A Watsonville High School "Wildcat" experienced the Bataan Death March.

Jack D. Brink was born in Michigan in 1921, and would have likely attended Watsonville High School between the years 1935 and 1941. His enlistment record indicated that he had completed four years of high school; however, his graduation from a local high school has not been confirmed. Following school Brink went into the entertainment business, remained single and was living in Salinas, California, at the time of his enlistment.

Brink probably joined the National Guard between September 1940, when they were being formed and February 1941, when they departed for Fort Lewis, Washington. Soon after his arrival in the Philippine Islands in the fall of 1941, he was promoted to sergeant. He participated in the defense of the Philippines and his unit's last-ditch stand on the Bataan Peninsula. Sergeant Jack Brink survived the Bataan Death March but died on June 15, 1942, while interned at Cabanatuan Prison Camp.

Brink's remains were never recovered, but his name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery.

(N A R A 2 ; A B M C ; 1 9 4 T B ; h t t p : / / w w w. p r o v i s o . k 1 2 .il.us/bataan%20Web/194_Poster. htm)