Floyd W. Bickmore was born in California in 1901 to William and Ella Bickmore. In 1910 the Bickmore family was living in Santa Cruz County where William was employed as a mechanic in Felton. Floyd and his sister Esther attended local schools while living in Felton.

Floyd Bickmore is believed to have completed his four years of high school in Berkeley, which later credited him with residency in that community. By 1940 he had returned to the Pajaro Valley and was working as a tinsmith to help support of his parents.

Floyd Bickmore joined Company C of the 194th Tank Battalion of the National Guard at Salinas between September 1940 and February 1941. He was promoted to the rank of Staff Sergeant in October 1941 shortly after his arrival in the Philippine Islands. The unit history of the 194th Tank Company indicates that Sergeant Bickmore was promoted to Master Sergeant while on duty in the islands. He remained with Company C through the defense of the Philippines, the Bataan Peninsula and the infamous Death March.

Floyd Bickmore was confined to Cabanatuan Prison where he remained until his death on October 27, 1942. His body was never recovered; he is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery in Manila.

(USCR, 1910 US Census, CA, Santa Cruz; NARA2; 194TB; ABMC; SCSn July 9, 1943)