Otto Farrell Horton was born May 11, 1920 to James L. and Zena Myrtle Vittetoe Horton. He died Apr. 27, 1945 and is buried in Memorial Lawn Cemetery, Ottumwa, IA.
Petty Officer Horton served in World War II with the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Ogalala (CM-4) and later aboard the USS Pope (DD-225) . Following the sinking of the Pope during the Java Sea battle, he was taken prisoner aboard a Japanese destroyer.* He died in the Japanese prison camp at Macassar, Celebes Islands.
*Japanese destroyers rescued survivors from the Pope, Encounter, and Exeter which had been adrift for about 20 hours, in rafts and lifejackets, or clinging to floats, many coated in oil, and some blinded. This action was later the subject of a book, The Untold Story of Captain Kudo Shunsaku and the Destroyer Ikazuchi” and a 2007 television program.
Source: ancestry.com
