Fletcher "Fletch" Armitage was a first lieutenant in the United States Army. He served with the 13th Field Artillery Battalion (the "Lucky Thirteenth") in Wahiawa, Oahu, Hawaii. In 1941, his wife Jane left him. He was placed in a prison camp in what had been Kapiolani Park, and was subject to Japan's inhumane policy regarding POWs. Armitage was fed enough to survive on, but not much more. He was forced to rebuild the damage that had been inflicted to the Waikiki area. Armitage anticipated that he would be shipped out for Midway within a few months to continue the war against Japan.