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Minter's Ring

Minter's Ring THE LAST RING HOME. A STORYGRAPHICTM BY MINTER DIAL This is the story about my grandfather, after whom I was named. Lt. Cdr. Minter Dial, USN, fought in the Philippines in WWII, but was captured after the Battle of Corregidor. After 21/2 years as a POW of the Japanese, he died under ignominious conditions. His memory lives on, however, through the improbable story of his Annapolis ring, his ultimate possession and the last item he touched before dying on 15th December, 1944. Please come and visit the Facebook page in honor of Minter and the other members of the Greatest Generation, and may the journey continue. Facebook page: www.facebook.com/LtCdrMinterDial 1911 March 21: My grandfather, N. Minter Dial is born in Laurens, SC, to Josephine Minter and Senator Nathaniel Barks- dale Dial. WOODROW WASHINOTON D O IGHE A letter 20th June 1003 Ky desz LAle Friend, addressed to him Is I very ind of you to signed by President present e ith your firat piece of modeling, and I mzaty appreetate it aa BA evidence of your trien Woodrow Wilson. th cordial good wiehee, Sinoszely Touze, Mardaile.. Minter's childhood - toter inter Disi, Taahington, D. o. Western High School (DC). 1934 He marries my grandmother, Lisa Porter (Pasadena, California). 1932 1938 Graduation from Annapolis Naval Academy. My father, Victor, is born (June 21). My aunt, Diana, is born (April 17 1940). Birth of Victor Dial 1941 My grandfather, Minter, is assigned to the Phil- ippines, as captain of the USS Napa. OH10. Receved avord that hostililiis with the Empine had staited. ne December 8: Over the dateline, war is de- clared in the Philippines after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. North Pt Morrison Pt Battery Pt Infantry Pt Rock Pt OENVER Marrison Molinto Hil Monkey Pt ORUas 1942 SOUTH TOPOE ARBACS PARADE March: Lt. Minter Dial engages CROCKETT in a series of daring missions for which he is posthumously CORREGIDOR ISLAND awarded the Navy Cross. Geary Pt May 6: GUN BATTERY BARRACKS AND QUARTER 12" MORTAR BTRY Surrender after defeat at the WATER RESERVOIR AA BATTERY CS COLD STORAGE Battle of Corregidor. Minter becomes a POW of the Japa- nese along with 12,000 other ROAD PP POWER PLANT ELEVATIONS IN FEET 100 250 s00 AND ABOVE Americans. 1000 YARDS 1942-1944 Imprisonment in Bilibid Prison (Manila) then Cabanatuan Prison Cabanatuan Prison Camp #1 (Luzon Province), Philippines. Cdr. Doug Fisher 1944 1946 December 15: Death after the unmarked Oryoku Maru hellship was attacked by American dive bombers.... A dying Minter passes his last wishes and Annapolis ring to his friend, Lt. Douglas Fisher. The ring is lost under miserable circumstances. Minter's grave lies at Arlington National Cemetery. Douglas Fisher returns, with- out the ring, to deliver final message to Lisa in California. He slips his gold watch to my father in lieu of the ring. Article from RING FOUND IN INCHON 1962 now serving in the U.S. Navy as a lieurenan:, Pres- sey added that the ring willi be a treasured momenLum to his son, Lt. Nathanei! Vic- tor Dia!. The ring wili be a key to finding out the whereabouts of hundreds of war prison- ers who were missing along with Lt. Dial as tha: time lif it is able to settie the un- known tragic history of itsi By Yu Il-yon Nobody might have known about the worth of a class ring which was discovered in Inchon last week by a Korean workman, but for a jU.S. Navy admiral in Korez who is aquainted with the cing and its owner's tragic history. Rear Adm. G. W. Pressey, Commander, Forces in Korea, was inforin- ed last weekend that a Ko- rean guard of a U.S. military police unit had found the ring of his classmate Lt. Na- chaneil M. Dial who was re- ported missing after being captuced in the Philippines by the World War iL. May: Rear Admiral George W. Pressey buys Minter's ring in a pawn shop in Incheon Korea, thanks to his chauffeur U.S. Naval ow ner. According to detailed in- formation given by the ad- miral: who had noticed the similar- ity with Pressey's own An- napolis ring (1932). When Corregidor island and the Philippines fell to the Ja- Japanese during ADM. Pressey is shown panese in 1942, Lt. Dial was made a prisoner and after above with Lt. Dial's ring. surviving the notorious My father, Lt (jg) Victor Dial, USNR, receives the ring from Pressey. My grandmother, Lisa, receives the ring forwarded on to her by my father. She dies in April 1964. Victor Dial marries my mother Alexandra (Alix) Montgomery 1991 and moves to Belgium. I am born in Brussels (August 14, I move to Washington DC, 1964). having invested in a start-up. I receive a surprise telephone call from the Western School, looking for my grandfather. 1967 We move to France. But, my grandfather's Annapolis ring is stolen from our home in Mareil Marly. My mother (Alix) and me 1991 - 200I For ten years, I researched the life and death of my grandfather, traveling to POW conventions and to Korea, Japan, Australia & the Philippines. In parallel, I complete an extensive biography. Pinterest board : pinterest.com/minter1/in-honor-of-my-grandfather-and-others-of-the-great 2001 September 11: Iwatch the second hijacked airplane fly down Manhattan and crash into the South Tower. September 12:I hand over the manuscript to my father. 2004 In Loving Memory of Lt. N. Minter Dial USNA 32 December 15: CO, USS Napa (AT-32) To mark the 60th anniversary of Navy Cross Minter's death, my father and I visit the Philippines. We lay a wreath at the site over the sunken Oryoku Maru and commemorate a plaque erished in the sinking of the Oryoku M December 15, 1944 in Minter's honor. 2011 The story by Gilbert King is published in the Smithsonian. December: The story is pub- lished in Japanese on US- Japan Dialogue on POWS. Haraku Ichimaru, eldest daughter of Admiral Rinosuke Rear Admiral Rinosuke Ichimaru reviewing Japanese Naval troops before departing for Iwo Jima (August 1944), Ichimaru contacts me to share parallel story of her father's Edo period samurai sword. 2012 THE JOUR NEY CONTI NUES... March: Via Facebook, I meet Margy Wooding, daughter of Admiral Pressey. November: I discover the granddaughter of Charlie Keene, my grandfather's If you have any information about my grandfather or his missing ring, please email me at [email protected] roommate at Annapolis and an usher at his wedding... m Minter Dial" Brand Talking yopps DIGITAL MEDIA AGENCY Esddoh hell 2012- 2013 © Minter Dial

Minter's Ring

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Discover Minter's Ring story, a storygraphic™ made in collaboration with Minter Dial, in honor of his grandfather.

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