As a teen, Marion Walk was called “a girl of great attraction[i].” As an adult, she lost one loved one after another until she found a new family as a WAC. She lost her life, along with fellow WACs, in the jungle of Shangri La.

Born on Halloween, October 31, 1900, Marion Virginia Walk,[ii] was born to William Henry Walk and Zella Barnitz Walk in Philadelphia. A few weeks later, they had her baptized at the Church of the Holy Apostles and Mediator.

The Walks had been married 10 years when Marion arrived. They already had two children but only one had survived, Marion’s big brother Orville Barnitz Walk, age 8. The little family lived in a rental home in Philadelphia where William was a bicycle salesman while Zella kept house and Orville attended school.[iii]

The 1910 census finds the family in the same rental home. William is now the treasurer for an auto supply company while Zella is taking care of things at home. Orville is finished with school and works at a department store. Marion is ten years old and in school.[iv]

Marion attends and graduates from William Penn High School in 1918. She takes the “commercial course” which allowed her to later be a stenographer and a secretary. Her senior yearbook says “Although she’s slow, but, sure of action. Yet she is a girl of great attraction.”[v]

HER LIFE BEFORE MILITARY

During the Roaring Twenties, the Walk family continues to rent their same home. The children are grown and now in the work force along with their dad. William is the accountant at an ordnance supply. Orville is working as a U.S. Navy musician. Marion is a stenographer for the U. S. Government. [vi] By 1923, Orville marries and starts his own family in neighboring Camden, NJ.[vii]

Marion fell for a blue-eyed, dark haired[viii] Henry Whittington McMonagle. Henry was a WWI veteran who had served a year overseas[ix] and was an American born child of Irish immigrants.[x] The two were married in 1925.

In November of 1925, Marion and Henry prepare to welcome their first child into the world but the baby girl arrives premature and is stillborn.[xi]

Just a month later, she is expecting again. In September of 1926, Marion and Henry had a baby they named Richard Henry McMonagle. Sadly, he was born with medical issues and lived but a few days.[xii]

Then, about six months later, her father, William, is suffering from kidney disease and other ailments. He passes away in January of 1927.[xiii]

During the years of the Great Depression, Marion and her husband, Henry, live on North Gratz Street in Philly. Both of Marian and Henry’s widowed mothers– Zella Walk and Jennie Barnitz - live with them in a home the couple owns. Henry is supporting all four of them on his salary as a trainman for the railroad.[xiv]

A terrible change happened for Marion in 1935. At age 34, she loses her husband, William, to heart failure. He was just 39.[xv] She holds his funeral in their house on Gantz Street.

Having just been through the death of her husband, it must have been a blow to Marion to then lose her brother, Orville in 1939 to colon cancer.

By the time the war years arrive, 1940, a widowed Marion and her widowed mother, Zella, are the only ones left in the home Marion owned with her husband on Gratz Street. Marion, who was staying at home when married to Henry, is now back in the work force. She’s supporting the war effort by working as a secretary at the Philadelphia Naval Yards. In the 1940 census, both Marion and Zella report other sources of income, which they must have needed to stay afloat.[xvi]

In 1942, Marion loses another family member when her mother, Zella, dies from her diabetes.

HER MILITARY STORY

Having lost her father, mother, brother, husband and two babies, Marion W. McMonagle begins a new life at age 43 by enlisting as a WAC on May 13, 1943. WACs were required to be between the ages of 21 and 45. Marion just ducked under the age ceiling by 18 months.

Her service number was A-311096.[xvii] With all her family gone, she lists a friend, Dr. Hans J. Stooker as her contact as “next of kin.”

She was assigned to the Manhattan District on September 23, 1943. Less than a year later, she was placed in an overseas unit on November 17, 1944.[xviii]

HER LAST DAY

TEC3 Marion W. McMonagle is stationed in New Guinea.

With a day off to spend, Marion, joined 23 other Army personnel for a site-seeing trip in a transport plane.[xix] Colonel Peter J. Prossen was the pilot. Prossen was the chief of maintenance for the Far East Air Service Command. Others on board were:

· Major George H. Nicholson

· Major Herman F. Antonini

· Major Phillip J. Dattle

· Captain Herbert F. Good

· Captain Louis E. Freyman

· Lieutenant Lawrence F. Holding

· Lieutenant Robert E. McCollom

· Staff Sergeant Hilliard Norris

· Corporal Charles R. Miller

· Corporal Melvyn A. Weber

· PFC Melvin A Mollberg

· PFC George R. Newcomer

· Staff Sergeant Laura E. Besley

· Sergeant Helen G. Kent

· Sergeant Belle G. Naimer

· PFC Alethia Fair

· PFC Maria C Gillis

· PFC Marm Landau

· PFC Eleanor Hanna

· Corporal Margaret Hastings

· Lieutenant John B. McCollom

· Sergeant Kenneth W. Decker[xx]

Corporal Margaret Hastings described the day in The Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper months later. Hastings’s boss was Colonel Prosson, the pilot. She reported the eight WACs were excited for a chance to fly over the legendary area nick-named “Shangri-La.” The pilots who had flown over the area came back with many tall tales of the sights they had seen – or imagined they had seen- from native’s the size of fictional Paul Bunyon to native women who looked like movie stars.

The WACs filed onto the camouflage-painted plane first and the men filled in around them. Hastings said she took the first seat but when she realized she did not have a good view, she moved to the last seat near the back door, opposite of Laura and near Eleanor.

The plane, taking off from Santini Airstrip, flew at 9,000-10,000 feet for 55 minutes before arriving over Hidden Valley. It only took a few minutes to cross the valley. The plane was in a climb. Suddenly the plane was shearing the tops off tall, jungle trees.[xxi] The plane shook fiercely, and suction drew the walls inward. Upon impact with a mountain, the tail section broke off and the plane burst into flames.[xxii]

The plane crashed into a 4-mile thin but 25-mile-long jungle surrounded by the Oranje Mountains. The only gorge that serves as an entrance to the valley is cut off by a mountain wall running at direct cross angles, according to a Pittsburge Sun-Telegraph article. It is believed the wall was hidden by clouds when the plane crashed.[xxiii]

Only three people survived the crash including Corporal Margaret Hastings, Lieutenant John B. McCollom and Sergeant Kenneth W. Decker.[xxiv] Hastings and McCollom crawled out of the torn tail. Decker, with a head wound, was thrown out of the front of the plane. McCollom heard screaming and went into the burning plane and pulled out two women. It was too late to save Marion McMonagle or any of the others.

Of the few rescued, out first was Eleanor Hanna followed by Laura Besley. Eleanor Hanna was gravely injured but Laura appeared uninjured except for a few minor burns, according to Hastings’s recollection in the Philadelphia Inquirer.[xxv] Eleanor Hanna died the first night in the jungle.[xxvi] Laura died during the night of May 15, 1945, at Balim Valley, Dutch New Guinea which is now Papua New Guinea, Indonesia,[xxvii] presumably from internal injuries.

The crash happened in the nearly inaccessible Owen Stanley Mountains of Netherland New Guinea.[xxviii] Survivor Corporal Margaret Hastings buried Laura Besley at the crash site.[xxix] It was three days later before the survivors were spotted.[xxx] They had hiked through the jungle to a rock clearing so they could be seen.

The three survivors suffered burns and shock,[xxxi] and eventually two had developed gangrene. Decker had deep back wounds[xxxii]. They were trapped in the jungle for 47 days, were delivered a walkie-talkie, food and medical supplies by parachute. Eventually, a medical team and other help parachuted in to tend to them.

An airborne funeral service was held at 11,000 feet above the wreckage site with Catholic and Protestant rites. Volunteer service members parachuted into the area then hiked to the wreckage. Marion’s body and the others were then deemed impossible to move so were buried properly at the crash site. Twenty crosses and one Star of David were dropped into the jungle.[xxxiii] The crosses were placed by the volunteers on the graves.

Another team, that parachuted in, built a landing strip to support a glider. It was hacked into the jungle. It took several days to create. After the injured were deemed well enough to make a three-day hike through the jungle, they were moved to the landing strip. For several days, failed attempts were made before the glider rescue worked. The glider was then lifted aloft by a C-47 with a grabline.[xxxiv]

TEC3 Marion McMonagle remained buried near the wreckage in the New Guinea jungle for the next 14 years until her body could be recovered for burial. According to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin newspaper, the army believed at first it would not be able to retrieve the body from the rugged mountains. [xxxv] Many years after the crash, men sent by the Army traveled by plane, boat, and foot, traveling over mountains and through jungles, to reach the Hidden Valley and retrieve the bodies there.[xxxvi]

TEC3 Marion Virginia Walk McMonagle was 43.

COMMENDATIONS

World War II Victory Medal

American Campaign Medal

Army Presidential Unit Citation

Army Good Conduct Medal

Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal[xxxvii]

HER GRAVE

Marion’s body was recovered 14 years after the crash in 1959.[xxxviii] Once Marion and the remains of the other crash victims were recovered and identified, all were interred as a group burial in Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, St. Louis. Missouri.

MEMORIALS

Marion McMonagle is remembered on The Wall of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in Manila, Philippines.[xxxix]

RESEARCH NOTES

Marion Walk McMonagle’s father, Henry Walk, sometimes spelled his name Walck and her grandfather was Samuel C. Walck.[xl]

ABOUT THIS STORY

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smart phone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

ADD TO THIS STORY

If you noticed anything missing in this profile, you may contact the author. Click on the author’s name located at the bottom of the story page next to the words “added by.” Click on the author’s name to find the contact link.

[i] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/imageviewer/collections/1265/images/43134_b208969-00045?treeid=73508626&personid=240070324921&usePUB=true&_phsrc=xxD668&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=367624915

[ii] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/imageviewer/collections/2451/images/40355_267472-00137?treeid=73508626&personid=240070324921&usePUB=true&_phsrc=xxD642&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=7669715

[iii] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/imageviewer/collections/7602/images/4115219_00013?pId=58789414

[iv]https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/imageviewer/collections/7884/images/4449316_00663?treeid=73508626&personid=240070324921&usePUB=true&_phsrc=xxD647&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=111626476

[v] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/imageviewer/collections/1265/images/43134_b208969-00045?treeid=73508626&personid=240070324921&usePUB=true&_phsrc=xxD668&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=367624915

[vi]https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/imageviewer/collections/6061/images/4383804_00600?treeid=73508626&personid=240070324921&usePUB=true&_phsrc=xxD648&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=89156381

[vii]https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/imageviewer/collections/6224/images/4660862_00075?treeid=73508626&personid=240070324920&usePUB=true&_phsrc=xxD656&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=22080090

[viii] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/imageviewer/collections/6482/images/005270428_05398?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&queryId=07a8f56475f37fd4db8133790e03d175&usePUB=true&_phsrc=xxD687&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=25328623

[ix] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/imageviewer/collections/60884/images/41744_3421606202_0913-02562?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&queryId=07a8f56475f37fd4db8133790e03d175&usePUB=true&_phsrc=xxD686&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=1520047

[x]https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/imageviewer/collections/6224/images/4639462_01089?treeid=73508626&personid=240070324919&usePUB=true&_phsrc=xxD660&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=55622602

[xi] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/imageviewer/collections/5164/images/42342_646933_0685-00501?treeid=73508626&personid=240070324921&rc=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=xxD669&_phstart=successSource&pId=754249335

[xii] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/imageviewer/collections/5164/images/42342_1521003238_0754-01321?treeid=73508626&personid=240070324921&hintid=&queryId=48175eb58f450d2e6c7c0254bcb9d1e2&usePUB=true&_phsrc=xxD644&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=755219021

[xiii] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/imageviewer/collections/5164/images/42342_645856_0569-03308?pId=3698322

[xiv]https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/imageviewer/collections/6224/images/4639462_01089?treeid=73508626&personid=240070324919&usePUB=true&_phsrc=xxD660&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=55622602

[xv] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/imageviewer/collections/5164/images/42342_2321306652_0657-00236?treeid=73508626&personid=240070324921&hintid=&queryId=48175eb58f450d2e6c7c0254bcb9d1e2&usePUB=true&_phsrc=xxD677&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=454498096

[xvi] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/imageviewer/collections/2442/images/M-T0627-03732-00742?treeid=73508626&personid=240070324919&usePUB=true&_phsrc=xxD662&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=25485114

[xvii] https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/185853599/marion-w-mcmonagle

[xviii] https://images.findagrave.com/photos/2014/28/45701395_1391010167.jpg

[xix] https://www.newspapers.com/clip/77506053/bradford-evening-star-and-the-bradford/

[xx] https://www.newspapers.com/image/523547568

[xxi] https://www.newspapers.com/image/171097400/

[xxii] https://www.newspapers.com/image/171097776/

[xxiii] https://www.newspapers.com/image/523547568

[xxiv] https://www.newspapers.com/clip/77506053/bradford-evening-star-and-the-bradford/

[xxv] https://www.newspapers.com/image/171098426/

[xxvi] https://www.newspapers.com/image/171099180/

[xxvii] https://www.fold3.com/page/641412304/laura-e-besley/facts

[xxviii] https://www.newspapers.com/image/269376267/?terms=%22Laura%2BE.%2BBesley%22

[xxix] https://www.newspapers.com/image/269376267/?terms=%22Laura%2BE.%2BBesley%22

[xxx] https://www.newspapers.com/clip/77506801/bradford-evening-star-and-the-bradford/

[xxxi] https://www.newspapers.com/clip/77506801/bradford-evening-star-and-the-bradford/

[xxxii] https://www.newspapers.com/image/523547568

[xxxiii] https://www.newspapers.com/clip/77506053/bradford-evening-star-and-the-bradford/

[xxxiv] https://www.newspapers.com/clip/77506053/bradford-evening-star-and-the-bradford/

[xxxv] https://www.newspapers.com/image/269376267/?terms=%22Laura%2BE.%2BBesley%22

[xxxvi] https://www.newspapers.com/image/269376267/?terms=%22Laura%2BE.%2BBesley%22

[xxxvii] https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=414461

[xxxviii] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/mediaui-viewer/tree/17210004/person/302003060851/media/afeec7df-9953-41dc-b76b-73dd4b971183?_phsrc=xxD540&_phstart=successSource

[xxxix] https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/185853599/marion-w-mcmonagle

[xl] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/family-tree/person/tree/73508626/person/240070322263/facts

Marion McMonagle - findagrave

Marion McMonagle- William Penn Yearbook 1918

Marion McMonagle fact sheet findagrave

Marion Walk McMonagle - William Penn High School - ancestry

TEC3 Marion Walk McMonagle