A large, emotionally-wrenching, and comprehensive exhibit on the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery, 36th Infantry Division (Texas National Guard) of the U.S. Army, the famous Lost Battalion of WWII< at the Texas Military Forces Museum at Camp Mabry.
Much has been written of the suffering of the men of the Lost battalion, but this exhibit distills and presents it to great impact.
We recommend the Texas Military Forces Museum to anyone who is interested in military history, equipment displays, and incredible stories of bravery and heroism.
From the Texas Military Forces Museum website: (
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The Lost Battalion Association is composed of the men of the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery and those men who swam ashore from the Cruiser USS Houston (CA-30) when it was sunk, and who survived 42 months of "hell" as prisoners of the Japanese during World War II.
The 2nd Battalion, along with the rest of the 36th Infantry Division, was mobilized for federal service on November 20, 1940.
In the photograph at the right are some of the young men of Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery. Photograph was taken during late 1939. Kyle Thompson, author of A Thousand Cups of Rice: Surviving the Death Railway, stands in the second row at the far right.
On Thursday, December 18, 1941, the 36th Infantry Division commander, Major General Fred L. Walker, wrote in his journal:
"Last month we shipped off the 2nd Battalion of the 131st Field Artillery to the Philippines. Persons who have received letters from friends in that battalion tell me that it sailed from Hawaii on about November 28th. If this is correct, their transport may have been in the vicinity of Guam or west thereof on December 7th. It is my belief, however, that they have evaded the Japanese sea attacks and are now either at their destination or at some other port in the Pacific. We are all quite concerned about them."
"On January 11, 1942, 35 days after the outbreak of War with Japan, the Battalion was on Java, the only U. S. ground combat Unit to reach the Netherland East Indies, before the Dutch capitulated to the Japanese."
"January 21, 1943, found us again packing our meager possessions and marching out of the Moulmein prison. We walked through the town, which still appeared deserted, to the nearby railway station. There we boarded more small, hot, Asian boxcars for a thirty-mile journey to the town of Thanbyuzayat, the staging area for the northern end of the Death Railway." - Kyle Thompson
A typical prisoner of war camp in Burma and Thailand on the Death Railway. This picture is of a camp in the Burma jungles and shows Allied POWS in various states of "jungle dress" outside their bamboo and grass barracks. -AWM negative #157870""
IMPORTANT: In order to visit this waymark, you will have to enter Camp Mabry, which is an operational military post. Each person over the age if 18 must provide a photo ID, and drivers must show their proof of insurance to the soldiers at the guard shack before proceeding on board.
Camp Mabry is generally accessible to the public during the hours that the Texas Military Forces Museum is open, from 1000-1600 Tuesdays through Sundays.
Please also note that Camp Mabry can be closed to civilian visitors at any time, depending on threat conditions and base operational needs.