OR SCR8

Oregon Legislature recognizes and honors Private William Ezra Leon "Billy" Calkins, a Washington County native who enlisted in the U.S. Army at age 16 by lying about his age

Private Calkins served with Company B, 31st Infantry Regiment in the Philippines and was captured during the Japanese invasion in December 1941, surviving the 65-mile Bataan Death March with an estimated 75,000 other POWs in April 1942

Died November 1, 1942, at age 17 at Cabanatuan prisoner of war camp and was buried in common grave 704; remains were later reinterred as unknown at Manila American Cemetery and Memorial

DNA identification by the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System in 2018 through the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency's Cabanatuan Project enabled his remains to be returned to Oregon and buried with full military honors on September 13, 2024, at Fir Lawn Memorial Park in Hillsboro

Awards include Bronze Star Medal with oak leaf cluster, Purple Heart, Prisoner of War Medal, Presidential Unit Citation with two bronze oak leaf clusters, and Combat Infantryman Badge