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Born: 11 August 1918, Provo, Utah, Utah, United States Died: 24 October 1944, South China Sea Served In: World War II Branch of Service: Army Rank: 1st Lieutenant Service Notes: He was a pilot stationed at Clark Field in the Philippines when Japanese forces attacked shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. As enemy aircraft descended on the airfield, he attempted to get his plane off the ground, but it was struck by enemy fire and burst into flames. Although he managed to escape the burning aircraft, he suffered severe burns. Months later, he was captured by Japanese forces and forced to endure the brutal 62-mile Bataan Death March. He survived the march and then endured two long years as a prisoner of war. Eventually, he and many other POWs were crowded aboard a Japanese prison ship bound for Japan. The vessel was not marked to indicate that it carried prisoners of war, and a U.S. submarine, unaware that Allied prisoners were aboard, attacked and sank it. After surviving a burning aircraft, the Bataan Death March, and two years of captivity, his life was tragically cut short at only 26 years old.
Max Halverson was included in the BYU yearbook The Banyan in 1936. Source: Brigham Young University. The Banyan. Vol. 22. Provo, UT: Associate Students of Brigham Young University, 1936.
