By Jarred Marlowe
Reid Stanley “Stan” Aaron was born on October 14, 1918, in Martinsville, Virginia, and grew up during an era when service and duty were deeply rooted values. Known affectionately as “Stan,” Aaron attended the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia, where he earned a degree in Civil Engineering, graduating in 1940. While at VMI, he trained as a field artillery officer, a path that would soon carry him across the Pacific in the opening days of World War II.
Commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army Air Corps, Aaron was assigned to the 27th Bomb Group (Light), 48th Materiel Squadron, 5th Air Base Group, part of the Far East Air Force. His unit departed Savannah, Georgia, aboard the USS President Coolidge, arriving at Fort McKinley in Luzon, the Philippines, on November 21, 1941. Their mission, part of what was known as Operation Plum, aimed to strengthen the United States air presence in the region as tensions with Japan escalated.
However, fate intervened. The group’s aircraft were diverted to Australia after the Japanese attacks on the Philippines in December 1941, leaving Aaron and his fellow airmen stranded without planes. The men of the 27th Bomb Group were soon reorganized into the 2nd Provisional Infantry Regiment and sent to the front lines on the Bataan Peninsula, where they fought bravely against overwhelming odds.
When American and Filipino forces were forced to surrender on April 9, 1942, Aaron was among the thousands captured by the Japanese. He endured the infamous Bataan Death March, a brutal sixty-five mile forced trek in searing heat that claimed thousands of lives. Of the approximately eight hundred eighty airmen captured from his group, fewer than half would survive captivity.
Tragically, Aaron did not return home. In December 1944, he was among the prisoners loaded onto the Japanese transport Oryoku Maru during the evacuation of the Philippines. The unmarked ship was bombed by American aircraft, and survivors were later transferred to other vessels, including the Brazil Maru. It was aboard this ship that Aaron died on January 21, 1945.
Today, Second Lieutenant Reid Stanley Aaron is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial in Hawaii and with a marker in Oakwood Cemetery in Martinsville. His legacy endures as a testament to courage, endurance, and ultimate sacrifice.
Jarred Marlowe is a local resident and historian. He is a member of the Col. George Waller Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, the Blue & Gray Education Society, and the committee chair for the Martinsville-Henry County 250 Committee. He may be reached at marloweja15@gmail.com.
