Memorial for WWII hero set for Milk River Indian Days

A highly decorated veteran of World War II will be honored Saturday during Milk River Indian Days, 71 years after he died in the Pacific Theatre.

George Jay Ball, grandnephew of U.S. Army Cpl. Charles Ball, said the soldier was declared missing-in-action April 6, 1942, and declared a casualty Oct. 6, 1942.

Extensive searches to find his remains have been unsuccessful, Ball said, and he decided it was time to honor his relative.

"It's a special deal for a special person," Ball said. "He gave everything he had, and we want to honor him appropriately."

A memorial ceremony will be held Saturday starting at the Fort Belknap Communithy Center at 2 p.m. then moving to the Veterans Memorial Park nearby, where Cpl. Ball's family has installed a headstone.

There, the ceremony will continue with full military honors. Ball said an honor guard will be present, along with veterans groups including the Chippewa Cree Veterans from Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation and the Patriot Guard Riders. Military veteran and elder John "Jack" Plumage will preside in a ceremony at the memorial.

Ball said his granduncle was honored in a medal ceremony in 2001 - multiple awards including that he was the first soldier to be awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for Valor during the Battle of Bataan and also was awarded two of each of the Bronze Star and Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Clusters, signifying multiple awards - but he and his family decided it was time to put up a headstone and hold a memorial.

"We decided to go for it," he said.

They are also memorializing Cpl. Ball with a special Saturday at 7 p.m. after grand entry, a men's traditional dance.

"It's especially associated with warriors," Ball said, adding that some old songs that generally have not been used for a long time will be used for the special.

Following is Cpl. Charles Ball's official obituary for the memorial.

Cpl. Charles Ball

April 9, 1916 - Fort Belknap, Montana - April 6, 1942 - Dambana ng Kagitingan, Bataan, Luzon, Philippines

Charles Ball was born April 9, 1916, in Harlem, Montana, to William and Cecelia (Azure) Ball. His siblings were Robert Ball, Mary Elizebeth Ball (Natesway), Josephine Ball (Gobert), Bartholomew Ball, Thomas Ball, Katherine Ball (Turcott), and John Ball.

Charles attended schools in Harlem and lived on the family ranch. As a young man he worked for Miller Brothers Land & Livestock in the Bear's Paw Mountains and Lodgepole on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. He also helped fight the two fires that burned all but 7,000 acres of the Little Rockies Mountains in 1936.

Charles followed the footsteps of his older brother Thomas and enlisted in the United States Army October 16, 1940, in Chinook, Montana. From the U.S. Army Pacific Transport Depot in Fort McDowell, California, he boarded the USAT Washington that sailed for the Philippine Islands. In April 1941, the USAT Washington docked at Pier 7 in Manila Bay. Upon arrival he was assigned to a machine-gun unit with the 31st Infantry Regiment, B Company, at Fort William McKinley, Taguig City, Philippines.

By all accounts, Corporal Charles Ball was deeply respected by his comrades for his bravery and his exceptional scouting and marksmanship, skills he developed as a youth in the Little Rockies Mountains and Milk River Valley on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. He is described by friends before and during his time in the service as being quite rowdy and as loyal a friend as one could have.

In recognition of his exceptional bravery and tenacity, Corporal Ball earned our nation's second-highest award for valor, the Distinguished Service Cross, on January 23, 1942, while fighting against the Japanese Imperial Army near Abucay Hacienda, Bataan, Luzon. There, he voluntarily moved ahead of B Company on narrow jungle trails, of which Japanese snipers would post themselves in the tall trees. Corporal Ball could distinguish anomalies in the jungle vegetation and would eliminate the snipers before they ever had a chance to fire on his company. When B Company was later forced to withdraw from an exposed ridgeline under heavy attack, Corporal Ball, although wounded, single-handedly held off attackers with his famed Browning Automatic Rifle, enabling B Company to escape. After dressing his own wounds, he fearlessly repeated that action on a series of ridges until the Japanese attack faltered and fell back.

After four months of brutal fighting with little food, no supplies, low ammunition, suffering numerous diseases, and exhaustion, the 31st Infantry begin to fall back under continuous Japanese attacks. On April 6, 1942, Corporal Charles Ball was reporting his reconnaissance along possible routes of withdrawal from Mount Samat to Battalion Commander Major Addison W. Dunham, when an artillery shell hit a nearby tree, mortally wounding him, Major Dunham, and several others.

Corporal Ball was officially listed as MIA April 6, 1942 and later declared deceased October 6, 1942. His remains were never recovered after an extensive search to do so. He is memorialized with his name inscribed on the Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in Manila, Philippines. He will now be memorialized in perpetuity at the Fort Belknap Veterans Memorial Park on his home Fort Belknap Indian Reservation.

Many members of B Company who survived the fighting and subsequent Bataan Death March credit Corporal Charles Ball with saving their lives many times during the four-month Battle of Bataan.

Corporal Charles Ball's legacy lives on in the hearts of his family, and in the hearts of the people of Fort Belknap. His surviving family include nephews and nieces: George "Monte" Ball of Fort Belknap, Yvonne Ball (Bigby) of Harlem, Curtis Ball of Keiser, Oregon, Gordon Ball of Fort Belknap, Frank Ball of Fort Belknap, Robert "Bobby" Ball of Fort Belknap, William "Bill" Turcott of Chinook, John Beston of Great Falls, Gladys Turcott (Gilmore) of Chicago. Florence Turcotte of Seattle, Cecelia Turcott (Hofland) of Great Falls, Margaret Turcott (Heagy) of Houston, Texas, and Lee Roberts of Taylor, Arizona, as well as their children and great-grand children.