DENVER (KDVR) — He survived the Bataan Death March, only to die in a Japanese prison camp. Now, 82 years later, a Colorado World War II hero is finally back home.
The remains of Clifford Strickland of Florence, Colorado, arrived at Denver International Airport on Thursday, escorted by his great nephew, Air Force Capt. Daniel Strickland.
“When I was asked to do it, my first feeling was unworthy. That’s my honest feeling. But honored. Honored to be asked to do it and to have the opportunity to escort him home. A soldier of that generation who happens to be in my bloodline,” Strickland said.
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Clifford Strickland was in the Army in the Philippines in 1942 when Japanese forces invaded. He was taken prisoner and subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March. He survived it, but then he died while in captivity at a Japanese POW camp. Strickland was buried in a mass grave and eventually moved to an American cemetery in Manila, where he was interred as “unknown.”