Capt. Vinal Francis SAYRE

SAYRE, STEVENS

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 9/17/2016 at 20:53:00

U.S. Army Captain Vinal Francis Sayre
August 31, 1917 ---- October 24, 1944
Killed in Action, Buried at Sea

Vinal Francis Sayre was born to Dorr Lotton Sayre and Jennie Alice Stevens on August 31, 1917 in South Dakota. His father, Dorr Sayre was from Eagle Grove, Wright County, Iowa and died April 30, 1921 in Brainerd, Minnesota. His mother Jennie (Stevens) Sayre then married Jerry Algra on May 28, 1924 in Brookings, South Dakota.

In June 1940, Sayre entered the Foreign Service in the Infantry. He was trained at Fort Benning, Georgia from October 1939 to May 1940, and at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, in 1940. Later that year, Captain Sayre was sent to the Philippine Islands, and fought in the Battle of Bataan and the Battle of Corregidor.

Vinal F. Sayre was a Captain in the Army during World War II. Vinal was captured by Imperial Japan while serving in the Philippine Islands, and was sent to PW Camp #1 near Cabanatuan, Luzon, Phillipines where 3,213 other American POWs were held. Vinal's capture was first reported to the International Committee of the Red Cross on May 7, 1942, and the last report was made on October 24, 1944. Based on these two reports, Vinal was imprisoned for at least 901 days (2 years and 7 months), one of the longest durations of captivity recorded. Vinal died in the sinking of the Arisan Maru on October 24, 1944, which was sunk by submarine action in the South China Sea. Captain Sayre was awarded the Philippine Defense Ribbon, Bronze Star, and a Purple Heart. Captain Sayre loyally and bravely served his country for a total of forty-eight months and should be remembered as a hero.