Homecoming For Private William E. Calkins Tomorrow At Fir Lawn Cemetery

HILLSBORO, Ore. – Tomorrow at Noon, Friday the 13th, the remains of U.S. Army Private William E. Calkins will be laid to rest during a ceremony at Fir Lawn Memorial Park just West of downtown Hillsboro.  The ceremony will close a very important chapter in this brave young man’s story. The Hillsboro Herald was among the first two media outlets to cover this poignant homecoming story, one that will see this young man’s remains return to Washington County. Here is a look back at that story.

Lost Remains Of WW II Hillsboro Soldier, William Calkins, To Come Home After Mass Grave Exhumed

According to the Department of Defense, Calkins was captured by Japanese forces after the fall of Bataan and endured the infamous Bataan Death March, where tens of thousands of captured soldiers from the US and Philippines were killed by brutal Japanese officers in every form of torture known to man. Calkins survived the 65-mile ordeal but died in a prisoner of war camp in the Philippines in 1942 at the age of 17 and was buried in a mass grave. His remains were later moved to the Manila American Cemetery but remained unidentified until recently. Through DNA analysis, Calkins has now been accounted for 82 years later and will be laid to rest in Hillsboro, Oregon, on Friday, 9/13/2024, at a Noon ceremony with Military honors.

The Family Has Asked You All To Attend

Noon – 9-13-24

Fir Lawn Memorial Park

On behalf of the family, we have been asked to extend a warm welcome to all of you, near and far, to come and honor his life and service and to be present as his cremains are laid to rest in his Mother’s grave at Fir Lawn.  The oldest child of Evalena (Eva) Calkins will be with his mother, who loved him so dearly.  His death and his missing remains would leave a hole in her heart and the families as well.

There have been many news and TV stories about his death and the return of his remains, and the New York Times has covered the overview. The Herald has reached his family and peeled back the facts on his short life before falling in the line of duty.  Who he was and what he meant to his family is starting to come to light, and it is my great honor to share the first and one of the only photos of Billy, as he was known.

Seen in this family photo, left to right, are William Ezra “Billy” Calkins (7), Sister Bonnie, and Patty.  Evalena (Mom) is in front of the horse.  The photo was shot in Washington County during the Great Depression – The family has ties to Laurelwood and North Plains, Oregon.  This photo was gladly provided by his niece, Carlena White, and shows the brave spirit of this fiery young man.

Several media outlets have reported he was 20 years of age.  That is factually incorrect.  Billy was born in 1925 and died in that prison camp, far from home, in 1942.  He was 17 years old at his death.  The New York Times story on Private Calkins uncovered some facts and discussed how he came to be in the Army at age 15 and ended up in a mass grave in the Phillippines at the hands of the Japanese Army.   His remains and those of hundreds of others were exhumed and taken to Hawaii, where they have been in storage for 82 years.  Calkin’s skull and other bones were matched with the DNA of his family members who pursued finding him.  Once the match was found, a military process, including a notice to family members, was officially made.  Eighty-two years after his death from starvation and exposure on that faraway island, the wheels were set in motion for him to come home.

The First Stop In Oregon

Last Friday, a Military Honor Corp and a motorcycle Veterans group greeted Private Calkins at the Portland Airport and saw him carefully brought home to Hillsboro.

“Having Uncle Billy come home was very emotional. I couldn’t help but imagine how my grandparents, my momma (Patty), and Aunt Bonnie would have felt. It closes a chapter in our family that was left unfinished for many many years. I wrote a poem to honor his return.,” said Carlena White.

White shared her poem with the Herald.

I’m Coming Home – Carlena E. White – August 2024

Momma, it’s been so long

So many Tears

So many years

I’m coming home

Daddy, don’t blame yourself

I made my choice

I’m sorry I left you

I’m coming home

I’m scared; so much sorrow

So much pain

So  many years

I’m coming home

Momma and Daddy, I love you

Patty and Bonnie, I miss you

We’ll be together soon

I’m Coming Home

That sad and soul-piercing poem will resonate with anyone who has suffered the loss of a loved one or who has suffered being away from family or dying in a faraway place.

While Carlene is a direct family member of Joseph Calkins and his first wife, Evalena, and their three kids, John Calkins is the offspring of Joseph Calkins and his second wife, Ruth. Ruth gave Joe nine additional Children. John Calkins, who will be prominent at the ceremony tomorrow, is the very youngest child and was born five years after Billy died. So Billy was the oldest child, and John is the youngest.

As stated earlier, John’s DNA matched Billy’s bones and was a key to bringing him home.  I interviewed John, a veteran who had served in Vietnam.  In a twist that is only now clear and created by fate, John served as a Marine in Vietnam with a very interesting job.

“I served in the Marines command group where we handled the casualty and deaths that needed to be reported back home,” said John.

I pointed out to John that his job as a serviceman was to handle the documentation of the deaths of our service men and women, and to make sure their families knew and were given the news officially and respectfully.  The news that never came for his brother, in fact was the news he provided the hundreds of other families.

After a moment of silence, John responded, “I never looked at it in that light.  You know that just ties into this whole story.”

Billy and John both served our country.  Brother Bob Calkins was in the Navy, and Burt was in the Army Aircorp.

John and I spoke at length about the brother he never knew.  I asked him about closure and if his brother coming home provided that.

“People are saying that, but I have a little different opinion.  Closure: I don’t think this is closure.  Our family lost him and had to move on.  I would rather people remember Billy because there is never any closure.  As long as there is any young man or woman who is not home, there won’t be closure as long as there are POWS.  We knew he was gone.  Closure is something in your mind that happens.   I consider the news he is coming home as a discovery, and that gives us hope.  I want to call it discovery (finding him) and hope – hope that others will remember.”

“Families all make sacrifices, and I do not believe we will have closure.  But what a wonderful platform we have now in Billie’s death.  His coming home gives us all Hope, and we all need to continue the work”.

John went on to tell me that Billy was about 5’2″.  He thinks about his 17-year-old brother making that death March in the Phillippines.  About the older men who would have been with him, helping him make it.  Soldiers in the WW 2 had vast age differences.  Many of them were likely dads who had kids like Billy at home.

“Can you imagine the camaraderie even in the death march. Older and younger men together trying to survive. Those men probably helped Billy survive that march.  There were men there who would have been like his fathers – they would have helped him.  That is comforting to know,” said John.

The conversation turned to generational trauma and the loss of a loved one. Be it War, suicide, a car wreck, or murder.  When people die, the family suffers usually for generations.

“People need to understand that these sort of events leave a hole in everyone. As a solider I can say its easier to be a soldier and to deal with what a solider has to deal with, then it is for the moms and dads and families at home.  Not being there, not knowing what is happening, living with that grief and worry- a hardship spreads through the family for generations.   So generational trauma is real and has to be dealt with.”

John wants everyone who can make it to the ceremony to feel welcome. Hope will be there if you come. If you have had trauma and lost a loved one, this is for you.

“His mother loved him so much.  He was the oldest child, She would have never gotten over his loss,” he concluded. “And my brother Billy might have been small in stature, but tomorrow he will be a giant.”

He was a giant. Join the family, us, and, I hope, many others at the ceremony tomorrow in Hillsboro.

RIP Private William E. Calkins