Albert Fall Chase was born in 1918, attended New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts, and entered the U.S. Army in 1940 with an ROTC commission. As were many New Mexico troops, he was sent in 1941 to the Philippines, where he trained native troops on Los Negros for the Philippine Scouts, 73rd Regiment. They fought on Mindanao and Cebu until they were captured by the Japanese in 1942. Chase was a prisoner of war in Camp No. 2, at Davao, Mindanao for two and a half years. He was killed aboard a Japanese ship transferring prisoners to Formosa, when the ship was torpedoed by U.S. forces on September 7, 1944. He was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart in 1945 and the Bronze Star Medal in 1946.
From the guide to the Albert Fall Chase Papers, 1941-1951, (Archives and Special Collections, New Mexico State University Library)
