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Cowboy State Daily is Wyoming’s largest newspaper with Wyoming’s most experienced journalists. 

<title>You Still Here? Sunday, February 18, 2024 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Now let's all watch more idiots on game shows...

You Still Here? Sunday, February 18, 2024

 Now let's all watch more idiots on game shows...

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily reporter, Jackie Dorothy.

Jackie Dorothy

Wyoming Life

Around Wyoming

Editor's note: This story includes graphic and disturbing descriptions of torture and inhumane prisoner of war conditions. Read at your discretion. 

After more than 80 years, a 32-year-old Casper man believed to have been killed as a prisoner of war aboard one of the infamous Japanese “hell ships” during World War II may finally be close to being found. 

John Clarke Goldtrap, a young husband and father, was listed by his captors as one of the 284 Americans who died after the Japanese hell ship the Oryoku Maru was destroyed on Dec. 15, 1944.

The POW transport ship sunk to the bottom of the ocean and has remained there, virtually undisturbed, until now.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), working with the Navy and the Philippine government, are 

Divers have recovered American military footwear, an identification bracelet, broken eyeglasses, medical equipment and material that may be human bone. 

[{"type":"text","text":"The work is expected to continue in the coming year."}]

The DPAA said that the recovery effort has significant challenges that will require its team to employ advanced underwater recovery and identification techniques to ensure the mission is conducted with the utmost care and dignity.

Modern archaeology and DNA testing may then restore names to some of those remains, correct wartime records and allow families to bury men who have been listed officially as missing for nearly 82 years. 

For Goldtrap, it could finally reveal whether he died inside one the hell ship, in the water or after reaching shore. 

It is the fulfillment of the promise made to American servicemen that those missing in action will not be forgotten.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Sinking The Oroku Maru"}]

The air strike in which Goldtrap was killed is known as the Oroyku Maru Disaster because it was Allies who sunk the ship. 

Another Wyoming solider, Staff Sgt. Joseph Henry Robertson of Rock Springs, survived by swimming to shore and enduring another hellish eight months as a prisoner of war of the Japanese.

According to the Department of the Army, on Dec. 13, 1944, Japanese forces in the Philippines began the transfer of 1,621 Allied prisoners of war to Japan.

Goldtrap, Robertson and the other POWs were to make the journey aboard transport ships whose harsh conditions and extreme overcrowding led survivors to refer to them as “hell ships.” 

These ships lacked markings that would distinguish them from any other military target and were often attacked by Allied forces who could not identify them as POW transports.

On Dec. 14, 1944, Allied aircraft attacked the first of these transport ship, the Oryoku Maru, in Subic Bay in the Philippines, killing many of Allied POWs on board. 

War crimes were committed on that day as Japanese soldiers shot many of the escaping prisoners as they tried to swim to safety, while others drowned in the attempt.  

, the officer was listed as dead by his Japanese captors, but the information was unreliable since the first number of dead was listed as “about 250.”  

As a commanding officer, Goldtrap was confined in the ship’s rear hold, although it is unknown just how he met his death.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Worse Than Bataan Death March"}]

The stories shared by hell ship survivors paint a horrific picture of human brutality and suffering.

Ben Skardon was one of these men packed into the rear hold of the Oroku Maru where Goldtrap was believed to have been kept.

In a 2015 interview with the National World War II Museum, Skardon said that it was total chaos of the worst type as they were loaded into the hold.

He had found a spot pressed against another soldier on the floor, “one in the crotch of the other.” 

All around him, men were breaking down, going crazy, yelling and pleading. Skardon passed out from lack of oxygen and others helped move him to where he could get air.

Many of the men on the Oryoku Maru had survived the Bataan Death March and described the conditions crammed into the ship a living hell, worse than the infamous march.  

First-person accounts were preserved in the book “The Rising Sun” by John Toland from men who kept forbidden journals and recorded the hell they barely survived.

Major Virgil McCollum, wrote Toland, was a veteran of Bataan who said the hell ship was “the most horrible experience imaginable and probably unprecedented in the annals of civilization.” 

As the dim light of dawn filtered through the hatch, several score bodies lay lifeless — suffocated or murdered.

“Many men lost their minds,” a colonel later wrote in his official report, “and crawled about in the absolute darkness armed with knives, attempting to kill people in order to drink their blood or armed with canteens filled with urine and swinging them in the dark.”

Major Roy L. Bodine would have been in the same hold as Robertson, packed amidships, three decks down with 300 Army and Navy medics and civilians. 

He described the constant prayers and the chaos that quickly took over as men went mad from lack of water, oxygen and sanitation.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Waiting For Rescue Or Death"}]

Another American soldier, Lt. Col. Curtis Beecher, was in the forward hold which had just recently transported horses and had never been cleaned.

Within moments, the 700 men crammed into the hold were drenched in sweat and, already weak from two years of imprisonment, began to go mad.

A dozen men, crazed by thirst, went berserk; they slashed at the throats and wrists of companions to suck blood. The panic turned the hold into bedlam. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Men began to drop dead, some silently while others thrashed wildly."}]

When the bombing from the Allies began on the unmarked ship, many of the POWs on board cheered. Over the deafening roar of the attacks, men prayed and waited for rescue or death.

As the temperature reached 110 degrees, riots again erupted, according to Toland. 

Men collided with one another in the dark, slipping and falling in their own feces. The sick were trampled, and wild, deadly fights erupted. Men dropped to their knees like animals to lap up sewage running in open drains.

When the ship was sinking, men escaped the hull by jumping into the sea. Skardon described how a bomb killed many of the men in the rear hold with him while he crawled over their bodies to reach the deck.

“Those men saved my life,” Skardon said, explaining that they had taken the brunt of the bomb and he was able to escape. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Goldtrap was not so fortunate. "}]

He was either one of those killed in the rear hold by suffocation, murder or the bombing. Another possibility is that Goldtrap made it into the sea and was one of the 55 soldiers who were either shot for trying to escape or drowned.

His life that had been so promising in Wyoming had ended brutally with an estimated 21,000 other POWs lost in the hell ships.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A West Point Graduate And Proud Casperite"}]

As a teenager, Goldtrap enrolled in the Citizens’ Military Training Camp at Fort Russel and then served in the Wyoming National Guard before heading off to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Goldtrap had a promising military career ahead of him and often appeared with his wife, Caroline, in the social section of the Casper newspaper. They were also the proud parents of a little boy. 

Goldtrap served at Fort Francis E. Warren before heading off to Infantry School. 

On June 1940, the young officer sailed to the Philippine Islands and joined the 57th Infantry Regiment, the Philippines Scouts. His wife and son returned to live with her father in Casper to wait for Goldtrap's return home.

Then on May 7, 1942, Goldtrap was reported missing in action following the fall of Mindanao. 

He was subsequently confirmed as a Japanese prisoner of war and survived more than two and a half years in enemy hands. 

His wife received messages saying that he was well, and another serviceman saw him alive in June 1944.

Six months later, as the Japanese attempted to move him to Japan, Goldtrap was declared dead after the Oryoku Maru was sunk.

According to his personnel records, attacks on these POW transports ultimately resulted in a series of death notifications from the Japanese government through the International Red Cross, and some casualties were given up to five different dates of death at various locations during the transfer.

Witness accounts from surviving POWs offer detailed information for a handful of casualties, but the specific dates of loss or last-known locations for many of these POWs are based on the most recent reported date of death.

Although Goldtrap was reported to have died during the destruction of the Oryoku Maru on Dec. 15, 1944, no known eyewitness account has yet established precisely where or how he died, and his family was left wondering how he had met his fate.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Wyoming Survivor"}]

Meanwhile, another Wyoming serviceman was aboard the Oroku Maru in a different hold. 

Robertson, a medic, had been a captive for two years when the Oryoku Maru was bombed. Although Robertson was able to swim to shore, his torture was not over.

The Army said that survivors of the bombing were put aboard two other hell ships, the Enoura Maru and the Brazil Maru, to continue on to Japan. 

While anchored in Takao Harbor in Formosa (present-day Taiwan), the Enoura Maru was attacked by Allied aircraft from the USS Hornet (CV 8). Survivors of the Enoura Maru bombing were loaded onto the Brazil Maru, which reached Japan on Jan. 30, 1945.

As a result of these incidents, many Allied POWs, such as Goldtrap, were lost at sea between the Philippines and Taiwan, while anchored in Taiwan, at sea between Taiwan and Japan, and in Japan.

When Robertson was finally freed two years later, he gave his sworn testimony at F.E. Warren. 

It was prepared for the War Crimes Office in connection with Japanese naval medical officer Satoru Nakazawa and conditions at Nichols Field, Las Piñas and Bilibid Prison.

During his war crime affidavit debriefing, Robertson said that he was placed on another hell ship after swimming to shore. 

He suffered in the cramped conditions for two months before reaching Japan, where he was tortured and nearly went blind from lack of food.

According to his obituary, Robertson had enlisted on Jan. 30, 1940, at Ft. Douglas, Utah. He was stationed in Bataan as a surgical technician with the Army medical detachment at General Hospital No. 1.

On April 10, 1942, he and companions made their way to Corregidor, where they stayed until it fell to the Japanese May 6, 1942. 

After capture, he was sent to Bilibed in Manila and then to Cabanatuan, a main Japanese prison camp, where he was held 58 days. 

He then was sent to Nichols Field camp and was there until 1944, when he was returned to Bilibed for treatment of his eyes, as his vision was impaired because of a lack of food.

Roberston returned home to his wife, Alice, in Rocks Springs where he worked for the next 22 years as an auto body shop operator. 

The couple had three sons — Joe, Vernon and Richard — when Robertson died unexpectedly after one day of being ill. He was 52 and proud of his service to the end.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Recovering Our Missing"}]

The Department of the Army lists Goldtrap’s case as an “active pursuit.”

Official records state “that Goldtrap was reportedly killed on Dec. 15, 1944, during the attack on the Oryoku Maru; however, these reports often involve information solely furnished by enemy governments.”

With so many unanswered questions of what happened to the young Casper officer and the other Americans declared dead on the Oroku Maru, the DPAA said it will continue to search for the missing servicemen. 

[{"type":"text","text":"The latest search effort is their largest to date on the Oroku Maru."}]

“This mission represents our solemn commitment to provide the fullest possible accounting to families and the nation,” said U.S. Army Capt. Barrett Breland, DPAA team leader for the Oryoku Maru recovery on their official website.

“We carry this responsibility with compassion and integrity, and our success depends on strong partnerships and unwavering respect for the fallen.”

For his service in the Philippines, Goldtrap received the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart. He was also promoted posthumously from major to the rank of lieutenant colonel. The promotion was an honor but not a military decoration.

Goldtrap has a marker at Arlington Cemetery in Washington, D.C., and there is now the possibility Goldtrap may have more than just a memorial as searchers look for answers of what happened to the Americans who died on the hell ship Oryoku Maru.

Hell ship inset 1 8 16 26

<title>Wyoming POW On Sunken Japanese 'Hell Ship' May Be Close To Coming Home After 82 Years | Cowboy State Daily</title>

For 82 years, Lt. Col. John Clarke Goldtrap of Casper has been in a watery grave as a POW on the sunken wreck of the brutal Japanese “hell ship” Oryoku Maru. Now his remains may finally be ID'd and brought home. Another Wyoming serviceman on the ship survived.

Wyoming POW On Sunken Japanese 'Hell Ship' May Be Close To Coming Home After 82 Years

The old ash tree had stood for an estimated 60 to 70 years on the west side of the Washakie County Courthouse. It was 3 feet in circumference when, in 1999, a tree company declared the ash was dead and a hazard. 

[{"type":"text","text":"They were wrong."}]

When groundskeeper Heather Shryack discovered the stately ash had been healthy when it was cut down, she was determined it wouldn’t go to waste.

“She's a scrappy little gal, and she really knows her gardening,” said her husband, Terry Shryack. “Heather saw the whole tree was solid as a rock and that there was absolutely nothing wrong with it.”

The Washakie County Commission agreed that it was Heather’s tree and so she promptly hired an oil field company to haul it to her husband’s sawmill, despite protests from the tree company. Heather wasn’t going to be stopped in her mission to save the wood.  

“Everybody's upset when a big tree gets cut down here, without a doubt,” Terry said. “It was a treasure that we weren’t going to let get by.”

Over the years, Terry had made furniture out of the smaller pieces of the ash tree at his house in Winchester, including a rocking chair and small end tables. 

As the decades rolled by, he forgot about the large pieces of the ash tree he had stored in their shed — until he decided to build a table with local artist Calvin “Cal” Fulfer as an ultimate honor to the old ash tree.

The result is a 600-pound table with a river of treasure running through it.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Artist"}]

Fulfer is an "old-school Deadhead" who spends his time in his workshop listening to the Grateful Dead and surrounded by repurposed art. 

Since retiring as a tile layer, he has dedicated the last decade to creating award-winning sculptures out of abandoned relics of the past. 

His walls are decorated with petroglyph fish made of old typewriter parts, Styrofoam Egyptian walls and computer circuit board bolo ties. Tiny snails made from old forks and marbles crawl across glass tabletops and a train sculpture runs its engine.

In the midst of this eclectic art, the giant ash table is set up in a corner and represents the largest art piece Fulfer has done to date. Fuller said it was based on a design from the Middle Ages.

“They call it a French trestle table,” Fulfer said. “They would send the servants out to put the table up for the banquet.”

The table can be disassembled into four sections by pulling out handmade dowel pins. A good thing, Fulfer said, considering the size. 

“Terry is a really accomplished woodworker and I'm more of a visual artist,” Fulfer explained. “It took him a year to build the table and me a year to build the top.”

This is the second table the duo built together. Two years ago, they built a table top out of Russian olive wood and Fulfer painted 101 goldfish as the accent. The table was for a fundraiser for Terry’s stepson, who had an emergency heart transplant. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Treasure River"}]

Fulfer had discovered a technique of painting an acrylic layer of a fish and pouring resin over the painting. He will repeat the process up to eight times to create a 3D image of a fish people are convinced is more than just paint. 

For this ash table, Fulfer wanted to keep the theme western. He painted trout and crawdads rather than his usual goldfish.

“Terry just kind of turned me loose at the tabletop,” Fulfer said. “While I was searching for the right theme, I started the process by visiting ant hills.”

Fulfer said he pilfered the ant hills for their tiny sand pebbles, which he washed before pouring on the bottom of his resin river. As he worked, he began hiding treasure into the bottom of his river and larger river rocks.

“I inherited a bunch of stuff from my brother when he passed,” Fulfer said. “He was a jeweler, and so I thought, why not, and put some of his rings and necklaces into the table.”

The ash table now honors not only the old tree that was cut down in its prime, but also bits and pieces of Fulfer’s own family.

“We call it Guardians of Treasure Creek,” Fulfer said. “It just kind of evolved into its own weird, fun river.”

Pieces of the ash tree still remain remain and both Terry and Fulfer continue to find ways to make sure the wood is incorporated into useful art.

“I’m just glad they rescued that old tree,” Fulfer said. “It's tough to tell what we're going to come up with next.”

Ash tree 2 Calvin with river table 8 16 26

<title>Old Washakie County Ash Tree Cut Down By Mistake Remade Into 600-Pound Table | Cowboy State Daily</title>

When an old ash tree was cut down by mistake at the Washakie County Courthouse in 1999, the groundskeeper rescued the wood. For nearly three decades, huge pieces of the ash sat forgotten until a Worland craftsman built a 600-pound table from it.

Old Washakie County Ash Tree Cut Down By Mistake Remade Into 600-Pound Table

Bill Sniffin

Opinion

CSD Columnists

Today is Sunday, Aug. 16. With Election Day just 48 hours away, it is time to put on my prognosticator’s hat and try to figure out who will win Tuesday’s political races.

All the political excitement is in the Wyoming Republican primary. We are a one-party state, so everything happens in the primary.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Predictions And Favorites"}]

Cowboy State Daily columnists have some interesting points of view.

 Eric Barlow for governor and Kevin Christensen for U.S. House.

 Eric Barlow for governor and Steve Friess for U.S. House.

 Brent Bien for governor and Chuck Gray for U.S. House.

 Megan Degenfelder for governor and Chuck Gray for U.S. House.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Here is how I see these races:"}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"U.S. House"}]

A gambling man would probably pick Secretary of State Chuck Gray of Casper to win the race for U.S. House.

Nobody else in this race has his network of followers, and he has been consistent. Considered a lightning rod, Gray has always been in the news. Gray seems to enjoy “just being Chuck.”

For example, how many state officials in history have been invited outside during a heated discussion by a sitting governor who is known to be somewhat mild-mannered? Probably not many.

Longtime political writer Joan Barron calls Gray an “obnoxious grandstander.”

After thoroughly analyzing this campaign, based on my 56 years of watching politics in Wyoming, I came to the conclusion recently that Steve Friess of Jackson might pull off a last-minute upset over Gray.

A lot of Friess’ boosters claim that not since Wyoming sent first-termers Dick Cheney and Liz Cheney to Congress have we had the chance to send someone who can make a big difference like Steve Friess can.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"That argument may very well be true."}]

But there are seven other Republicans in the race, and unless large numbers of their supporters bail out and move over to Friess, this race should go to Chuck.

Those candidates are Jillian Balow of Cheyenne, Bob Biteman of Ranchester, Reid Rasner, Kevin Christensen, and Keith Goodenough of Casper, David Giralt of Mills and Richard Dodson of Sundance.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"It will be close."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Governor"}]

Like Gray, State Sen. Eric Barlow of Gillette has been the leader in his race from Day One. He has put together a tremendous team statewide and has boatloads of support.

As a former Speaker of the House, he was obviously well-liked, based on the number of legislators helping him. Has he heard of the “Speaker’s Curse?”

For some reason, Wyoming voters have not elected a House speaker or Senate president as governor in 50 years.

Megan Degenfelder of Cheyenne is young, at age 37, but has an amazing machine working for her. She has President Donald Trump working hard for her. She can honestly say that she will have the president’s ear if elected.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Folks, this is huge."}]

Her team has spent more than a million dollars attacking Barlow’s record. Based on all the TV ads and fliers, you would almost wonder why he is not in jail.

Barlow has not fired back much, which is commendable, but probably a bad tactic in these crazy political days.

The sleeper is retired Marine Col. Brent Bien of Cody. He has worked very hard and has a huge personal following. He lost the primary to Gov. Mark Gordon four years ago, receiving 48,572 votes.

If those same people vote for him, he just might win.

Despite a huge late surge by Degenfelder, I have a hunch Barlow will hold on and emerge victorious.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"U.S. Senate"}]

You would think this race would be a big deal. There are only 100 men and women in the U.S. Senate.

Current U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman has done an excellent job and has President Donald Trump’s endorsement.

Her biggest rival is 37-year-old Sam Mead of the well-connected Mead family from Jackson. His uncle Matt was governor, and his grandmother Mary Mead ran for governor.

He has worked hard and generated quite a bit of support.

Harriet will win and will do a great job as our next U.S. senator.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Other Races"}]

Longtime Casper State Rep. Steve Harshman should cruise to an easy win in the contest for state superintendent of public instruction. He is a longtime teacher and coach and has been a consistent leader in the state Legislature.

This is a case of one candidate having much better name recognition than the others, Chad Auer of Cheyenne and Tom Kelly of Sheridan.

The secretary of state’s race has been somewhat underwhelming. It is hard to find issues for the candidates to fight about.

Robert Short of Douglas appears to be the front-runner, although Rachel Williams of Cody has the Freedom Caucus folks working hard for her.

CJ Young of Cheyenne and Qwenton Oviatt of Hudson will finish out of the running.

State Treasurer Curt Meier of La Grange should have no trouble defeating challenger Scott Smith of Lingle.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Turnout"}]

Originally, I thought this election would have a small turnout.

Now I have changed my mind totally. We could easily have 130,000 to 150,000 total Republican votes.

The record was four years ago when 172,000 voted. Other recent years have seen turnout as low as 117,000.

The bigger turnout will favor Degenfelder and Friess, in my opinion.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Conclusion"}]

These are just my predictions as a columnist. What do you think?

We want to hear what you have to say. Cowboy State Daily will be running an election quiz, and you can see if you can top our staff. It will be in the Monday morning newsletter.

Managing Editor Greg Johnson won our last quiz two years ago, and Jen Kocher, one of our writers from Gillette, won it four years ago. Six years ago, Tom Lacock of Cheyenne won it.

That quiz will be in Cowboy State Daily Monday.

Sniffin headshot 7 2 25

<title>Bill Sniffin: Barlow, Friess, Hageman, Harshman, Short, Meier, Headed For Wins? | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Columnist Bill Sniffin writes: “Who is going to win? This primary election has so many variables. These are the folks I think will win on Tuesday.”

Bill Sniffin: Barlow, Friess, Hageman, Harshman, Short, Meier, Headed For Wins?

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's Feature Reporter, Andrew Rossi.

Andrew Rossi

A slew of fantastic fossils from Earth’s earliest primates have been discovered in southwestern Wyoming, offering new insights into the evolution of humanity’s tiny, sap-sucking great-uncles and aunts.

A new study published in the Journal of Human Evolution reports on the tiny fossils of three prehistoric primates excavated at Smiley Draw, a sandstone site in the Wasatch Formation of the Eocene Period.

Among paleontologists, Wyoming is well known as one of the best places in the world to find 

. These discoveries add to that reputation while also showing how much remains to be found.

“We've made the picture of the early Eocene more complicated than what we once thought,” said Chris Beard, a Foundation Distinguished Professor at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. “There will be much more to learn about these fossils, especially from southern Wyoming. There's a reason we're working down there.”

A slew of fossils from Earth's earliest primates have been discovered in southwestern Wyoming. Scientists say the tiny primate fossils, around the size of a mouse lemur, is evidence something strange was going on in Sweetwater County 55 million years ago.

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