In Memory Of
Army Major
Harry James Fleeger
Parker, South Dakota
Turner County
June 27, 1908 –October 24, 1944
Killed as a Prisoner of War aboard the Arisan Maru in the South China Sea

Harry James Fleeger was born on June 27, 1908, to Judge Lewis Lincoln and Cliffie Fleeger.

Harry Fleeger went to West Point where he graduated on June 9, 1931.  Harry J. Fleeger was married to Louise Morgan on August 8, 1931; the Fleegers and the Morgans had long been family friends. While Harry Fleeger was at West Point, he sent a letter to Louise every single day.

Army Major Fleeger’s first station of duty was Fort Des Moines, Iowa, and then he was sent to Fort Benning in Georgia, and from there ordered to the Philippines 13^th Cavalry at Stotsenburg, P.I.  Harry, his wife, and their two children, James Elliot and Lewis Lincoln (nicknamed Larry), sailed to Manila, Philippine Islands in October of 1939. By June of 1940, the Navy families were being evacuated; by June of 1941, all Army families were also evacuated from the Philippines, including Army Major Fleeger’s wife and children.

Army Major Fleeger was taken prisoner by the Japanese and held for four years. His family only received one note through the Red Cross. Fleeger’s wife, Louise, sent Harry many nourishing bars and vitamins, a new product on the market. 

Army Major Fleeger even survived the notorious “Death March,” which killed so many of his fellow captives. When the decision was made to move the prisoners to China, Army Major Fleeger was placed in the “hole” of a junk ship; a Navy submarine sank the ship on October 24, 1944, without realizing that our American prisoners of war were on the ship.  Louise, Harry’s wife, was notified on June 19, 1945, that her husband had been killed, along with almost all of the 1,775 prisoners of war aboard the ship at the time.  http://harrisonheritage.com/adbc/hellship.htm has more information about the Arisan Maru.

Louise, devastated by the news, swore she’d never remarry but was lucky enough to find love again and remarried, a friend of Harry’s from West Point,  in 1947. She lives in Merritt Island in Florida and is now ninety-one years old.  Harry and Louise’s son, James, lives in Houston, Texas. Their younger son, Lewis, died in July of 1984, of heart failure.

May we long remember the service and sacrifice of brave soldiers such as Army Major Harry J. Fleeger.

This entry was respectfully submitted by David Miller, 8^th Grade West, Spearfish Middle School, Spearfish, South Dakota, February 27, 2000. Information for this entry was provided by Louise Fleeger Snee, widow of Harry Fleeger.