This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Bassham Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/3h.2ADE/2075 Message Board Post: This letter is being sent at the same time to the newspapers in Jeffersonville and New Albany, Indiana Clifford H. Bassham and Earl C. Bassham of Floyd County, Indiana were killed July 11, 1945, and are buried side by side in the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines. Hello, my name is Dave Dwiggins and I am a retired Hoosier residing in the Philippines. My Filipino wife and I visited the memorial as regular visitors but came home with a mission in our hearts. We had only strolled a few feet onto the well-groomed grass and I was hit by a painful, gut wrenching feeling of loneliness that I felt when I left the USA for Vietnam many years earlier. As I looked over the hillsides there were thousands of graves (17,206) and the only activity was that of the groundskeepers. There were no visitors. http://fizkid.tripod.com/ I focused my camera on a white cross of of an Ohio soldier. At that moment it hit me, why don't I see if I can find a few of these families. Since that time we have located 75 Indiana families, actually there 73, one is from Michigan and another is from New York. A ninety-four year old New Yorek lady never known nor seen the grave of her brother. We couldn't turn her down and she now has a photo. For over a year now we have been collecting information and can't seem to find anything about these Bassham boys. We have contacted 150 Indiana newspapers, over 200 libraries, 50 historical societies and have written thousands of letters to genealogy bulletin boards. We have also searched the American Battlefield Commission database, Indiana servicemen's database, National Archives (NARA) and the Indiana State Library Servicemen database to mention of few of the locations. We figure surely there would be better resources in the Jeffersonville - New Albany area and no doubt someone knows what happened to the young Indiana heroes. In light of the fact that Hampton Sides wrote a fantastic true book, Ghost Soldiers (National Best Seller) and it has been made into a movie The Great Raid which is coming out next week, this would be a great feature if you were lucky enough to find some answers. http://www.apple.com/trailers/miramax/the_great_raid.html The Great Raid is base upon the book by Hampton about the rescue of American POW's that had been incarcerated by the Japanese for over three years after being captured at Corregidor and Bataan in the Philippines. Please help us to find the story about the Bassham boys, killed on the same day and buried side by side in the Manila American Cemetery along with their comrades. This is the largest of all the American Battlefield Commission Memorials in number of grave sites. We thank you in advance for your help and for taking the time to read our story. We have attached the photographs of the Bassham boys final resting place, singularly and together. Clifford H. Bassham Major United States Army S/N 0-384633 152nd Infantry Regiment, 38th Infantry Division Entered the service from Floyd County Indiana DOD – July 11, 1945 Buried in the Manila American Cemetery - Philippines Plot G Row 11 Grave 2 Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, Purple Heart Earl C. Bassham Private United States Army S/N 20532919 152nd Infantry Regiment, 38th Infantry Division Entered the service from Floyd County Indiana DOD – July 11, 1945 Buried in the Manila American Cemetery - Philippines Plot G Row 11 Grave 3 Bronze Star, Purple Heart Sincerely, Dave and Apple Dwiggins San Pablo City, Philippines