Back From The Living Dead - Bert Bank (best big ereader .TXT) 📗

fical smears,

which was a good indication to us that someone was

going to Japan. The Japanese were very careful not

to send anyone to Japan who had dysentery. Well, we

had no idea when or who was going, but one afternoon at 6 o’clcok, about 35 trucks came in camp, and

a few minutes later we were told that we all were

moving the following day, which would be June 6,

1944. Incidentally, against strong protest, the Japs

had moved 750 enlisted men and officers out of the

camp in March of 1944 to work on an airport at

Lysang and some other airport. These men were later

moved, in September of 1944, but the ship was torpedoed by American subs and, out of the 750 men, there

were only 83 survivors.

 

Twenty Days in the Hold of a Slave Ship

 

On the morning of June 6, 1944, we began leaving

the camp at five o’clock. All Americans were put on

trucks barefooted, standing four abreast, with ropes

tied to each of us. We all were blindfolded. We had a

one-legged officer who was required to stand, also.

This trip lasted for about two and one-half hours, as

we were taken to Lysang and put on the boat there.

 

We were all thrown in the bottom of a ship and for

20 days we were to ride in what was nothing but a

slave ship. The trip, lasting until June 26, was horrible,

and sometimes I think it was as bad as any other 20

days during the imprisonment. We were in the hold for

six days in the harbor of Davao. The Japs were a little

nervous on this trip, as they stayed close to the shore

the entire trip. We were all sick and in this hold with

the hatch down it was so hot that many men were on

the verge of insanity from heat exhaustion. If a

person desired to use the filthy latrine on deck, he

had to remain in line for many hours awaiting his

turn. One person would go up on deck at a time to

use the latrine and the guard was there to see that you

did not stay too long. If he thought that you were

remaining a little too long he would immediately throw

you down the stairs. On June 7 the Japs gave us our

other Red Cross box, with what food they did not want.

We were all in the hold and, surprising as it may seem,

you had to watch what you had as the other prisoners

would steal your food. Many had their boxes stolen

from them during the night by Americans who were

later caught with it. We ate this food as rapidly as

possible and, of course, this did not help the sanitary

conditions in the hold of the ship.

 

Prisoners Packed into Hold with Bayonet

 

Many had dysentery and the floor was cluttered with

feces and filth. We had large cans to urinate in, but

they were being knocked all over the floor, and urine

was running over the entire place. When the Japs

threw us down in the hold and kept telling everyone

to move to the rear, we all were slow in moving as we

did not think it possible to move another inch, but

when the Jap officer came down the stairs and began

hitting us on the head with his bayonet, we moved a

little farther. I remember a Jap came down and inspected the few cigarettes the Americans had been

given. This officer would grab the cigarettes and

smell them, if they did not smell moldly he would keep

the cigarettes, but if they smelled moldly, he would

throw them back into our faces. We were given one

canteen of water a day, and two meals consisting of

a few spoons of rice and just a little commote tops

soup. I thought that none of us would reach Manila,

but with the help of the good Lord we only lost one

man. A young lieutenant died on the morning of June

26, just as we arrived in Manila bay. I will never

forget that young officer, as he died lying in that

filthy and crowded hold, from starvation and heat

exhaustion. The Japs would have let us all die, but for

some reason we were able to make it. I was afraid

that the Japs would kill us all, as many of us were

losing our minds and it was thought that a stampede

would start to run to the top for air. We actually

could not get our breaths at times, but if such a thing

had happened it would have meant certain death. The

guards were at the top of the hatch and would have

shot each of us as we came out of the hold. When it

rained at night, or even in the day, for that matter,

they would cover up the hatch and spread tarpauling

over it in order to prevent water from seeping down

to the lower holds. We were of the opinion they were

carrying war supplies in addition to the prisoners.

We could not sleep at all, as we had to stay in a sitting

position, so close to each other than you could sometimes lean just a little on your friend next to you.

This was no rest at all, as the person next to you could

hold you for only a minute or two. People were offer-ing their daily ration of two spoons of rice for just

a canteen of water and, of course, we were all so

famished from thirst that we had to use what little

water we could get, and this was only one canteen a

day. Our bodies were covered with sweat and we were

breaking out with rash and heat so badly that many

of us were naked even though we were living so close

to each other. At night we could get no sleep and many

were praying; that the Americans would come over and

bomb the ship so as to end it all. We stopped about 400

yards off the shore of Zamboanga during the night

of the second week, and while here, a Lieutenant

McGee, one of the finest officers I have ever known,

jumped overboard and made a daring escape. The

Japanese guards all opened fire on him, but on reaching the States this year we ascertained that he was

safe. The Japs had let small groups come on deck for

a few minutes each day, but after this, all were required to remain in the hold. Conditions were terrible

and they got worse when the following night, a lieutenant jumped right over one of the guards and swam

ashore. We also learned of his safety on reaching the

States. We were approximately three miles from shore

when this lieutenant jumped overboard and we did not

think that he had a chance, but, fortunately, he made

a successful escape. The Japs watched us very closely.

We were so crowded in the hold that many of the

stronger ones had to hold the small men on their

shoulders since there was no room in the holds for

everyone to stand, much less sit. We would take turns

holding the men on our shoulders. Things were horrible

and I am sure that the slave ships of the early days

never surpassed the filth and cruelty of this Japanese

slave ship.

 

Arrived at Bilibid Prison

 

We were taken off of the boat on the 26th and taken

to Bilibid prison where sick were left. Three hundred

men were taken to Japan, and the remaining men were

taken to Cabanatuan. I was left at Bilibid because of

my condition. Along with many others, I was later

taken to Cabanatuan. At Bilibid I talked to a doctor

who had been the American doctor on the “Pasay”

detail, one of the most horrible details worked by the

Japs. This detail was under the supervision of the

Navy and the men were working on Neilsen and

Nichols Field building runways. This doctor who had

been in charge of the detail, as a result of the beatings

given him by the Japs, could not hear at all out of

one ear. The Jap non com had struck him over the

head because so many were were sick, and as a result

he lost his hearing in one ear. What would happen

would be that the Japs would come and ask the doctor

for so many men to go out to work and the doctor

would tell him that he could not get them, as the men

were too weak and sick, then the doctor would receive

a beating from the Japs because he could not get the

men out. This doctor told me that the Japs would use

the water treatment on the men. They would put a

tube down the man’s throat and turn the water on to

see if the men were actually sick. Of course, the men

were killed right there. When the Japs would kill these

men they were required to send the bodies to Bilibid

prison, which was very near. Before the bodies were

sent, the Japs would seal the boxes the bodies were

in and nail them very tightly so that no one could see

how the men were killed when they arrived at Bilibid.

This same doctor told me that once he was testing a

man’s reflex action by tapping him on the knee with

a small piece of stick, and a Jap came in and saw him.

In a few minutes he returned with a 2 x 4 and hit the

man across the knee, breaking his leg in two places.

There were many other horrible experiences related

by this doctor on this detail, but this gives you an idea

of the savagery of the Japs on certain occasions. On

another detail on Luzon over 90 per cent of a detail

died as result of dysentery. I talked to a doctor in

Bilibid who told me this. He said that the Americans

were required to drink the water from a creek below

where the Japs cooked, washed and used the creek as

a latrine. This was the only water available, so they

were compelled to use the water after the Japs had

used it above stream in the manner I mentioned.

 

Bilibid Prison in Charge of American Naval Personnel

 

This doctor was one of the very few that was

fortunate enough to escape dying. He had a severe

case of dysentery, but did not die, or, rather had not

died at the time I last saw him. Bilibid prison was in

charge of the personnel of the American Navy. It was

more or Ie3s a hospital and the serious cases were

brought here. I presume that it was the best prison

of any. The conditions were a little better. The Japs

used this place as a clearing ground, also. They were

moving great numbers of men to Japan now and all

were brought to Bilibid where they were examined to

see if they had dysentery. If they didn’t they were sent

to Japan. I remained in Bilibid until August 2, 1944,

and was then moved to Cabanatuan, from which I had

been taken in October of 1942. When I arrived at

Cabanatuan I found most of ray friends had been

moved to Japan during the two years I had been gone.

Conditions at Cabanatuan were very bad. The Japanese doctor was surveying all the Americans daily to

see who was in good enough condition to go to Japan.

Only the healthy, or I should say the stronger, were

taken to Japan. Many men here were in the dysentery

section, and, of course, they were not being sent to

Japan. They were required to have a positive stool