SGT Paul Charles Rodrigues, USMC
August 21, 1941 – September 24, 1965
On September 24, 1965, SGT Paul Charles Rodrigues, USMC killed in a fire at NSGA Kami Seya, Japan. SGT Rodrigues was born in Cherry Valley, Otsego County, New York. He was 24 years old.
Although the official investigation listed faulty electrical circuitry as the cause of the fire, some eyewitness accounts attributed it to failure in a recently-installed incinerator, used for destruction of classified material, which had been improperly vented through the wall and subsequently caused the wall to ignite.
Below are the names of the 12 men who lost their life during the tunnel fire:
CTSA Roger “W” Alex
CTSA William E. Briley
CTSN Wilford D. Cordell
CTSN Dennis e. Etzwieler
CT3 Archie R. Garofalo
CTSA John D. House
LCPL Richard E. McKown
LTjg Ernest D. Moody
SGT Paul C. Rodrigues
CT3 Wayne E. Tower
CTSN James K. Whitman
CT3 Gregory S. Williams
Station HYPO 
21 August 2019 at 10:21
Thanks for posting this, I arrived in Kamiseya in1968 and they were still talking about the fire.
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21 August 2019 at 14:04
We who served with the departed will always be remember our shipmates. As long as there is one person who remember, our shipmates will not be forgotten. After that last person died, our shipmates will always be known to God. R.I.P. shipmates.
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21 August 2019 at 17:55
In 1979, they were still talking about the fire. RIP shipmates.
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21 August 2019 at 18:19
I had the unenviable task of identifying Sgt Rodrigues the morning after the fire at the morgue in the hospital at Camp Zama, where I had been taken because of Carbon Monoxide poisoning. I was the Operations Watch Officer on duty when the fire started. Paul was a personal friend as well as a professional associate and a DAMNED GOOD MARINE. I’m certain that he has a special place in heaven. It’s been a long time, but I live that terrible night every day.
LtCol. Roger L. Miner, USMC Ret.
659 Gen. Leroy Manor Rd.
Morrisonville, NY 12962
(518) 563-3956
rmcc@northnet.org
or rogerminer@reagan.com
if anyone wants to contact me for anything concerning the fire.
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21 August 2019 at 19:59
I was there 1959-1960, thankfully before the tragedy. RIP, brothers.
Semper fi!
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