Paul Bunker
Encyclopedia
Paul Delmont Bunker was an American football
player and soldier. Bunker attended the U.S. Military Academy and became the first football player at West Point to be selected as a first-team All-American by Walter Camp
. Bunker was chosen as an All-American at the tackle
position in 1901 and repeated as an All-American in 1902, but as a halfback. He served in the U.S. Army for 40 years and was in command of the coastal artillery forces in the Battle of Corregidor
. On the fall of Corregidor, Bunker became a prisoner of war. He died of starvation and disease in a Japanese prison camp in 1943 after losing 70 pounds. His posthumously published journal, Paul Bunker's Diary, became a best-seller. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame
in 1969.
, Bunker enrolled at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York
. At West Point, Bunker played at the tackle and halfback positions on the academy's football team from 1899-1902. One writer summarized Bunker's football career at West Point as follows:
At West Point, Bunker was a classmate of Gen. Douglas MacArthur
. MacArthur also served as the manager of the Army football team in 1902 when Bunker was at his peak. Bunker was selected by Walter Camp
as a member of the 1901 and 1902 College Football All-America Team
s. Bunker is one of a handful of athletes to win All-America honors at two different positions. He was selected as an All-American tackle in 1901 and as a halfback in 1902.
In 2008, Sports Illustrated sought to identify the college football players who would have likely won the Heisman Trophy
as the best player in the sport during each of the years before the award's inception in 1935. Sports Illustrated selected Bunker as the retroactive Heisman Trophy winner for 1902.
. Bunker acknowledged having braced some of the plebes, but denied ever having given more than fifteen drops of sauce to any one. Bunker testified that his hazing activities were confined to bracing, "making men sing out their wash lists to popular airs, ride broomsticks, stand on their heads and charge sparrows with fixed bayonets." The investigation led to a ban on all hazing at the academy and was the subject of the 1999 book, "Bullies and Cowards: The West Point Hazing Scandal, 1898-1901."
in Panama (1919–1921). In 1927, he was charged with setting up an impregnable defense for the city of New York during a tour of duty at Fort Totten
in Willets Point, New York. In 1937, Bunker was assigned to a coast artillery unit at Fort MacArthur
in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California
.
at Fort Hughes
in Manilla Bay. There, Bunker was reunited with his college roommate, Gen. Douglas MacArthur
. Following the Japanese military offensive against the Philippines, President Roosevelt ordered MacArthur to evacuate the islands. MacArthur reluctantly left, promising to send reinforcements that never came. In his autobiography, MacArthur recalled one of his last memories on leaving the Philippines was of Bunker:
Bunker remained in command of the coastal artillery in Manilla Bay during the Battle of Corregidor
. On May 5, 1942, the battle came to an end when the half-starved U.S. forces commanded by Gen. Wainwright
surrendered after an heroic last-ditch stand. Bunker, at age 61, became a prisoner of war and died of starvation and disease in a Japanese prison camp at Karenko, Taiwan
. Fellow prisoners recalled that Bunker wasted away from 220 pounds down to 150 pounds prior to his death.
In May 1942, when Gen. Wainwright decided to surrender at Corregidor, he ordered Bunker to lower the U.S. flag and burn it to prevent its falling into the hands of the Japanese forces. Wainwright later recalled, "Promptly at noon this May 6, 1942, I ordered the white flag run up and our firing ceased. It was with the sickest of feelings that I gave the white-flag-raising order to Colonel Paul D. Bunker." Instead of burning the entire flag, Bunker cut off a piece and concealed it under a patch on his shirt. Before he died in the Japanese prison camp, Bunker sent for Colonel Delbert Ausmus, cut the flag remnant into two pieces and gave one of the pieces to Ausmus. He told Colonel Ausmus he did not expect to survive the prison camp and that it was Ausmus' duty to take his piece of the flag to the Secretary of War. Ausmus concealed the remnant in his shirt cuff, and shortly after the war ended, Ausmus delivered it to Secretary Patterson. In November 1945, Ausmus described the circumstances under which he received the remnant from Bunker:
While giving one piece of the flag to Ausmus, he held onto another piece until the time of his death. Gen. Wainwright later recalled the circumstances of Bunker's death in the prison camp, still holding onto the remnant: "He must have suffered ... constant pain of hunger ... I sat with him for a part of the last two hours of his life ... [He was] cremated in the rags in which he had carefully sewn a bit of the American flag he had pulled down in Corregidor."
Ausmus did deliver it to the Secretary of War who unveiled it during a speech on the event of Flag Day in June 1946. The remnant of the U.S. flag from Corregidor saved by Bunker and Ausmus is on display in the West Point museum.
for exceptionally meritorious service at Corregidor. The citation read:
Bunker's 190-page diary of his time on Corregidor was published posthumously under the title Paul Bunker’s War and became a best-seller.
Bunker was honored with burial in the cemetery at West Point.
In June 1946, one of the U.S. Army's coastal artillery batteries located at Fort MacArthur
was renamed the Battery Paul D. Bunker, BCN-127 to honor Bunker's memory.
He was posthumously inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
in 1969.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player and soldier. Bunker attended the U.S. Military Academy and became the first football player at West Point to be selected as a first-team All-American by Walter Camp
Walter Camp
Walter Chauncey Camp was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". With John Heisman, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Pop Warner, Fielding H. Yost, and George Halas, Camp was one of the most accomplished persons in the early history of American football...
. Bunker was chosen as an All-American at the tackle
Tackle (American football)
Tackle is a playing position in American and Canadian football. Historically, in the one-platoon system a tackle played on both offense and defense. In the modern system of specialized units, offensive tackle and defensive tackle are separate positions....
position in 1901 and repeated as an All-American in 1902, but as a halfback. He served in the U.S. Army for 40 years and was in command of the coastal artillery forces in the Battle of Corregidor
Battle of Corregidor
The Battle for Corregidor was the culmination of the Japanese campaign for the conquest of the Philippines. The fall of Bataan on 9 April 1942 ended all organized opposition by the U.S...
. On the fall of Corregidor, Bunker became a prisoner of war. He died of starvation and disease in a Japanese prison camp in 1943 after losing 70 pounds. His posthumously published journal, Paul Bunker's Diary, became a best-seller. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
in 1969.
All-American football player
Born in Alpena, MichiganAlpena, Michigan
Alpena is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Alpena County. It is considered to be part of Northern Michigan. The Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary is located in the city. The population was 10,483 at the 2010 census...
, Bunker enrolled at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York
West Point, New York
West Point is a federal military reservation established by President of the United States Thomas Jefferson in 1802. It is a census-designated place located in Town of Highlands in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 7,138 at the 2000 census...
. At West Point, Bunker played at the tackle and halfback positions on the academy's football team from 1899-1902. One writer summarized Bunker's football career at West Point as follows:
"A steel-chested, tow-haired, rugged tackle tipping the scales well over 215 pounds, Bunker made the cadet varsity as a plebe in 1899 and played without relief throughout the 1900, '01 and '02 grid campaigns. ... He was not the colorful elusive runner so prominent in football today, but depended on bull strength and a pair of piston-like legs that consistently sent him through the center of the line for three, four and five yards at a clip."
At West Point, Bunker was a classmate of Gen. Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
. MacArthur also served as the manager of the Army football team in 1902 when Bunker was at his peak. Bunker was selected by Walter Camp
Walter Camp
Walter Chauncey Camp was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". With John Heisman, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Pop Warner, Fielding H. Yost, and George Halas, Camp was one of the most accomplished persons in the early history of American football...
as a member of the 1901 and 1902 College Football All-America Team
College Football All-America Team
The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best American college football players at their respective positions. The original usage of the term All-America seems to have been to the 1889 College Football All-America Team selected by Casper Whitney and published in This...
s. Bunker is one of a handful of athletes to win All-America honors at two different positions. He was selected as an All-American tackle in 1901 and as a halfback in 1902.
In 2008, Sports Illustrated sought to identify the college football players who would have likely won the Heisman Trophy
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...
as the best player in the sport during each of the years before the award's inception in 1935. Sports Illustrated selected Bunker as the retroactive Heisman Trophy winner for 1902.
Hazing investigation
in 1901, the U.S. Congress appointed a committee to investigate hazing at the U.S. Military Academy. Upperclassmen in the academy were accused of engaging in dangerous hazing activities with the first-year students, known as "plebes." Bunker, well-known to the public for his accomplishments in football, became one of the subjects of the investigation. Some of the plebes told the Congressional committee conducting the investigation that Bunker had forced them to consume tabasco sauceTabasco sauce
Tabasco sauce is the brand name for a hot sauce produced by US-based McIlhenny Company of Avery Island, Louisiana. Tabasco sauce is made from tabasco peppers , vinegar, and salt, and aged in white oak barrels for three years. It has a hot, spicy flavor...
. Bunker acknowledged having braced some of the plebes, but denied ever having given more than fifteen drops of sauce to any one. Bunker testified that his hazing activities were confined to bracing, "making men sing out their wash lists to popular airs, ride broomsticks, stand on their heads and charge sparrows with fixed bayonets." The investigation led to a ban on all hazing at the academy and was the subject of the 1999 book, "Bullies and Cowards: The West Point Hazing Scandal, 1898-1901."
Military career
Bunker went on to a 40-year career in the military specializing in coastal defense artillery. In 1915, Bunker was assigned to a position with a coast artillery regiment on Corregidor Island in the Philippines. Bunker served as a commander of Fort AmadorFort Amador
Fort Amador and Fort Grant were former United States Army bases protecting the Pacific end of the Panama Canal at the Panama Bay. Amador was the primary on-land site, lying below the Bridge of the Americas. Grant consisted of a series of islands lying just offshore, some connected to Amador via a...
in Panama (1919–1921). In 1927, he was charged with setting up an impregnable defense for the city of New York during a tour of duty at Fort Totten
Fort Totten
Fort Totten may refer to:* Fort Totten, North Dakota* Fort Totten State Historic Site, a Dakota frontier-era fort and Native American boarding school* Fort Totten , a neighborhood, park and Civil War-era fort...
in Willets Point, New York. In 1937, Bunker was assigned to a coast artillery unit at Fort MacArthur
Fort MacArthur
Fort MacArthur is a former United States Army installation in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California . The fort is named in honor of Lieutenant General Arthur MacArthur...
in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California
San Pedro, Los Angeles, California
San Pedro is a port district of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. It was annexed in 1909 and is a major seaport of the area...
.
Capture and death in Japanese prison camp
In 1940, Bunker, then a colonel, returned to the Philippines and assumed command the 59th Coast Artillery Regiment (United States)59th Coast Artillery Regiment (United States)
-History:During the Philippines Campaign the regiment opperated the following Batteries* A Battery Hearn* B Battery Crockett* C Battery Wheeler* D Battery Cheney* E Battery Fort Drum * F Battery Smith* G Battery Fort Hughes...
at Fort Hughes
Fort Hughes
Fort Hughes was part of the harbor defenses of Manila and Subic Bays built by the Philippine Department of the U.S. Army in the early 1900s....
in Manilla Bay. There, Bunker was reunited with his college roommate, Gen. Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
. Following the Japanese military offensive against the Philippines, President Roosevelt ordered MacArthur to evacuate the islands. MacArthur reluctantly left, promising to send reinforcements that never came. In his autobiography, MacArthur recalled one of his last memories on leaving the Philippines was of Bunker:
"On the dock I could see the men staring at me. I had lost 25 pounds living on the same diet as the soldiers, and I must have looked gaunt and ghastly standing there in my old war-stained clothes - no bemedaled commander of inspiring presence. ... Through the shattered ruins, my eyes sought 'Topside,' where the deep roar of heavy guns still growled defiance, with their red blasts tearing the growing darkness asunder. Up there, in command, was my classmate, Paul Bunker. Forty years had passed since Bunker had twice been selected by Walter Camp for the All American team. I could shut my eyes and see again that blond head racing, tearing, plunging - 210 pounds of irresistible power. I could almost hear Quarterback Charley Daly's shrill voice barking, 'Bunker back.' He and many others up there were old, old friends, bound by ties of deepest friendship."
Bunker remained in command of the coastal artillery in Manilla Bay during the Battle of Corregidor
Battle of Corregidor
The Battle for Corregidor was the culmination of the Japanese campaign for the conquest of the Philippines. The fall of Bataan on 9 April 1942 ended all organized opposition by the U.S...
. On May 5, 1942, the battle came to an end when the half-starved U.S. forces commanded by Gen. Wainwright
Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright IV
Jonathan Mayhew "Skinny" Wainwright IV was a career American army officer and the commander of Allied forces in the Philippines at the time of their surrender to the Empire of Japan during World War II...
surrendered after an heroic last-ditch stand. Bunker, at age 61, became a prisoner of war and died of starvation and disease in a Japanese prison camp at Karenko, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
. Fellow prisoners recalled that Bunker wasted away from 220 pounds down to 150 pounds prior to his death.
Preservation of the U.S. flag from Corregidor
"He was taken to Billibid prison in Manila and came down with pneumonia. While he was in the hospital Col. Paul D. Bunker of Taunton, Mass., was brought in suffering from seriously
infected blisters on his feet and blood poisoning in one leg. On June 10, Bunker watching carefully 'to see that there were no Japs near,' swore him to secrecy, Ausmus continued, and 'said he wanted to turn something over to me to deliver to the Secretary of War.' From beneath a false patch set into the left pocket of his shirt Bunker took a bit of red cloth. Solemnly he gave Ausmus part of it and put the rest back."
While giving one piece of the flag to Ausmus, he held onto another piece until the time of his death. Gen. Wainwright later recalled the circumstances of Bunker's death in the prison camp, still holding onto the remnant: "He must have suffered ... constant pain of hunger ... I sat with him for a part of the last two hours of his life ... [He was] cremated in the rags in which he had carefully sewn a bit of the American flag he had pulled down in Corregidor."
Ausmus did deliver it to the Secretary of War who unveiled it during a speech on the event of Flag Day in June 1946. The remnant of the U.S. flag from Corregidor saved by Bunker and Ausmus is on display in the West Point museum.
Posthumous honors
In 1944, Bunker was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service MedalDistinguished Service Medal (United States)
The Distinguished Service Medal is the highest non-valorous military and civilian decoration of the United States military which is issued for exceptionally meritorious service to the government of the United States in either a senior government service position or as a senior officer of the United...
for exceptionally meritorious service at Corregidor. The citation read:
"His courageous and incessent devotion to duty in directing the activities of his batteries and in supervising the immediate repair of damage inflicted by Enemy bombardment was outstanding. Colonel Bunker's outstanding leadership maintained superior morale and efficiency in his command through the campaign."
Bunker's 190-page diary of his time on Corregidor was published posthumously under the title Paul Bunker’s War and became a best-seller.
Bunker was honored with burial in the cemetery at West Point.
In June 1946, one of the U.S. Army's coastal artillery batteries located at Fort MacArthur
Fort MacArthur
Fort MacArthur is a former United States Army installation in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California . The fort is named in honor of Lieutenant General Arthur MacArthur...
was renamed the Battery Paul D. Bunker, BCN-127 to honor Bunker's memory.
He was posthumously inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
in 1969.