theoldwolf

My uncle Courtney Rogers Draper, the first son of Delbert Morley Draper and Frances Mary Rogers Draper, was born on 5 April 1913 in Salt Lake City. A former student reporter for The Salt Lake Tribune, Draper attended Stewart training and East high school and was graduated from the University of Utah and George Washington University, Washington, D. C., where he received his LLB degree.

An auditor for the U. S. accounting department while attending George Washington University, he was secretary to Gen. Hugh S. Johnson during N R A days.

A member of the Utah bar and junior bar, he practiced law in Washington, D. C. and Utah. He was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity and Salt Lake City Junior Chamber of Commerce. A reserve officer in the U. S. army, he was called to active service July 1, 1941. Transferred to the Philippine Islands Aug. 1, 1941, he was stationed at Fort Stotsenberg and Clark field, and was present during the first bombing of the latter field. Transferred to Mindanao before the fall of Corregidor, he served there until ordered to surrender.

As a prisoner of the Japanese he was interned until June, 1944 and was then transferred to Cabanatuan, Bilibid. He was being transferred again aboard the Enoura Maru, one of the infamous Hell Ships, when the transport was severely damaged in Takao Harbor, Formosa (now Taiwan) by U.S. Navy aircraft from the USS Hornet. At the time, military officials were unaware that POW's were packed like sardines in these unmarked ships, and thousands lost their lives.

At the time of his death he had three sisters and a brother, as well as one sister who preceded him in death.

His remains were never recovered, but there is a memorial plaque honoring him in Memory Grove park, Salt Lake City, Utah.