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

the floor and you %vould continue

eating without any hesitancy at all, only hoping that

you would be able to get a little more to eat. This

sounds incredible but I assure you it is the truth. I

pray that no one will ever again have to learn from

experience.

 

“Very Sorry” Was Jap Retort to Protests

 

Many men attempted to strike back at the guard

when they were hit, but, of course, this meant certain

death as they were immediately shot. It was very

difficult to restrain yourself but it was certainly the

only thing that you could do, as many found out. Many

men were shot in cold blood by the guards and nothing

was ever done about it, even though the Americans

protested. Their reply was always “We are very

sorry.”

 

When a protest was made to the Japanese Headquarters about some American receiving a beating,

they would always say that they were very sorry, but

the same thing would occur again. The Japs many

times would tell us that it was very bad but that we

were prisoners of war and that is all we could expect.

They told us that they did not recognize the Geneva

Convention regarding the treatment of prisoners of

war as they were not a signatory to the treaty. They

told us that we were mistreating their prisoners and

therefore they would mistreat us. You must remember

that all of this was being done by the Jap officers

who were in charge of the camp. These officers have

wonderful control of their men, the guards, and these

beatings and atrocities could have been prevented if

the officers had chosen to order the guards not to

mistreat us. But they condoned all of these atrocities

and this should clear up in many minds the question

of who is responsible. They are all responsible and

deserve anything that we do to them. They have killed

and tortured Americans. Their idea is to kill 10 men

for each one trying to escape. It is my opinion that

they all should be wiped out, just as Paul McNutt has

said. If you Americana could have seen the atrocities

committed on Americans, I am sure that you would

share the same opinion that the prisoners of war share

today.

 

Mass Burials Common at Cabanatuan

 

Cabanatuan was known as the main or central

prison camp of all the camps. From this camp many

details were sent out. In early October 400 specialists

were sent to Japan. All Americans had to inform the

Japs of their specialty. Many were foolish and put

mechanics, radio, etc. The Japs immediately grabbed

these men off and shipped them to Japan. A great

majority of the men did not give a true rating, just

saying farmer, driver, lawyer or anything that they

might think the Japs would not be interested in using.

Many details were sent over Luzon to load all the

equipment the Japs had and ship it to other theatres.

Many men were used as slaves carrying large field

pieces, work that should have been done by teams of

mules or tractors. We lost many men engaged in this

type of work. After a few weeks at Cabanatuan the

Japs let us bury the dead. We would go and dig a large

hole and throw 18 to 20 bodies in the hole, in the nude,

of course. We had 2,700 men die at Cabanatuan. In the

early days it wasn’t unusual for 20 per cent of the

detail to die each day as result of fatigue and beatings given by the Jap guards. The Americans, with

the exception of a few, did not let it bother them, but

of course a few went insane from witnessing such

atrocities.

 

PART V Prisoners Suffocated In Box Cars And

Ship Holds, Being Transferred From Cabanatuan

To Mindinao

 

In October they moved 2,000 men to Manchuria to

work in the salt mines. We heard unofficially that 80

per cent of this detail died because of the cold weather,

as the Japs did not give them winter clothes. On

October 26, 1942, they also shipped 2,000 Americans

to Davao penal colony in Mindanao. I was one of that

group. We were selected at Cabanatuan to go because

we were all sick. The Jap CO at Cabanatuan told us

we were going to a rest camp where no one would work

and there was food and meat, and vegetables were

plentiful. We were all sick and did not believe the Jap

commander, but we thought that maybe it was true.

We left on the morning of the 26th walking to Cabanatuan five miles away and there we began a trip that

was going to eventually mean death to many of us. At

Cabanatuan we were loaded into box cars with a

capacity of 75. They threw 125 of us into each of

these cars. The doors were locked and we had no air

at all. Many suffocated. We lived in filth as many had

dysentery and diarrhea. This trip in the box cars

lasted for approximately 10 hours. When we arrived

in Manila we had a stampede in getting out of the

cars.

 

Marched Through Streets of Manila

 

We marched from the station to Bilibid prison in

Manila where we spent a night. While marching

through Manila we were taken by the Manila hotel and

stopped so that some high ranking officers could come

out and see how we looked and enjoy seeing Americans

being told what to do by the Japs. Many of the Filipinos

along the side of the streets were crying and trying to

tell us under breath not to give up as the Americans

were coming back some day. The sun was bearing

down and we were being pushed through the streets

like a herd of cattle. The Japs would beat us as we

marched through the streets just to try and impress

the Filipinos who were watching us from windows and

the sidewalks. I am sure that there wasn’t a Filipino

who would not have helped everyone of us if he had

had the opportunity. We saw many Germans and

Italians standing along the streets and many of them

looked a little sad at seeing men who breathed the same

as they did being pushed through the streets like

cattle. The Filipinos would try and throw food to us,

but it was always intercepted by the Japs who ate it

themselves and then beat the Filipinos for trying to

help the Americans. If an American would pick up

anything he would get a severe beating.

 

Japanese Officials Revel in American Degradation

 

Many high ranking Jap officials watched this

procession through the streets of Manila and all

sparkled with joy over such a sight. They used this as

propaganda for the Filipinos. This showed that the

Americans were defeated and would never return to

the islands. They had the natives pledge their alleg-iance to the Japs in many ceremonies, but they never

gained the support of the natives. They forced the

natives to help them, as this was the only way they

could get any support whatsoever. They had the fear

of God instilled in the civilians, as each civilian had

to bow to every Jap he saw just as we did.

 

After spending a night in Bilibid prison, which was

a group of cement buildings used by the Philippine

government before the war, we moved out early the

next morning marching through Manila again on our

way to the boat. This boat trip was another horrible

trip. I can give the Japs credit for one thing, and that

is that they can crowd more people into the smallest

amount of space than any other race I have ever heard

or read about. This trip was horrible, but still the return trip from Mindanao two year3 later was to be

worse.

 

Days of Horror Crowded Into a Boat Hold

 

Going to Davao we were on the boat until November

8th. We were crowded into the hold of the ship. Twelve

men were assigned to a bay, that is, a small space.

We were all supposed to get in this bay, but when the

Japs went back on deck we crawled out. We measured

to see exactly how many men could get in this space

and four men if they crowded up very closely and put

their legs and arms around each other could get in.

But the Japs with bayonets forced 12 men to get in

there. Many of us were desperately ill. I had a severe

case of diarrhea and lay on my back in the ship for

five days thinking that I would die any minute. One

had to go on deck to use a filthy latrine, but it was

necessary to get in line for six or eight hours to use

it. There was no sanitary facilities at all and we lived

in our human waste. Fortunately, we had only two

men to die on this trip. The Lord was certainly on our

side during this trip as all were sick, and only two

died. One was buried at sea, and the other taken off

at Cebu. The only satisfying thing about the trip was

the fact that the Japs gave us some corned beef and

cabbage. I will never know why they gave us a little

more food. This is characteristic of the Japs in that

you can not anticipate what they will do from day to

day. On the trip the water was turned on for about two

hours each day and the prisoners were all very exhausted from thirst. Later we were to learn that this

trip was wonderful compared to what was going to

happen later on the return trip.

 

Landing on Mindanao Island

 

On November 8th we arrived at the docks at Lasay.

We were to walk from there to the Davao penal colony,

some 30 miles away. This march was horrible. We

were all tired, but we were forced to keep moving.

The Jap officer in charge, this same Lieutenant

Hosume that I mentioned previously, told us when we

started that if we walked fast for the first few hours

we would stop and rest for the night, but after it

became dark he made us keep marching until we

reached the penal colony early in the morning. We

were all exhausted. When the Japs threw us in the

compound we all fell out and slept right on the ground.

During the march there was one incident that I

don’t think I will ever forget. It was late in the evening and I was walking along the side of a Marine

officer. A group of Japs riding in a truck right in

front of us were moving very slowly as they were

keeping the Americans in line. I asked the Marine

officer beside me if he knew what rank a certain Jap

was. The officer replied that certainly he knew what

rank was held by the Jap. He ridiculed me for not

being able to recognize the rank of the Jap. I asked

him what was his rank and he replied in a very loud

tone, that the Jap was a first lieutenant. The Jap

jumped out of the truck and began beating my friend

and saying that he was a captain, and not a first

lieutenant. I thought that this was very funny even

though my friend received several licks over the head.

After this every time I saw a Jap I would ask him if

he could tell me his rank, and he never attempted to

inform me anymore. Many of the Japs spoke English

since they had been educated in the States.

 

“California” Jap Turns Tables on Jokers

 

A friend of mine who was in camp told