, was listed as next of kin. He has a memory marker in South Carolina.
Career
He was once a member of VMI's class of 1919.
At the beginning of the war, he was commanding officer of the Marine Barracks, U.S. Naval Base, Subic Bay, PI. That unit, which included 3 officers and 73 Marines, was disbanded on December 22, 1942 and personnel transferred to the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines. Stuart became "technical advisor" and executive officer to Francis Bridget '21, a patrol plane pilot who was then also the commander of the Naval Battalion. They were involved in action on the Bataan peninsula and later on Corregidor island.
Memorial Hall Error
He is listed on the killed in action panel in the front of Memorial Hall, but not with his classmates in the Class of 1920.
Class of 1920
Stuart is one of 27 members of the Class of 1920 in Memorial Hall.
