"Here is a photo of PFC Jesse E. Nowlin, a Texan, who joined the Marine Corps on June 26, 1940. In December, 1941, he was serving with the 1st Defense Bn. on Wake Island. One of his duties involved riding a sidecar equipped motorcycle. Following the battle, he was captured and served the rest of the war as a POW of the Japanese. After the war, he graduated from North Texas State University and pursued a career in mechanical engineering. He was employed by the U.S. Chemical Corp, the Atomic Energy Commission, and the Small Business Administration. He died on September 13, 1990, in Dallas, Texas, at the age of 74. He was buried with full military honors at Willow Wild Cemetery, Fannin Co., Texas.

"Other Marines on Wake, whose duties involved riding the three motorcycles available, were Herman L. Rasor, who served in the Corps from June 1941 to April 1962, and another career Marine named James R. Brown, who often transported the mail sergeant to meet the Pan American Clipper. He retired as a captain.

"Ernest G. Rogers, one of the Army Air Corps soldiers on Wake, observed a humorous incident after the occupation. He saw a Japanese soldier, who was obviously unfamiliar with the heavy sidecar equipped American motorcycles, attempt to ride one. He got the motorcycle started and shifted in to low gear and as it moved forward slowly, he shifted again, but by mistake into reverse. As the machine jerked backwards, the soldier was thrown over the handlebars and landed on the ground. He then ran after it and eventually was able to climb aboard, shift into low gear and ride away very slowly.

"The American captives were loaded aboard the Japanese liner, Nitta Maru and taken to POW camps. According to Colonel Hiromichi Muromoto of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF), who was assigned to the Japanese Embassy in Washington in the early 1980s, the ship was later converted to an aircraft carrier named Chuyoh. On December 3, 1943, while enroute to Yukusaka, she was torpedoed by an American submarine off Hachijo-Jima Island. It sank the following day.

"American forces successfully blockaded the island and a large number of Japanese occupiers starved. One of those who starved to death, kept a diary that was later found. His name was Lance Corporal Watanabe Mitsumasa of the Anti-Tank Co., 1st Bn, 13th Mixed Independent Regt. His entry for April 21, 1944 read, 'No ships come here anymore. We are disappointed. Today had a meal of roasted rat. I dined with good appetite; perhaps it will give me energy.' (Reference for the diary info: History of Wake Island 1568-1946, by Capt. E. A. Junghans, USN. Mimeographed copy from HQ USAF Code PRPJ)."