Arkansas soldier who survived Bataan Death March comes home after 84 years

LITTLE ROCK — Cpl. Delmor W. Erwin left Arkansas as a young man and never came back. On Friday, 84 years after he died in a Japanese prison camp in the Philippines, he finally did.

Arkansas Army National Guard Military Funeral Honors soldiers received Erwin’s flag-draped casket during a dignified transfer at Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport on Oct. 9. Arkansas State Police cruisers and the Patriot Guard Riders, motorcycles flying American and POW/MIA flags, escorted the hearse along Interstate 30 to Roller-Chenal Funeral Home.

Erwin, a Newport native whose parents lived in Oil Trough, was born Jan. 7, 1922. He was serving with the 31st Infantry Regiment in the Philippines when Japanese forces invaded in December 1941. After months of fighting, U.S. forces on the Bataan peninsula surrendered April 9, 1942, and Erwin was among the thousands of American and Filipino troops taken prisoner.

He survived the 65-mile Bataan Death March and was held at Cabanatuan Prisoner of War Camp No. 1. According to camp and historical records, he died there of malaria on Nov. 26, 1942. He was 20. His remains were buried in a common grave with other prisoners.

For decades, his family had no answers.

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About 10 years ago, the Army contacted Erwin’s closest living relatives asking for DNA samples. His nephew, Jim Erwin of Bryant, provided one, and his grandmother’s DNA was also used in the match. Great-niece Reva Bushatz also helped in the identification effort. Two of Erwin’s nieces who gave samples, Helen Duncan and Betty Floyd, died before the identification was made.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency officially accounted for Erwin on March 25, 2026, using forensic science, historical research and DNA analysis. The family received the news March 31.

Jim Erwin, who spent years collecting his uncle’s letters and military records, told KARK the homecoming was something the family never expected to see. “It’s been a long time coming, none of us thought that would ever happen,” he said.

Erwin’s parents, Betty and Jim Monroe Erwin, his sister, Mollie Erwin Green, and his brothers, Beecher, Jack and Charlie Erwin, all died without knowing where he rested. Relatives say they never let his memory fade.

A public visitation will be held Thursday, Oct. 15, from 1 to 2 p.m. at Geyer Springs First Baptist Church, 12400 Interstate 30 in Little Rock, followed by a memorial service with full military honors at 2 p.m. The service will include a presentation of the medals Erwin earned, and a 21-gun salute is planned outside the church at about 2:30 p.m.

The public is invited to attend.