July 1979 - Philippine Defenders Main

VOLUME 34
PITTSBURGH. PA.-JULY 1979
LEVENBERG ELECTED COMMANDER
NUMBER 1
1979 CONVENTION
REFLECTIONS OF T HE 1979
NATIONALCONVENTION
..
,
-
Ra lph Levenberg was a member of the 11th Pursuit Squa dron at Nicholl Field when the
War began. He was in Camp O'Donnell. Cabanatuan (Far m Detail), 81llbld <Paodacan
Deta il ), Naruml (Nagoya, J apan) , Reenlisted In May 1!N4i and remained on active duty
with the U.S. Air Force until April 1961 at which time he was retired in t he grade or
Major. Entered the Civil Service a t Boston, Mass .. as Ctuef of Safety. Security'" lntelligenee. Was Director of Secur ity for Bureau of Naval Weapons Fled Readiness Rep..
AUantk ; Senior Criminal InveslJgator. Naval Air Systems Command ; Assodate
Director of Security Department. Nava l Weapons Cente r, China Lake, Ca. Retired for
physical disability In 1914. Very active In veterans' programs and otbuservlce work . He
and wire Martha have two sons, Michael and David. Ralph and Martha make their home
in Henderson, Nevada.
It was generally agreed by most memo
bers that the Miami Convention was one of
the better conventions. Probably the big
question in everyone's mind upon leaving
was "Will I be around to attend the 1980
Convention in Pittsburgh."
While there was a time for fun , Commander Cantwell completed the necessary
business to keep our organization running
on the smooth road to success. The business meetings were well attended and to
the credit of the committee chairman
reports were well presented and received.
Some of the highlights and changes
were: to raise the cost of dues starting in
April 1980 from $4.00 to $6.00 and to make
neeessary adjustments to cost of items
sold by National, tie clips, deals, hats,
etc.
The 1981 Convention wiIJ be in Las
Vegas, Nev. The Convention Committee
only had one request for the 1982 convention, if you are interested in the 1982
convention in your city let the committee
know.
We were pleased to have Herbert B.
Mars, Asst. Direetor for Policy, Director
of Veteran Benefits with us for the convention. He had a n informal meeting with
your officers at which time it was possible
for us to point out some of the problems our
members are having with the V.A. He
spoke to the membership during the busl·
ness meeting. The V.A. must periorm the
duties set forth in the laws passed by
Congress that is their mission. U one of
their employees fall down in fulfillment of
his duties then we should complain to their
superior.
Mr. Mars also spoke at the banquet
hoping to get the women involved.
Speaking of women, P .N.C. Joan F . Ra y
has the study of forming a ladies auxiliary.
He will report at a later meeting on his
r,.esults so that a decision can be made at
the Pittsburgh Convention.
General John P . Flynn, U.S. Air ForceRetired, acting chairman of the American
Federation of Ex. Prisoners of War spoke
to the membership on the need for such an
organization and suggested the ADBC
become a member of the organization.
Arter much discussion it was deeided, the
new organiUltion furnish the officers and
board of direetors with full information so
(Continu.d on PQS . J)
Oeditot.d 10 Iho~ ptrWI'I$ both living ond 6Iod who fOl.91t ogaiml
overwhelming odds O9Oirlst 'hi enemy at ,hi outbrtolc of Worid WOI: 11
Officiol Pvblimioll of the
AMERICAN DEFENDERS OF BATAAN & CORREGIDOR, INC.
(INCLUDING ANY UNIT OF FORCE OF THE ASIATIC flEET. PHILIPPINE ARCHIPELAGO
WAKE ISLAND, MARIANNA ISLAND. AND DUTCH EAST INDIES)
HOMIU.' omcus
Re_ Admifi IIMr, W.GoodIII
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Sil. Committee
P.O. Box 32633
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PAST U"IOI. COMIIMDUS
Hlrokl ~nefS
-!lew. Albert O. Talbol
.Inn Mcbol'
-M / Gen E.P. Kilt, •.
Simme Pidml1
Nbert Senna
Maurice MReI
klseph A. 'Iller
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BAlAAN AND BEYOND:
M.-rIe. of .. American POW
By Joba S. Cokmaa, Jr.
Foreword by nom.. Dooley
After the Japanese invasion 01 the Philippines in December, 1941, and the subsequent
fall of Manila, defending American and Filipino troops withdrew to Bataan. For four
months these troops, badly outnumbered and crippled by starvation and disease, fwght
a gallant holding action against the Japanese. When they surrendered in April, they were
subjected to the infamous "death march" to prison camp. Thousands died, and those
who survived faced the ordeal ()( further harsh treatment by the Japanese.
John S. Coleman, an air force officer assigned to the Philippines to train air corpl
regiments for infantry combat., was among those who fought 00 Bataan and lived to tell
about it. Based ooa shorthand diary which he kept atgreat risk throughout his imprisonment., this straightforeward account details the ground combat on Balaan, the horrors 01
the march, and the desperate conditions that were his lot as a P .O.W. during the next
three and one-baH years. 1lle courage and ingenuity of men surviving when survival
seemed Impossible comes through vividly in his unembellished narrative. It is a com·
pelling eyewitness record of a grim chapter in American history.
Number Six: Tbe Cett&eDDlal SerieI of the AlioclaUoa of Former StudeDts, Ten.
AltM Ualvenity.
JohnS. Coleman, a retired Air Foree Major, lives in Wellington, Texas.
ISBN~. LC78-006365. 6:19. 320pp. IIlus. Maps. Index. 111.50.
Texas A&r:MUniv. Press, DrawerC, College Statioo, Texas 77843.
Z-THEQUAN
PHilP MSlMWI
- Uwis GoIdsteifl
... bert I. Cimiri
Simllel M. !loom, M.D.
Ke!lnelh J. Stull
HlrIJ P. Mertani
/oM r. Ray
Slmuel B. IIbIdI'
~Ihur A. Bressi
John H. leO.r
1979 ANNUAL FUND DRIVE
The National Officers acknow·
ledge and greaUy appreciate the
support of the members and friends
who so generously donated to the
1979 Annual Fund Drive.
Following is a list of individuals
who received a BOND as special
recognition on the banquet evening
of the Miami Beach Convention:
Robert C. Deanovsky - Niles, Ill.
Barney Grill- Rantoul, Ill.
Louis Lachman - Niles, Ill.
Marion Moore - Lake Claimore,
Cal.
John Crago- Huntington, Ind
Helen Poster - Allentown, Pa.
Chuck Grove - Lancaster, Ohio
Helen Senna - Somerset, N.J.
Dick Schwartz - Whitehall, Pa.
Dan Irwin - Umatilla, Fla.
Mario Villarin Bloomington,
Maine
Joan DeNobile-Floral Park, N.Y.
Mike Rooney - PiUlIbul'gh, Pa.
Helen J . Cusano - Hamden, CoM.
•
1979 CONVENTION
(Colftiflu.d/rom Pa,.l)
they can decide at the 1st Exec. Board
meeting.
P .N.C. John Ray reported the nominat·
ing committee's selection. After the election Ralph Levenberg was elected Com-
mander, Elmer Long, Sr. Vice Comdr.;
Paul Arslannan, Jr. Vice Comdr. ; Edward
Jackfert, Sec.; Austin Patrizio, Treas.
Check mast bead forother officers.
The p~baoquet cocktail party was one
of the (inest In fact most would have been
satisfied for the evening. Signs of our
times only two Gold Star Mothers were in
attendance, Mr. & Mrs. John Cooke and
Mrs. Lura Brazeau. We were pleased to
honor them. FoUowing dinner, dancing
was available till12{OO. About 475 people
were seated for dinner.
The memorial services were conducted
by Benson Guyton aided by Father
Baumann and Mary Grayson, a very
solemn program.
OUr Quan Party was what it is supposed
to be, a lot of fun, a lot of visiting and
promises to see you in Pittsburgh next
year.
LESTER FOX
Dr. Lester I. Fox, 66, of Myrtle Beach,
S.C., died in Palm Beach, Fla.
A native ol Haverhill, Mass., he was a
Peninsula resident 2S years and was
retired In 1974 8S chief of professional
services at Fort Monroe Hospital.
Surviving are his wife, It{rs. June Fox;
two daughters, Susan Fox of Newport
News and Betsy Fox of Myrtle Beach; a
son, Capt. William Fox with the Army in
Frankfort, Germany, and two grand.
children.
He died March 8th of a heart attack, in
Palm Beach, Fla .
He was assigned to the 59th Coast
Artillery and was a POW at Billibid. He
was liberated Feb. 4, 1945.
A graveside service was held Monday,
March 12th.
He was a member ol the Virginia
Chapter.
HENRY W. GOODALL
On May 30th Hm, Rear Admiral Henry
" Hap" W. Goodall and his dear wife celebrated the 50th Anniversary of their mar·
riage.
•
Admiral Goodall bas given his good
name to the American Defenders of Ba·
laan and Corregidor fer a goodly number
of years. Like Generals King and Bluemel
aDd Colonel O'Day ahead of him, he has
heeD our National Honorary Commander.
ALAN W. PARMENTER
Ltd. Cmd. Alan W. Parmenter died August 7, 1978 of a heart attack at theageof66.
He was a prisoner of war captured in
Guam. He always enjoyed reading the
Quan with all the information and news ol
men he knew. Thar* you for sending the
Quan to us aU these years,
Mrs. Alan Pannenter
JUANITA HIPPS
RAY J.BURCH
DEATH MARCH SURVIVOR
The body ol a survivor of the infamous
Bataan Death March was found in a creek
bed in North Bexar County.
Mystery surrounded the discovery of the
body just a few miles north ol the city
limits sioce officials had no Immediate
explanation why the victim wouJd have
been in the area and some $5,000 he had
when last seen was not found on the body.
The victim was identified by Lt. AUred
Carreon of the Bexar County Sheriff's
Department as Ray J . Bureh, 56, whose
last known address was 240 N. Errbe St.,
Albuquerque, N.M.
Burch's body was found just before noon
in Lorna Creek where it crosses under
Bulverde Road.
Norm.lly dry
Normally, Loma Creek is dry, but with
recent rains, it had ovemm its loosely·
defined banks in the past two or three
days.
Dave Pape, who lives in the area,
discovered the body and called olficers.
Sheriff's Investigator Bill White pulled the
body from the water.
Dr. Ruben Santos, Bexar County
medical examiner, said a post mortem
would be conducted. He said the body,
which investigators said was badly
decomposed had been in the water for
several days.
Investigators said they cou1d not
comment on the possibility 0( foul play
pending a ruling by Dr. Santos.
However, it was learned there were no
outward signs 01 violence, such as bullet
wounds or deep cuts.
Lt. Carreon, in making telephone calls to
New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming,
learned from various sources that Burch
was a young soldier in the Philippines at
the outset of the U.S. entry into World War
U.
He was captured by Japanese troops on
Dataan Is18nd as the oubnanned U.S.
forces sought to fight a holding action.
The last time Burch had been heard
from was when he left a Velerans'
Administration hospital in Sheridan, Wyo.,
Jan. 5. At that time, Carreon was told,
Burch had $5,000 on him.
STRANG! DlEAMS
Alex Abramowitch, local restaurateur
and philosopher, has strarce dreams.
"Recently," he said, "I dreamed I was
looking back through time over a span d.
many, many years. At certain intervals, I
saw two sets of footprints - then, for a diatance, only two footprints . This disturbed
me.
"So I asked God the mean~ ol this vision.
"God said tome : 'Son, I was always with
you. But when you had problems, I was
carrying you. "
I wonder how many blank spaces we had
from 1942 to 1945? PlentY, I bet.
Lt. Col. Juanita Redmond Hipps (USA,
NC, Ret) 66 wife of Brig GeD. William
Hipps (USAF Ret) died Feb. 25 in SL
Petersburg Florida. She entered theArmy
Nurse Corps in 1936 and for a time served
as a special nurse to Gen. JohnJ. Pershing
at Hot Springs Army Hospital Arkansas.
She was transferred to the Philipines in
1939 and in World War IJ served through
the siege of Bataan. Upon Bataan's surrender, she and other nurses Ur.novmas the
Angels of Bataan) were taken to Corregidor. Only days before the surrender of
the islands, she and seven other nW'Ses
were flown to Darwin, Australia, in a daring rescue by a Navy PBY. Alter the war
she wrote a book, " I Served on Bataan",
which later was made into a movie. She
was assigned to the office of the chief sur·
geon, Army Air Forces, and was active in
nationwide nurse recruiting and war bond
drives for the rest of the war. In 1944 she
was named one of the ten best-dressed
women. She attended night nune school,
' was a rated flight nurse, and becamechiel
nurse. Army Air Forces, in 1944 . She
retired in 1946 because of injuries suffered
in the Philippines. She married General
Hipps in 1946 and accompanied him on
various assignments, including Okinawa
and Iran. She was cited by Okinawan
government for her services in welfare
work and with underprivileged children.
Surviving besides her husband (2014 Iowa
Ave. NE SL PetersbW"g, Florida WOO) are
a son, William G. Jr. and two grandchild.
ren.
LEONARD P. HICKS
Leonard P . Hicks, died April29,l979ola
myocardial infaretion and arteriosclerotic
heart disease at 62 years old Captured on
Bataan, survived the Death March and
spent 41 months in Prisonerof War Camps,
O'Donnell, Cabataun and Mukden.
He had just been made commander 'of
the Bar Wire Post 9306 of Milwaukee,
Wise. He was lifetime member of the DAU,
XPOW and American Defenders 01 Bataan
and Corregidor.
He was buried at Wood, Wisc.
He is survived by wife Margaret,
daughter, Janet, and sons William,
Ronald, Gregory and Carl. Also, his
mother, Anna Hicks, and3 brothers Glenn, ...
Gordon and John. Mother and father-inlaw, Mr. and Mrs. William Gilbertson and
sister and brother· in-laws, nieces and
nephews.
WALTER FRENCH
Walter French, 205 E. Poplar St,
Oxnard. CA died Dec. 19, 1978. He is sur·
vived by wife Jean, two daughten and
grandchildren. Walter served with Battery
E, 60th C.A.C. and was liberated by 6th
Rangers Jan. 1945 from Cabanatufn, P J .
JULY, 117'-3
H. TED NULL
Photo lakeD January I', 1M!, Bataa n F ield Detachment. Luzon, Pbtupplne Islandl.
Top: L. to R. - Keithly, White, Aken, Holcomb, Hubn, Brown, O'Neil, Tome, Meyen,
Tardlvo. Hat~er, WIUdnlon. Bllilr. BuJlnlky, Alvis. Bottom: L. to R. - Parman, Chal.,
Waite. Oavldson, MacCracken, Miller, Dbon, Dillon. Photo lent by Ed Launen, 2Ot7
RebildDr., Solvancl, CA93413.
CARR SHARES
Calling USS Houston Su..;• .,.
The old saying " you only paS! this way
but once" has real meaning for Geauga
County Veterans Service Administrator
Sam Carr, and for over 20 yean, he has
been doing all he can to help his fellow
man.
This past week, Carr was recognized by
the state legislature, when Rep. Dennis
Wojtanowski presented him with the fint
license plate recognizing former POW's, in
Ohio.
Carr, who was one of Wainright's men on
Bataan and Corregidor and who was a
prisoner of wa r of the J apanese for three
and a haH yean, has used his experiences
in the military, the prison camp and
hospital to help him understand the plight
of fellow veterans.
Before he started as the paid Veterans
officer in 1970, Carr had been the volunteer
service officer of the American Legion
since 1956.
" I felt the need for someone who would
be dedicated to the job, but as a volunteer I
couldn't get much done. I never realized
the amount of work that was involved until
I started on it full time."
To Carr, the job is almost like that of a
detective and the gratification comes
when a claim is accepted for payment by
the governmenl
"Lots of times I don' t know where to
start looking for information about a
veteran who comes here asking for help,"
Carr said.
" But that never stops him, " said
Charlotte Weber, long time assistant in the
veterans office.
A cordial welcome awaits survivors of
USS " Houston" in Melbourne, Victoria,
during Navy Week (29th September - 7th
October 1979).
4- THEQUAN
Survivors of HMAS " Perth" (sunk with
the " Houston" in February 1942) , are
planning an Australia-wide reunion and
are hoping that a party of " Houston" men
- and wives - will be able to join them.
The program includes :
A Civic Reception at the Melbourne
Town Hall.
A Memorial Service a t HMAS " Cerberus" .
Visit to HMAS "casUemaine" Maritime
Museum.
Cruise on Port Phillip Bay.
Navy Week Ball atHMAS "Lonsdale" .
Navy Week CathedralServices.
Navy Week Commemoration Ceremony
at the Melbourne Shrine of Remembrance.
Bowls, Golf, Theatres, Tours, etc.
April 25, 1918-Dec. 29,1977
Grant County commissioner and former
Marion police chief H. Ted Null died 0( a •
heart attack in his home. He was 59.
•
Null, 2016 Kern Road, Marion, Ind. was
dead on arrival at Marion General
Hospital at 4:20 p.m. county coroner Lynn
Hutchison said. Hutchison said Null had
been vacuwning a carpet when he
collapsed.
Hutchison said he at fll"St suspected Null
had suffered an electrical shock, but
doctors later determined Null died of a
heart attack . Null's wife, Virginia, was
home at the time, a hospital spokesman
said.
Null, a 56-year resident of Marion, was
born April 25, 1915. He had just finished his
first year in office as a Grant County commissioner.
Null served in the U.S. Navy during
World War II from 1938 to 1946. While in
the Philippines, Null was one of 60,000
soldiers captured by the Japanese in
Balaan and forced to march 70 miles to
prison camps - an incident that came to
be known as the Bataan Death March.
Some 10,000 prisoners died of starvation or
maltreabnent during the march.
Surviving are his wife, Virginia ; his
daughter Kathleen, at home, and a
brother, Clifton E ., Marion.
TO LOCATE HOBBT ITEMS
t
Vincent J . Jesuele, 143 Pine St, Cliffside
Park, New Jersey 00'010 would like to 0btain material and photos on Fort Hancock,
Sandy Hook, N.J . Comprising the7thCoast
Artillery (H.D.) 52nd Coast ArW~ery
(R.Y. ) 52nd Artillery Brigade (Air
Defense) and Coast Guard units on Sandy
Hook and will pay postages.
SPECTRE
I've had these viSions; I've dreamed these
dreams.
I could swear thatl have been there!
And witnessed the tonnent, heard the
screams,
and felt the dark despair
of men imprisoned in tiny cages,
silently hearing their inner rages.
And those who refm;ed to sell their souls,
who were crudely locked in putrid holes,
or marched naked and ill for their captors'
During the week, a special tree in honor
sport,
of the " Houston" will be planted alongside or crowded in ship's holds from port to
the " Perth's tree in the Shrine grounds
port
Melbourne. It is expected that the US Con- No food , no love, no home, no pity;
sul and the US Naval Attache and other existence in a forgotten city.
dignitaries will attend this Ceremony. The Their last possessions stripped away "Perth" boys will lay the hospitality on is this the price they have to pay
thick. and if you'd like to be in the party,
for schemes that they did not devise
please write to:
or believing politicians' lies?
Bravely they fought, firghtened they fell
Jim Millerick,
No need to tell them that war is hell.
lSBJamesStreet
West Preston, 3a72
by Bonnie Willadsen McBroom
Victoria
Proud daughter of Gerald F . Willadsen
S I MSGT, U.S.A.F ., RET.
t
34th CONVENTION
Members " Guests Attending the 34th
National
Convention,
Miami
Beach,
Maryland
Bilelow, Frank' MerLam
CUaoove. Stanley &I Irene
Freedman. Bert &I Bessie
Mapes, Victor &I Lula
Reuter, PauJ
Sachwald, Louis' Zola
Taylor, Erica
Zwcke, Herbert
M ..... dI• • ett.
Braa.eau, Lura
Hausman, Herman &. Marge
Duple&ia. William
Depancan, Henry &I Miktred
Liskowsky, Harry' Mildred
Macey, Francis &I Gladys
Ray, J ohn&lBertha
Rowe, William
Mkbip ll
McGuire, Lawrence &I
Long, E lmer &I Charlotte
Stevens, Cu rtis &I Christine
Web, Lou '
Oh~
Allen, Albert
F lorida, May&1 3, UrN:
Herbst, Mark &I Ginny
Levering. Robert &I Eileene
Macynakl. John& Fa)'s
Minier, John &I Irene
Gentry, Ray &.Jeanene
O'KOlISkl, Jerome
Guyton, Ben &. Jane
Goodrow,Jllhn &'DoUy
Dale, J ack
Gould. Enol&' Stella
Piper , Bob &I Nora
Provost. Ted &I Ma rve lla
ArtzeDa
Hackett. Thoma
Sandor, John &I Kay
Bamford, Ropr
Hifps, Wm .
Erdwin, Robert&l Roberta
caUl.....
Irwin. Dan
Pe....ylvaaia
Breit, Alfred&. Kathryn
Jalr.e, AUitui
Brownewell, Joftn
Kehoe,Ooril
Ayn!S, Howard &I Cecelia
Cabra l, Frank&. R uby
Lacari, John &. Mi llie
Banach, John
BatavicJe. Elias &I Marie
CUtle, J im&. Bernice
Lee, A.
Baumann, Herman
Conner, J ames
Lee, M/ MJohn
Dun, Matthew&. Loretta Lee, Billie
Beard, JamH &I Nancy
Blask il, Charles &I Annette
Din, Ray
Lee, Noreeoe
Didio, Mac
Leightoo. Regina ld
Vaitkus, Bef!
Cavanaugh, J ames&l Ma rie
Christ. No rman&l Eva
Erkkson, Ed
LIt%., Sea " Fred
DuBois, Albert &I Susan
Fisher, Eddie&. Ruth
MacMilla n, Bob&: Caroline
Costanzo, Jeannette
Kurners , Harold &I Doroth)' Cu rle)' , Kenneth &I Mary
Greenfield, Evelyn
MAITOCCO, Wm.
Lyons, John &. Jo
McWillia ms. Carl &. Irene
McKay, Hortense
Curley, J eMY
Straka, Walt
Martin, Norman .. Emma Moody, Samuel
Dilella, J oe
Millett, Sally
Nicholson, John " Marion
Urban, Anton &I Marie
Emerick, John &I Theresa
Van Alstyne, Ha rold
Moore, Charles&. Marian Palmer, Carolyn
Gutierrez. Joseph
Vidal, Mollie &I Donald
Hassler, John &I Dorothy
Pet.erwn, Shaman" Dee
)\aymand, Steve
VilIarln, Mario&l Marge
Lamm, Walter &I Ruth
Robinett, Geo. " Elna
Rounus, Helen
MI. slnlppl
Rubenstein, Saul&' Shir)ey Ryan, PatTicia &. Mickey
Leese r , Elea nor
Feallock, BJJl & Jane
Saccone, Ben
Schulman, Samuel & Ruth
Levis. Bob
Linton, Herbert , Amanda
Skwiralski. Frank
Sniedlo, William &I Jean
Shrum, Robert
Loftus, M / M Don
Tauey, John &, Hetene
Smack, Edward
Missou r i
CuJ len, Larry &I Mary Ellen Macarovkh, Wa lter,Vklkt
Walk, Earl
Stevens, Ben&. Helen
Neil, Robert &Eva
Moatana
CoiorMO
Vice, Wm. " Anne
Pellegrino, CI rmela
Branck, Hugh &I Maxine
Ascbenbrenney, Reiny
Wins low, Windy
POIter, J OIeph& Helen
&. Joanna
Woodruff, Dick &I Vickie
Nebr ..ka
POUIni, Mario
.. ThorSon, A.D. &I lleen
Work, Loyd
MuJ ligan, Harold" Irma
,
Wunnenbug, Ha rlan &I Ruth Rabenokt , M / M Tboma.
Couedint
Young, Eunice
Romango. Nat' CInneil
Bennett, Betty
Zimmerman. Louis &I Edna
Nevada
Stoudt, Da n
Levenberg, Ralph
Bo&ko, Mary
Gtorlla
Walsh, Joanne
Cuo. Prudence
Callen, F ileem &I Ara mda
New J ertey
Crowley. Dan
Cook, Charles&. Madge
Aquilina, Ben &I Rose
Baumgartner, Andy &I Mary
Smith, Frank
Caaaoo, Helen
W....iapo.. D.C.
Wamack, James
Carabine, Donald
Mike., Edward &I Marpret Underwood, John &I Peggy
Gombol, Fred &I Mary
Remy, Mareel
1II1nols
Grayson, Wi lliam &I Mary
FIwIda
Beck, Richard &I Peg
Griffiths, Wi lliam at Rose
AIdricll, John
Brittan. M I M Lewis
Jesuelle. Vince &I Mildred
AJbert, Philip
Car-rarini, Harry
McQueeney. L,arTY&I Ka y
Atwell, Jim &I Doris
Ford, Jim
Neri, Frank &I Edith
Anderson, M I M Charles
Forth, Ralph &I MIilr'3ilret
Patuzio. Austini &I Dorothy
Bauett,A.T.
Fowler, Harold &I Ma rgue ril.( Sewna, Al &I He len
Berman, Al &I Gert
Fryzwik, Nick
Schaefer, Dorothy
Bernstein, Hy
Gri ll. Barney
Zipeto. C.
Bishop, J ack &I MaryJo
Hauser. William
New Mer.lco
Lewis, Wayne
Brennan, Blackle
J ohnson. Harry &I Virginia
Lachma n. Louis
Bulklck. Marvin &I Viola
New Yon
Burnett, Robert &I LaVema Long, John &I Dorothy
AkuJlian. Artbw" A&neI
Busainger, Gwea&lJaclt
Sarno, Paul' Evelyn
AnIan1an, Phil' Mlktred
cantwell, J im &I Gerry
Wright, Wm. &I Brocky
Benisbake, Alex
CI ntweU, Winifred
h.dLalia
Bemett, John' DokIrei
Brown, James &I PauJine
CIntwell, Ruuell
Bocksel, Arnold &I Pea
campe Uano, Pete
Crago. John &I F lorence
Cbaae, Marion
Chatham, Wa ltB &I Ruby
Iowa
DeNobile. Dan&l JOlI n
Cimini, AI' Pauline
Amo&, H.M.
DiPasquale, Frank &I Mickey
C~ts, Joe
Miqa;er, DalrGiardina, Joseph&l Angelina
Copeland, Joan &I Gerald
Ku ....
Malato, Louis &I J Olinn
Cooke., J ohn &I Gladys
Woodall, Dwight &I Wanda
Marouli., John &I Evelyn
Currier,Ralph &lMarge
KeaUlcky
Morse. George&l Dorothy
C....vella. Ralph
Aldred, John &I Martina
Muller, GeorIe' Gladys
Cuaano, Lou &I Helen
Boone, Pat' Louise
Nagume)" Paul
.. DeUer.M I MChester
Field&, Bernard&I Ekluise
Pietropolo. J ohn&l Ellie
, Oeultch,Rlchard&lBLanche Hendrix, J lm &lDorothy
Racino, Frank &I Elaine
Dllle r.M / ML.A.
LouliLa ..
Scipione. Nadine
DiMeo, Arthur
Cutrer, Hugh &I Tbeima
Oklaltoma
DiPa., AUCUIt R.
Nif!tlolsM, T.H. ' Lena
Coon, P hillip &I Helen
Donovan, John ' FkIrmc:e M__
NoritIC.r .....
Evers, Euaene , Joiene ,
Sldliano. M I MJ.M.
Driggers, M I M J esse
Abb,"..
........
"........
Wilner, Helen
Vater, Joseph&l Helen
Rilode ,.laltd
LeClalr. J ohn'Mary
South Ca rolina
Kniaht, Sam uel
Rilainl, Clarence &I AMI Lee
--
Knight. Raymond &I Margaret
Te...
Coiem an.M I M J ohn
Comeaux, Horace&l Ven'II!
Dragkh, Cha rles&l Ann
Foreman, Adele
Hwe ly, Vema
McDavitt, J eny &I Kay
McKendree, B.D.
Patterson, David &I J oan
Raines. Larry
Reeves, Her.>I.eJ &I Nova
Ty ler . E unico
Virginia
Daugherty. Coy &I Mildred
Feinee, Harold &I Ida
Hill, Edwa rd &I Alice
Morgan. Howard &I Sue
Posten, John
W..h lllgton
Bla nton, Cy
Rou, James
Wes l Vir gin ia
Minnleau, Belty
Jacltfert, Edward &I Hennetta
WllCOIIl in
Dreier, Forresl&l Bernice
Gallati, M M Boyd
Hutchins, Evelyn
Karpel, Leona rd &I Eve lyn
Shapi ro, Marvin&lJean
PIIUlppllleti
Frisby, Jameli
ERg I. ad
Curtai n, Peter
PLAN YOUR
VACATION
FOR
MAY 6,1980
Plan to attend
the Pittsburgh
Convention
Monywi/l
remember
the good times
we hod in 1950
& 1960. This one
will be better,
we promise.
JULY,lm
s
31 sf Infant,., Alln.
The 31st Infantry Association held eJeclion meetings in Carson City, Nevada on
April 7, 1979 and in Miami, Florida on May
..
..
10,1979.
Those elected to office are:
Commander - Wayne Lewis, CoD; Vice
Commander - William Sniezko, Co B;
Adjutant - John Cole, Co H; Secretary I treasurer - Philip Coon, Co H;
Chaplain - Mator General Robert Taylor
who was our chaplain prior to and during
WW II. Historian - William Garleb, Co H;
Sr. Director - King Heibert, Co D; Sr.
Director - LTC Mark Gatanas, Commanding 2nd Bn 31st Infantry ; Directorat·large, Edward Hill, Hq . Co.; Director,
Disl. No. 1 - Forrest Dreger, Co K;
Director, Disl. No. 2 -Clyde Childress, Co
C; Director, Disl. NO.3 - Sandy Blau, Co
M.
Ruben Limas (left) shows Hal Memmler his P.O.W. plate. Picture taken in San Miguel
Allende, Guanajauato.
RALPH W. POTE
Ralph W. Pote - X C6071-542. His file no. is 11024166.
Air Corp Basic (521) 3 mths. Pvt. 48 Material Sqd.
Military Policeman (677) Sgt. 6 mths.
Machinist (144) 16 mths. Sgt.
Prisoner of War (521) Sgl41 mths. Enlisted man 11 / 23 / 40.
Separation, 5 / 13 / 46. The camps, as I remember them, are as follows :
Bilibid, Cabanatuan, Neilson Field, Zablan Field, Nichols Field, Zentsiji I, Mukden,
Camp O'Donnell, Clark Field, Osaka ('n Davao, Mihdanao Nagasaki, and one other I
can't remember, but I do recall Ralph telling us that he saw the huge glow and massive
smoke emerge from the Atomic Bomb ... This is what I have to find out, exactly where
Ralph was at that point in time because of the " fallout ." As you know cancer is involved
in the "fallout." However, Ralph took a severe beating from one of the Japanese guards,
with a pick handle, about the back and face, for three hours ... The swelling and pain
was so severe, his buddies tied him to a board in a vertical position, as he couJdn' t lie
down. How long he was in this condition is not fully known to me. Jesse, Ralph's records
do state the condition of his feet, nervous condition, ulcers, and pains. Ralph was always
too nervous to sit in hospitals waiting to be waited on. His feet always gave him pain.
Each winter, his toe nails would tum black and fall off, while under the foot , the skin
would tum white and fall off. The Doctors at the VA Hospital wanted to perform a
sympathectomy, but Ralph knew the odds on the outcome of this operation, and refused
(While in the prison Camp, the Japanese wanted to amputate, but Ralph told them, if he
was going to die in the prison camp, he would die with his feetort) He was made to crawl
to work on the Air Strips when he had the frozen feet. At that time they were the "size of
footballs." The pain Ralph end\U'ed through-out our married life in his chest, head, back,
and continual heart burn, not being able to sleep because of severe muscle spasms - all
of this and much more, has tobe related to prison camp problems ... Dear friend, wbatever you do, wbatever you can do, on behalf of Ralph and my family , I truly thank yOIL
Constance Pote, 21 Austin Road, Medford, Mass., 02155 needs letters from anyone
who can attest to Ralph's condition especially the "AI> bomb drop. Do it today as she
must go toa review board in Washington to plead her case. (What a shame for our people
to be subjected to this type of harassment by the V.A.)
Rod R.... 11oo RI.., lwal
By Comel Lumlere
CaDadlan AuUtor
A story of real men - a story of those
who were captured, those who dealt with
the conqueror - a story of their endless
problems, the constant strain they endured day and night without let-up, for so
many years.
6-THEQUAN
Read the eyewitness report of the Rangoon-Bangkok railway, the unbearable
hardships and cruelty resulting in the
death of some twenty thousand prisoners
of war.
Price - $9.50 plus .50 postage.
Order from:
Cornel Lumiere
South 311, AlA North
Vero Beach, Florida 32960
The By-Laws are nO\!!' being formulated
and the board of directors will determine
the text of the final draft. An editor will be
required to publish the 31st Infantry
Association buJletin, any volunteers?
Wayne Lewis will continue to publish the
bulletin until the board of directors selects
a new editor.
---
DIRECT DEPOSIT
Some problems involving direct deposit
of Veterans Administration compensation
and pension checks can be avoided by following a few simple procedures, according
to VA Administrator Max Cleland.
The direct deposit or electronic funds
transfer system allows VA beneficiaries to
have compensation and pension checks
entered in a checking or savings account
at the financial institution of their choice.
"Following application, beneficiaries
should allow approximately 90 days for
direct deposit to take effect," Cleland
explained. "D\lring this time the checks
will continue to go to the current address. "
If a person wishes to cancel direct deposit at any time, VA should be notified
either by mail or phone. Toll·free numbers
are available in all 50 states. Consult com·
munity telephone directories or local information operators.
A change of address card from the post
office will not suffice to cancel direct deposit, Cleland said.
Following the notification to cancel, VA
beneficiaries should keep their bank account open until the check is received at
the new address. If a person wishes to
change banks, a standard form from the
new bank is all that is required.
" Here again, it is important to keep the
account open at the old bank until the fll'St
payment is receiv.ed at the new bank,"
Cleland emphasized.
~
COMMANDER'S MESSAGE
COMMANDER'S MESSAGE : I am sorry that circumstances prevented me from
addressing the membership at the convention in Miami Beach. However. through this
method, I am able to reach the majority oCthe membership. J am honored to have been
selected to serve as your National Commander. The responsibilities of this office are
awesome to say the least! I shaD endeavor to uphold your confidence in me. The
American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor, as an organization. bas come a long way
since the first gathering in Boston, Mass. in 1946, We have seen the roUs of membership
grow, and then to our sorrow, watched as some of our beloved comrades have broken
ranks and gone to their final rest, May They Rest In Peace. Still, we must continue on,
and we shall. Our conventioo in MiamiBeach was well attended and with few exceptions,
one of the best. Much,cn!dit for such a successfuJ cODvention must go to the members of
our Convention Committee who worked long and hard throughout the year to insure such
success. Their dedication is something that too often is forgotten. We cannot overlook
such flne labor, So, to Al Senna, Joe Vater, Austin Pat:rizio, Art Akullian, Chuck Bloskis,
and to their dear wives, who are always involved with one of the "work details" at the
eonventions, I say ... WELL DONE and TIlANKSl I' m sure that the total membership
feels the same.
Our business meeting was quite lengthy and most interesting. A few of the important
subjects diseussed were : (l) A resolution to form a Ladies Auxiliary. This was passed
and PNC John Ray has volunteered to's teer this formation into aetuality. JOM will make
a report on his progress at the next Executive Board meeting. All members will be kept.
advised IHl this project. (2) The formation of an organization. The Ameriean Federation
of Ex-Prisoners of War. General John Flynn, USAF ( Retired) is heading up this organization. The General was kind enough to spend a few moments with us to relate what his
plans for this organization are. He indicated that there aresome38 separate Ex-Prisoner
of War (H'ganizations throughout the U.S. Tbe General's idea, as I understood it, would be
for his Federation to aetas the representative for all of the former prisoner of war organizations wherever and whenever legislative aetions, either beneficial or adverse, were
being eonsidered. He refers to the Federation as sort of an "Umbrella" eovering all of
the former POW groups, and being the spokesman for them.
He would appoint the National Com- please take the lime to complete the form
mander and I or a representative of each or whatever and mail it in. We cannot
of the Ex-POW groups to the Board of poosibly act in YOUR best interests if we
Directors of the Federation. No action(s ) don't know what you like or dislike.
would be taken by the Federation without
Let's all remember to fulfill our obJigathe approval of all of the supporting Ex- lions to our fellow man. When a BUDDY is
POW groups. He did not go into what the down and needs help. try and be of assisfee for this service would cost each partid- tance to theexlentthatyouareable. There
paling group. I bave requested the is nothing so satisfying as knowing that
members of the Executive Board to care- you've helped another person, especially
fully review and study all aspects of this when that person is as eommonly searred
proposal and to present their views at the as you. God Bless You ALL . . .
next Executive Board meeting. 1 might
SUNsnAT
say at this point, I intend to insure that all
aetions taken within ourorganization shall
CAMP O'DONNELL
(CoflJj,lII.edjrom PQge 14J
be in the best interests 0{ ALL of the
The burial at first was inside the camp,
members. Therefore, I want important
areas such as the one just described and each body was consigned 10a separate
thoroughly stooied before we eommit the grave, but iackof spaceneeessitated using
organization (ADBC). (3) PNC John the ground outside the eamp, where the
Emerick has requested that our bodies were dumped en masse into
organization be certified to have ow- own common, shallow graves. During a rain,
Serviee Officers. John has really done us a the cadavers would wash out of their posifine service in this particular situation. We tion and gaunt limbs would protrude from
have needed people who were conversant the mud to greet the new arrivals.
with the problems that we have endured.
In every clime the elements produce
Hopefully, the eertification will be ap- some distinctive form of beauty. In the
pt'oved Our National Service Officer. Ben Philippines the sun and air combine at the
Saecone has requested that we insure that end of the day to ereate a panorama of
all persons assigned duties as Service color unequalled in the world. We have
Officers be. thoroughly trained and seen the famed Philippine sunsets before
qualified in all aspects of such work, We in San Bernardino straits, at Baguio, and
shall certainly comply with his request. Manila Bay. But it was at O'Donnell that
Nothing can snarl a elaim qUicker than a we first beheld them in their full splendor.
Service Offieer who is not qualilled to The veculiarly undulating soil of Tarlac
handle claims. Thanks, Swede for your province covered over with coarse brovm
expertise. I will eJ08e with a reminder grass, and the sharp contours of the
that, YOUR organization is only as good as distant mountain peaks silhouetted in the
the support that YOU give to it. When you clear air blend together to form a natural
receive questionnaires from National setting for the ethereal dispJay_ Here,
Capt. Forrest Johnson of Naperville,
Illinois has finally got his book out on the
market and has sent mea eopy.
This paperback book covers the daring
raid by the 6th Rangers at Cabanatuan.
This is the first time a complete detail of
the raid was ever mentioned.
Captain Johnson spent over five years
researching this story and spent sometime
in the Philippines questioning Filipino
guerillas and scouts who took part in this
raid. In the states he talked to many former orfieers and enlisted men of the 6th
Rangers and former inmates at
Cabanatuan.
I have reeeived many letters telling me
about the AUantie magazine whieh stated
that there is hard evidence that Gen.
Homma wasn't responsible for the Death
M.~b . [have sent for the July issue of the
magazine to see what erap it stated.
Anyone desiring this book of Capt. Johnson can order it £rom their book. store or
from tbepublisher.
"Hour of Redemption"
The Ranger Raid at
Publisher
Cabanatuan
Manor Books Inc.
432 Park Ave., South
NewYork, N.Y. l0016
Mabuhay-Abie Abrahams
amid the solitude of death. nature sought
10 eompensate for the material craving by
nourishing the spiritual. And the pangs of
hunger were temporarily dulled as the
sense fed on the grandeur of the celestial
speetacle.
As the sun sinks below the horiton, the
western sky is ablaze in a fiery red Every
eolor of the spectrum, in seemingly endless combination. plays upon the eentral
theme of red. The gleaming shades of gold
and crimson fade into infinitely brilliant
green and blue, and finally, a ewtain of
purple merges with the darkness of night,
creating an aura of another world.
The unreality of the scene in the skies
was matched. by that on the earth. Above,
a silent symphony of light; below, the
staggering gait and the bloated bodies of
the Beriberis, the gaunt skeletons and the
fixed, staring eyes of the dysenteries, and
over all the stench from the hospital and
latrines intermingled with penetrating
odor of the unburied dead
Good and evil rarely travel" the same
paths, but here they bad met . There was
the ultimate in beauty together with the
ultimate in ugliness - a union of heaven
and hell, a seene that might bave been
conjured up by Satan.
O'Donnell is no more. The buildings
were burned by the retreating Japanese.
The coarse cogon DOW covers the eommon
graves of 23,000 Filipino and 1,500
Ameriean men. But O'Donnell still lives in
the memories of those who survived, and
they beg the Ameriean people to heed the
lessons that were learned so bitterly.
JULY,Ii1'-7
EX-POW'S PAY THE PRICE
By BOB MeBRINN
Hen~Pott MaeapI Editor
A friend brought me a newspaper clipping the other day from San Antonio. They
~ were obituaries that carried the notices , .. three World War II veterans dying on the
, same day in the AJamo city.
Only a f~ of US knew the statistical significance of their deaths. They were men. in
the twilight of middle age ... military retirees, former prisoners of the Japanese in the
Philippines.
They died, like many ex·POWs, prematurely. The cause of their deaths goes
~ognized, but medically may be described as "POW Syndrome."
What can the approximately 150 ex-POW. resjding in the El Paso are. and the more
than 100,000 ex-POWs nationwide, expect from this lingering by-product of America's
Jast three wars? A spokesman for the POW JrOUp says it is "understaDding. t . Understanding by the public and their personal physicians.
Reportedly there are a growing number of former POWs who are experiencing
delayed health problems. Research indicated there are the 100,000 ex-POW. in the nation
and 95,000 from World War n, and their mortality, morbidity. and hospitalization rates
are alarming.
l
,
Specific figures are not available. Stan Sommers, director and medical researcher
for a groop known as American Ex-Prisoners of War, says no one has maintained conclusive records on POWs. Limited sampl.ings, however, suggest tbe former prisooers age
faster, die younger, and require substantiaUy more medical attention than other
veterans.
Sommers says one doctor has concluded that many fonner POWs in their 50s have
the constitutions of men in their 70s. Aoother private study indicates Korean POWs have
undergone three times the number of menta] examinations as non-POWs. The earlier
death rate« WW II prisoners may betwice that of normal
Dr. Elvin Powelit, a Kentucky phYSician who took part in the Bataan Death March 01
1942, says the health 01 fonnerprisooerw olten depends on where they were Incarcerated.
"POWs in Europe had comparatively better food and treatment; so those captured In the
Pacific, or in Korea, are now much worse off."
Besides the poor diet. there was, of course, the alm06t incomprehensible stress.
Sommers says they receive over 2,000 letters a year {rom ailing prisoners. He says some
are thinking of suicide. Others don't think much at aU and their wives report the men just
sit in corners, not working, not talking, just waiting to die.
Now these ex-POWs are fighting a new war. Many feel that they have been forgotten
and Sommers adds that forgotten might be the wrong word. He believes "ignored" would
be more COtTeCt.
Most common In <'POW Syndrome" are emotional disturbaDCe, sexuaJ dysfunction
and brain damage. But the problem for these ex-POWs is proof. Tbe Veterans Admffiia-.
tration demands irrefutable evidence that a former prisoner's disability is realted to
incarceration. That mea,., in some cases, lost records have to be found and old POW
buddies have to be located. Some former prisoners have spent thousands of dollars just
to research their claims.
Shockingly, many ex-POWs complain, they are forced to establish ... some 30
years later . . . that they were prisoners of war because many VA records were l06t or
damaged in a fire which .truck a goverrunent reccrdl center inSL Louis.
Other ex-POWs complain 01 red tape and errors in the VA. The errors theVA makes
in regard to ex-riaooers may .tem from ignorance .. much as anythlrC Sommen
believes. He says the VA has almost no specialists in post-Incarceration medicine. He
said, " U you tee a VA doctor today and tell him you were-on Bataan, he'll probably ask
where the bell It is."
Most American ex-POWs, unable to work because 0( health. are in the 55-58 age
bracket. They're breaking down at a time when they should be at the peak of their earning potential. And so what happens, as one VA doctor put it . . . " We may loot_t an aprisoner who is 58 or 59 and say, hey, you're just getting older. Never mind if he hal
nightmares, or cold sweata. The truth 11 we don'tknow what's troubllng him, so we try to
associate his illness with something wecan understand."
These ex-POWs have paid their price for "Liberty and Justice for AU" and aU
Americans should see to it that they are given every care, treatment and compensation
fortheir past service to this country.
Unlike thOle ohlS who came back whole, these fonner prisoners have one foot in this
world and one foot in the great beyood.
OLD BILIBID
•
A multi-level commerctal complex with
facilities ranging {rom students' dormitories, shopping arcades, amusement
centers, moviehouses and multi-level
parking buildinp will 1000 rise in the
areas where the Old Billbid priJon standi
and in adjacent properties bounded by
Quezon Boulevard, Claro M. Recto
Avenue, OroquJeta, and Surbaran Streets
inSta. Cruzdistrlct.
This was disclosed by the Human Settlements Development Corporation (HSDC),
implementing agency of the Ministry of
Human Settlements.
ANDERSONVILLE
Enroute home from the Miami convention Jane and I visited Andersonville,
Georgia, known ofClcial1y as Camp
Sumter, where Union Prisoners-of-War
were held by the Confederacy during the
last year of our Civil War. I had read
Andersonville thru the years; and my
Southern heritage bows its head in shame
at mention of the place. 1 expected a good
dose 01 Northern bitterness ; but it was not
so.
An interestill8 movie tells how POWs
entering the gate hoped for something
better; but what they found was worse. We
were given a cassette tape to play in the
car at 10 mph as we drove aroond the old
encl06ure and the cemetery. This excellent
tape told us where to atop aDd described
the scene in view. The prison camp criginally comprised about 16\2 acres enclosed by a IS-It-high stockade of pine logs
stuck s-ft into the ground The stockade
was enlarged to 26y'! acres in June 1864.
Sentr,y boxes were placed along the top 01
the walls, and inside, about 190ft from the
walls, was the "deadline," whlcb the
prisoners were not to cross upon threat rl
death. (Similar to the two.meter space
from the fence at Cabanatuan.) A three-ftwide branch furnished inadequate, contaminated water. The fIrst Union pri_
soners were brooght to Andersonville in
Feb. 1864. About 400 more arrived daily
and by the end of July nearly 32,000 were
confined tn a prison built for 10,000. All told
some 45,000 Union prisooen passed thru
the gatea of Andersonville with nearly
13,000 dying there.
The South was handicapped by a
deteriorating economy, inadequate transportation, and the necessity rl concentrating all available resources for its anny
and was unable to provide adequate
oolllliing, food, clothin& and medical care
for the Federal captives. These condltiom
along with a breakdown 01 the prisoner
exchange system created much suffering
a nd a high mortality rate. One prisoner
wrote: "Since the day I was born, I never
saw such misery. 'l'here is so much filth
about the camp that it Is tenible trying to
lift here . . . With suniteneyes, blackened
countenances from pitch pine smoke, rags,
and disease, the men look sickening. The
air reeks with nastiness."
There were many interesting monuments with appropriate plaques. There
was even a quote from Jefferson Davis:
"When time shall have softened pasaion
and prejudice." Aootber : "Will tboaelads
ever have a spring in their steps agam?" It
was little understood during the Civil War
that lacking proper sanitation, diseaseand
death would surely follow the crowded
conditions. While the nearly 13,000 deaths
resulting from Andersonville are horrifying. the death rate among prisoners in the
North waa 12 percent vs. 15.5 percent in the
(Collti"",.d 0" PrJ,. 12)
JULY, It'll-II
ANDERSON VILLE
(Con,iItN, d from Pq, JI)
South. When one considers conditions in
the ConI'ederacy. whose own citizens suffered horribly from lack of food, medicine,
and clothing, the small difference is surprising. The 26 percent at Andersonville is
not much worse than the 24 per'Cellt at
Elmira, NY. A quote from General Grant.
who stopped prisoner exchange: ''It is
hard on our men held in Southern prisons
not to exchange them, but it is humanity to
those left in the ranks to fight our batUes.
Every man we hold when released becomes an active soldier against us at
once,"
It appears that good records were kept
and graves marked with sticks were later
replaced by stones. Graves were very
close together appearing to be about 12"
wide so that the stone markers nearly
touch. An inscription Dear the cemetery
reads : "Have you every noticed wbile
standing amid rows of headstones that
lime becomes less pressing'? And with
time memory dims, the p8SSion of the
moment is forgotten, softened, or erased
entirely . And here at Andersonville we
now rind veterans of all wars and from all
regions of our country buried side by
side. " Andersonville is now a naliooal
shrine and cemetery for all prisoners-of·
wars of all wan. There are recent burials
of Vietnam veterans as well as Korean,
WWU, and WWI. This is an excellent place
for all X·POWs to visit and a good place to
send Oct 16, 1970: "To (rOvide an understanding of the overall prisoner-of-war
story of the Civil War, to interp"et the role
of prisoner-of·war camps in history, and to
commemorate the sacrifice 01 Americans
who lost their lives in such campa." And
rinaU)', "The unique value 01 Andersonville is that here the barshoess of war is
tempered by a landscape of beauty which
raises tbe hope that reasoo and harmon),
can still prevail In theaURirs of men."
Comments by Benson Guyton, 704 Avenue;
SE ; Decatur, AL35601.
ESCAPE
(Contim,. dfrom PilI. IS)
decided to hold cur big reunion at an Air
Force base. It was our way of saying t.hank
yOlL "
Morrill reporta that his crew looked fit.
"I thought some of them might have fallen
on bard times," he says. ''But they've all
done well I'm (rOue! of that They kd:ed
just great, too; they I<d.ed just marvelous. You'd hardly recognize them as
that scurvy bunch who sailed into Darwin
harbor so many long yean ago."
Perd..... to prlDt
by Moden Maturity
Copyrlpt 1171
lZ-THEQUAN
MARTIND. CARLIN. Assistant Administrator
Planning and Program Evaluation
The Veterans Administratioo
810 VermootAveoue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20420
Dear Mr. Carlin:
The American Defenders 0{ Bataan and Corregidor, Inc. (ADB&C) want to take this
opportunity to extend to the Administrator, Mr. Max Cleland, to )'0\1 and to those
members of your Staff who will work on those Prisoner of War Studies mandated by
Public Law 95-479, our best wishes and the promise to lend every assistance in your
project.
Prisoners of War are not often included in legialation; instead, they seem to be
" lumped" into catch-all provisions which affect all other veterans. Yet, prisoners al war
- certainly those of us who fought and were captured by the Japanese in the Pacificwere subjected to ordeals DOt the common lot d combat soldiers. Please do not misunderstand. History has already recorded the horrors, brutalities, sulferinp and privations of prison camps under jurisdiction of the Japanese. It has also Indelibly etched our
degradation, demeanment and debasement under Japanese who literally had our lives in
their hands.
In the years since our release and return to cur loved ones, not too much on our
behalf was introduced and passed into law. Oh yes. Public Law83-744. wasa milestooeas
was PublicLaw 91-376. Yet, in spite of the pleas of the Congress which preceeded passage
of these laws, both have been interpreted in a virtual cold, heartless letter 01 the Jaw
rather than the intent of the law. I need not remind you that preceedlng passage -during
the Hearings when testimony was presented urg~ such passage - our Congressmen
were touched to the point they pleaded " utmost liberality" when applied.
Yet, Mr. Carlin, without accompaniment 01 these Hearings and the pleas 01 the
Congressmen who enacted and mandated the Law, your Adjudicators read only the
letter of the law which, as you know, do not always convey nor purport its intent. Until
this Ineqwty is thoroughly dispelled, there is little likelihood the law will be applied as
intended. And as loog as the inequity exists former prisoners 01 war will continue to be
judged in a most unfair manner.
Not to belabor a point - yet to underscore an issue. Senate Bill No.7 d the 96th
Congress (rOvides for dental care for prisoners 01 war who were incarcerated for six
months or more. Nothing more than common sense is required to understand that any
individual who served an average period of 1,112 days in a Japanese prison camp, living
on s ub-standard rations (900 caloric intake per day) is bound to have s uffered mal-nutri·
lion. Mal-nutrition takes its toll with one result being weakened gums which cannot
possibly sustain a healthy tooth -let alone teeth. Shamefully we must confess a goodly
number of us had to seek private dental treatment because our Veterans Administration
demanded a law to provide this service. Yes, " Demanded" is correct; without a law the
Veterans Administration could not presume to act In a common sense manner.
The same malnutrition, which began as early as January 1942 for those of us on
Bal.aan, began its insidious in road - fint witll the "hot foot"~syndrome - when the
ration was cut in half . . . this is documented. It was cut at least four or five times after
that. Throughout prison camp, theJapanesewere not interested in our welfare - indeed.
the opposite was demonstrated in too many instances - and whatever resistance we had
to disease was slowly dissipated. Bert·beri, the worst of diseases gained steadily. Please
note, Mr. Carlin, Bert-beri does not make a "single" appearance. When it makes itself
known, It is not restricted or limited to only one partof the body. When beri·beri gains an
inroad. it affects all parts of the body- itdiflers only in degree.
Mr. Carlin, are we wu-easonable when we question some " autllority" within the
Veterans Administratioo? The "authority" who claims mal·nutrition is reversible? The
same "authority" who said beri-beri is reversible? If this claim is true, pray tell, Mr.
Carlin, why isn't tbere a cure? Why can' t the "burning feet syndrome" be aUeviated?
Cured? Reversed?
Believing and as coovinced as we are, how many of our people have died, not of
natural causes as is sometimes recorded on the death certificate, but beri-beri allhe
heart which bad its beginning in a pison camp? Which authority can sta te categorically
and positively that lung diseases so commonamoog us today did not bave its beginning in
a prison camp?
Perhaps the moet disturbing of all procedures is why do we, as former prisoners ct
war, have to prove we were, in fact, prisooers of war? Yet, this is a very strong feeling
we have every time we p.lt in a Claim for disabUity. We must furnish proof. We must
furnish records. We have to convince someone we went through every conceivable tor·
ture of the damned. Many of your Adjudicators claim " Buddy Letters" are DOtaufficient
proof because they are "words 01 a layman nor versed in medical technology." Do we
have to be doctors to tell what or howwe suffered?
Mr. Carlin, we look forward to the findings of your Study Group. We also stand by to
render every assistance. 'lbank you for your patience,
Sincerely,
JAMESD. CANTWELL
National Commander
or
Corregidor M_riaI Shrine
HON. OUN E. TEAGUE
The WesternStales Chapter, American Defenders of Bataan6: COf'TeIidor, held their
8tb Annual Reunion at Carson City during April 5-7, 1979. There were 245 members and
friends present. This was our largest and best reunion yellt looks like we are going forward arxl growing in membership eacb year. All that attended expressed their appreciation enjoyable time.
The following officers were elected and l or appointed:
COMMANDER .................................. William Mattson
SR. VICE CMDR ................................... Frank Cabral
JR. VICECOMDR .................................... JohnLyons
3D VICE COMDR ........... .. . . . . ... ....... ....... Joe Errington
JUDGE ADVOCATE ...... . .... . •. . ... .. Galo Sanches Maglasang
SERVICE OFFICER .......................... . .... . BenSaccone
SGT. AT ARMS ................... . .. .. ............... SoIFromer
SURGEON .................................... Dr. WarrenWUson
CHAPLAIN . ...... ...... ....... ................... . HarcourtBull
TREASURER ........ . . ......... ................... Harcourt Bull
SECRETARY (Membersbip) .... ............. . . .... ............ SECRETARY (Corresporxlence) . ... . . ........ Jay Rye (Lorraine)
EDITOR. . . . . . .. . . . .. . .. . .. . . . ................. John Lyons (Jo)
BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
BEN SACCONE
KERMIT LAY
RALPH LEVENBERG
LOYDMIl.U
DON INGLE
Wll.LIAM SNlEZKO
ROYDIAZ
ALBEREST
MY DEATH PRAYER
~
Help me 0 God to accept death, as I have life. for whatever itmay offerThat the agonizing tonnents of this world will not continue after death.
That the pains both physical 6: mental will be gone forever&: I will be free at lastHelp me to forgive as you have asked us all to do.
And Lord, help people to realize that the term " BatUin' Bastards of Bataan" are not
intended to cast a reflection on our forebearers ; but rather in the terminology of "The
only time I'm called Is when something must be done" - Like a bastard child
Bless our country &: all Its people - Democracy is the perfect Idea which is being implemented by we the people with our imperfectionsPlease help others to belp the Ex POWs - we all need help, for the loss of one's freedom
is indeed a traumatic experienceAnd Dear God, Please, I implore you to help my family - They have suffered much over
tbe years, but have come up amiling.
Thank you 6: Good bye worktGlenn Milton
Editor's Note: Wbile Milton departed we are sure in spirit he attended the Miami Convention, especially his buddies from the31st.
OF TEXAS
IN THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES
Wednesday. June2ti.I968
Mr. TEAGUE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I
have just returned from an approximately
2O,CJOO.mile round trip to the Philippine
Islands, where, with other distinguished
Americans, I was privileged, indeed
honored, to witness the turnover ceremony
whereby the Corregidor Memorial Shrine
is now the official function of the Philippine Government.
This shrine commemorates, for all time,
the memory of those who gave their lives
in the South Pacific during World War II ;
and particularly those Americans who
gave their lives during the gallant fight on
Bataan and Corregidor 26 years ago.
It would be fitting, then, that we
examine only one portion of that now infa mous death march of Balaan with a
firsthand report from one of its survivors,
Dr. David Brown, of Bellaire, Ohio.
The report follows :
SUNSET AT
CAMP O'DONNELL
OUrs was the first group to arrive at
Camp O'DoMell. We bad been picked up
by a convoy near Cabcaben in the late
afternoon of Afrll 10, 1942. The narrow
road was jammed with beavy traffic. The
J apanese were taking advantage of the
silence of Corregidor's guns ( to allow the
removal
of
the Filipino-American
prisoners from Bataan) to move in their
own men and equipment for the final
assault against the island fortreSs. Tanks,
artillery, grim·faced veterans of the
Singapore campaign, truckloads of
American food " requisitioned" in Manila
moved into Bataan, while in the opposite
direction, lines of haggard FilipinOl and
Americans stumbled heavily toward their
destiny.
Tbe road out of Bataan led through
towns and villages that had been devastated early in the war. Abucay, Hermosa
- leveled by repeated bombing and
shelling - were now a mass, a rubble. The
sweet sickening smell of burnt flesh .till
emanated from the charred ruins. Groupe
of Japanese soldiers, naked save for their
G-strings, stared at the passing colwnns.
In the succeeding days and wedt. the
sW'Vivors of Bataan, 55,000 FilipinOl and
8,000 Americarll, arrived at Camp O'Donnell, many having walked from 80 to 100
miles without food or water. To the men
who had undergone disease and hunger
during January, February, and Mareh, the
added ordeal of the march out of Bataan in
April was more then flesh and blood could
heM.
The greatness of a nation, or of an individual, is not measured in terms of material
wealth or acbievement, but in terms of
morality. Here was a chance for Japan to
prove to a doubting world ber clalJ1'\l to
(Cofttiftl4.d Oft
p",. 14)
JULY, 1111-13
CAMP O'DONNELL
(Conlin",d/rom PIJI.1 3)
equality among the civilized nations. The
withholding of food and water, the
deliberate marching during the extreme
heat of the day, the cramping of men in
small enclosures at night 80 that they
could not sleep, above all the senseless
bayonetting of those who, crazed with
thirst or bent over with the agonizing
pangs of dysentery, sought refuge in a
ditch at the side of the road - an this could
have been avoided without undue effort on
the part of the captors, and would have
enhanced their prestige In the eyes of the
world and in the hearts of the captured.
But Japan chose to apply the lash. Her
attitude was tersely expressed to one by a
Japanese interpreter, educated in the
United States, when they refused transportation for a sick man. "You have
made us sufter -
now we will make you
suffer."
Unwashed, unshaven, all suffering from
hunger and thirst. and many from heat
exhaustion and dysentery, the remnants of
a once-great [)ghUng force crept into
Camp O'Donnell It was heart·rending to
see those pitiful shadows seek out a
building designated as a hospital. They
would stwnble to the door or fall on the
ground outside. Here at last they hoped to
find a haven of mercy, and rest for their
weary bodies. Alas, aU there was to give
them were smaU sips of water and the
bard floors 01 the barracks called a
"hospital." Of medicines there were only
the meager amounts some.of the medkal
officers had managed to bring out of
Balaan.
The fll'St meal and every meal
thereafter for a month consisted of oneball mess kit of rice. TIle month's ·'rice
treatment" was accorded all prisoners of
war by the Japanese, aod was designed to
get the prisoners down to a level ol
weakness where they could be easily
disciplined and would not have the
strength for organized resistance. Water,
too, was insufficient. Long queues would
fonn for filling canteens from the few
faucets which were turned 011 at specified
hours. No water was available for bathing
or washing of clothing.
O'Donnell had been built before the war
for the 71st Philippine Division (about
12,000 men) . In an area Jess than a mile
square wert! now coocentrated 55,000
Filipino and 8,000 American prisoners of
war.
By the end 01 April 1942, dysentery had
reached epidemic proportions. Many men
had contracted the disease on the march to
O'Donnell by drinking polluted water out
of ditches. The overcrowding, lack of soap
and water, nies, the open filthy labines
made the camp a perfect breed.ing ground
for dysentery. Bodies already weakened
by privation did not have the resistance to
withstand the new enemy, The terrific
knife-like pains in the abdomen, the uncontrollable diarrbea, and the loss of sleep
.4-THEQUAN
sapped the strength quickly; a bay in
fairly good shape could become an
emaciated skeleton within a few days. The
effort of going to and from the labines was
too much, and many of the sufferers would
remain on the ground near the latrines
continuously.
The "hospitaJ" was soon filled with
dysentery patients. No change of clothing
was available, nor was there sufficient
water to bathe the patients or wash the
noon. The terrific stench from the
hoSpital pervaded the entire camp. Of all
the afflictions that "flesh is heir to."
dysentery in a Japanese prison camp was
the most wretched. The emaciated suffers
lay on bard boards or OD the groWld,
covered with vermin and excreta, their
bodies seized by uncontrollable spasms 01
retching and diarrhea. They stared
vacantly at the misery around them until
death mercifully supervened.
The tropics exact heavy penalties upon
the trespassing white race. Diseases which
affect tbe native mildly assume a virulent
character when aU&clting ftle foreigner.
Balaan is one 01 the world's worst malariainfested areas. Dwing the war, the disease
bad been heJd in check with prophylactic
doses of quinine. but when the drug
became exhausted, more than one-half of
the men were stricken. At O'Donnell, the
disease recurred in malignant fonn. The
febrile peroxysem would be followed by
deliriwn, coma , and death within 24 to 36
houn.
The cachectic prisoners were plagued by
tropical ulcers. Abrasions of the skin
would become ugly festering sores, often
progressing to amputation or death. The
foul odor of rotting nesh vied with the
stench of dysentery for supremacy.
The first dietary-deficiency disease to
make its appearance was beriberi. To the
macabre nightmare were now added new
specters. The wasting away of eztremi·
ties, the unsteady gait, the swollen bodies,
redUce the victims to a state neither dead
nor alive. These pitiful specimens of
humanity. for whom ihere was no room in
the hospitaJ now overflowing with dead
and dying would attempt to carry on.
Unable to control the movements of their
legs due to loss 01 coordination, they would
stumble and fall, and crawl on their hands
and knees, but there was no hand to raise
them. The mental torpor that comes with
starvation had deadened the sense or
everything but the mOlt primitive of instincts
hunger. Long-continued
association
with
suffering
breeds
calloused indifference.
The most terrifying actor in this drama
of death was the fulminating type of
beriberi. An apparently normal individual
would suddenly swell up from head to foot,
and as suddenly die of heart failure . Their
bloated bodies contrasted weirdly with the
gaunt forms of the men who had dysentery.
The greatest sufferers under the starva·
tion regime were those beJOYI theageof21 .
Still in the growing age, their basic food
requirements were greater than those who
had already matured. I remember one
pink-cheeked boy of 18 who had run to help.
whenever he was needed when those.
around him were falling from weakness.
We found him one day while extracting the
men pinned underneath a fallen barracks
during a storm. These barracks, built ~
bamboo. nipa, and straw would sway in a
high wind aod often collapse like a bouse of
cards. The driving rain was beating down
upon his upb.lrned face. He was already in
that coma which precedes death and had
lain there, unnoticed and uncared for, for
several days.
We ordinarily think of a tropical rain as
a relief from the enervating beat, but the
sudden drop in temperature can be fatal to
a weakened body. Persons with terminal
dysentery or beriberi, who would or·
dinarily linger on for a week or ten days,
would die within a few hours after a rain.
As more and more men become incapacitated, the problem ci getting enough
men for burial details became serious.
Bodies would lie unburied ror days as the
grave diggers could not keep up with the
mounting death rate.
Whether the Japanese authorities were
perturbed by the conditions at O'Donnell is
doubUuI, as the same conditions were
repeated at Cabanatuan and the prison
camps in Japan. Appeals for mediCine, •
food, and soap were met with bland ex· •
planations that aU transportation was
occupied in supplying their troops in
Bataan, but that soon more food and
medicine would be available. " Soon," we
came to know, to the Japanese might
mean tomorrow, next month, or next year.
After the faU of Corregidor, the rice diet
was supplemented with insignificant
amOWlts of salt, sugar, oil, and vegetables,
with rarely one carabao to season the soup
for 5,000 men after the Japanese had taken
the best portions of the meat.
A Japanese medical group visited the
hospital and observed that it was dirty but
did not say hOYI we were to get soap and
water to clean it up. However, they sent us
some quinine and sulfa drugs out of which
the Japanese tc:dt a cut, leaving us without
enough medicine to meet the daily increasing sick rate.
The Japanese effort, thereaselsewhere.
was to be too little and too late. It was too
late to save the lives that could have been
saved a few weeks e arlierwiJh a minimum
of effort. Daily the funeral processions
became longer, the bamboo catafalques
more numerous. The seeds sown In Bataan
had borne fruit. The Balaan death march
was the prelude to the grand march of
death at O'Donnell. By the end of May "
1942, the deaths averaged 300 to 400 ,.
Filipinos and 40 to 50 Americans daily. In
a ll, 23,000 Filipinos and 1,500 Americans
died here.
ESCAPE FROM
CORREGIDOR
By Rkbard Prlkhdt
As he talked, Admiral Morrill, a man of
medium height with a quick. alert mind
and a sharp, clear voice, brought vividly to
life historic events of years ago. His wife
sat at his side in their pleasant home, rilled
with nautical memorabilia, located only a
fev.' miles from the famous college town of
Hanover.
"The white flag was up. and the orders
came down that we were to come in and
surrender," he says. " I offered every man
in the group a chance to go in and
surrender. No one was willing to do thal
One of them said, 'We'll go in shooting.
That's the oo1y way we'll go in to the
Japanese.' It was then we decided to
escape in the launch we had concealed
under fronds and branches in a cove about
five miles from Manila. All we bad to guide
us to Australia, 2,000 miles away, were a
pocket watch and some charts we found In
National Geographic. We also had about
six cans of food - salmon, beef and
tomatoes - plus some water. Not much of
a menu for 18 men,"
Sailing with Morrill were Warrant
Officer Don Taylor, who was second in
command; Lyle Bercier of District
Heights, Md.; Charles A. Weinmann of
Glendale, Ariz..; Jack Meeker of San
Diego, Calif.; Glen A. Swisher of VU'ginia
Beach, Va., Earl 8 . Watkins of Cincinnati,
Ohio; Raid O. Rankins of Hot Springs,
Ark., RaJph Clarke of Cathlamet, Wash.;
Bruce Richardson of Auburn, Ill.; Ralph
Newquist andJames Stee1e.
The remaining crew members, now
deceased, were Jack Cucinello, George
Head, Philip "Binkley, John Stringer, Ed
Wolslegel and Harold Haley.
" We hid in the jungle, close to the
launch, for most of May 6, It the admital
goes on. "From there, we watched the
Japanese overwhelm the American forces
on Corregidor. 1bal night, we came out
and searched for supplies, We didn't find a
thing. The next day, May 7, we hid in the
jungle again; the enemy wu everywhere..
"The next night, May 8, we left
Corregidor. F« the better part of two
days, our little launch had been within a
few hundred yards of a Japanese
destroyer and we hadn't dared to make a
sOund. When we left that night, we were aU
praying the crew of that destroyer
wou1dn't spot us as we slipped quietly by.
Our prayers were answered.
" We traveled by night, and hid during
the daylight hours. When It was necessary
to travel during the day, Don Taylor, our
warrant officer was the only man who
would be visible on deck. He dressed as a
fisherman and had a deep tan; from a
distance, he might be accepted as a
Filipino fisherman. All the rest of us were
pretty pale - we would have been spotted
in a second If we'd remained in view. We
hid under tarpaulins for most of the trip.
' ;We worked our way along the Philippine lslands. The natives helped us, selling
us any fresh fruit they had, and alerting us
iftherewereany Japanese close by.
" As we sailed from island to island, we
heard all sorts of rumors. We were told the
West Coast of the United States had been
invaded, that Hawaii was lost. We were
told Australia had surrenderM, and that it
was senseless for us to try to sail there. We
didn't know what to believe.
" Fortunately for us, we didn't accept
that Australian rumor as being true.
Australia
was our destination
MacArthur had gone there - and we were
determined to reach it
" When wefinaUy left the Philippines, we
had to cross a long stretch ~ water, about
200 miles, before we reached the Dutch
East Indies. More than once during that
part of the trip we came across Japanese
gunboats. Don Taylor - our 'fisherman '
who now lives in Jacksonville, Fla. fooled them every time.
" H took us a couple days to reach the
Dutch East Indies. By then, our canned
food , for the most part. was gone; we had
water, but not much. We were starving.
The natives were on our side. That was a
blessing. They gave us fresh fruit and what
other food they could afford. Once again,
the Japanese were all over the place. We
couldn't movewithoutencounterlng them.
" We were island bopping again,
traveling by night and hiding by day. It
seemed the trip would never end On most
islands, the natives came out to greet us.
One time, though, the natives stayed
away. Their island was infested with
Japanese soldiers, and It was their way of
letting us know we should stay clear.
I I At the time and looking back nowit was as though wespent endless days and
nights going from Island to island in the
Dutch East lndies. n was actu'\lly only a
week or so, yet it seemed anerernity. Then
we left the islands bound for Australia.
"The last leg of our trip was only 150
miles. But it was the longest sea voyage I
had ever taken.
" We were out of food and low on water.
You can't imagine the feeling of bunger.
You're alone on a barren sea, and even the
fish won't bite when you try to catcb one.
Hunger is a dreadful thing. AU we could do
was endure, and hope and pray for the
best. We did a tremendous amount of
praying.
" Nobody got delirious or did any 01 those
dramatic thinp you see in movies. We
eyed the iKrizon. We stared straight
ahead, and ached for the light cl dry land.
"By then, we were all up on deck, all
dressed as fishermen . Every hit of paper
that would have linked us to the U.s. Navy
had been destroyed belore we left
Corregidor .
" Once the generator went out 00 us. But
'.'Ie bad a spare generator aboard. Thank
God lor tbat Another time, one of the
bearings in the engine broke. We made a
replacement out of wood.
or
"We were armed and prepared to fight,
if necessary . We had decided we wooJd
never surrender. Each man had a side
arm and a machine gun, plus ammunition.
When we started out on the sea trip, I
discovered that the men had filled the ship
with machine guns but they were too
heavy to carry with us; we had to dump
most of them.
" Finally, we saw land. n was Darwin,
Aus tralia ! We had trooble getting in.
There was a net across the harbor to keep
the Japanese out. But we found a weakness
in the net, cut through it, and sailed into
thebarbor.
"We were unshaven, out of uniform. and
in need of a good bath, but we were a proud
group of sailors. Somewhere along the
way, we bad made an American Oagoutof
some canvas, blue denims, and a red
petticoat one of thesaUors had picked up in
his travels. We hoisted our flag to let the
world know wewereAmericans.
"A Jesuit priest who greeted us when we
landed gave us the first decent meal we'd
had in weeks . Then the Australian
authorities came along - and refused to
believe it when I reported that we had
escaped from Corregidor.
.. ' Nobody escaped from Corregidor, '
they told us. 'The entire garrison, including General Wainwright, surrendered'
'IThey were convinced we were spies.
We didn't have one shred of evideoce to
prove we were Navy men; we didn't have
anything to back up our story. So we were
tossed into an underground dungeon while
the Australians checked us out.
"Finally, an Army Air Corps officer, a
Colonel Wortesmith, was swnmoned. He
asked us a lot or questions about life in the
States, It was like a scene from a war
movie where the hero has to prove he's on
the right side. I've seen a dozen movies
with that scene, but l think we were the
first Americans who went through it in
real life during the Second World War.
"All of a sudden, the colonel, just as he
was about to walk out the door, turned
quickly, looked me straight in the eye and
demanded : 'Who won the Army-Navy
game last year? '
.. 'You blinkity-blank son of a gun,' I
fired back, 'you know dam well who won.
Navywonl ' And I gave him the score.
"The colonel smiled," says Admiral
Morrill, smiling now himsel£, "and he
turned to the Australians. 'They're
Americans all right,' he said 'Let them
gol ' "
In July of this year, the 12 survivors of
the impossible sea journey held their rll'tlt
reunion since the dark days of World War
H , gathering at Whiteman Air Force Base
near Sedalia , Mo.
" We had considered meeting at a Navy
base, " explains the admiral. "However, as
a tribute to that Colonel Wortesmith, we
JULY. ll7t-15
Amel'lmQ
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U,S. POSTAGE
Batun &: Corttgidor. luc.
18 Wal'bler D r.
McKees Rocks. Pa. 151~
PAID
Addr,'SS Correction /{e1luesled
Il"turn PostD!\e G uaranl eed
AUGUST26-30,l979
SURVIVORS of BATAAN CORREGIDOR REUNION at FONTANA VJ.L.
!.AGE
Contact Fontana Village
Fontana Dam, N.C, 287S3for reservations,
Wayne Carringer is our Chairman.
MAY 5 lbra lIth I_
NATIONAL CONVENTION
Wm, Penn Hotel
Pittsburgh. PA.
DUES
ARE
PAYABLE
Pittsburgh , Pa.
Permit No . 2648
£dwa1f4,vJ.ekt'e-r'f
\0-201 nn:lereat Dr,.
• e U ,8 iburth a,.. _v..:. .2&0'1.0
NOW
$4.00
l'll'aloe St.·llt! CtJlTCll ,\cJdl'es) Whell ~foy i'1 g
Correglclorl The Full Story
ByHUlOIIW. Baldwia
(Condensed from 1be New York Times Magazine of 22 September
1946.)
"May I , 4:15 P.M. -PbWppiae1'beater, Tbe War Departmeat
received a meluge from Correpior advlslag lbat rtlislance at
our troopI bas bea O\'etcOlDf:. F:lglltinl UI cealed,"
Near the entrance to the Navy Tunnel, Colonel "Sam"
Howard, United States MarlneCorps, put his face in his hands and
frankly wept
"My God," he said to his executive olficer, Colooel "Don"
CUrtis, "and I hid to be the first marine officer ever to SWTender
a regiment"
Corre&Idor will be forever associated in American traditions
with the valor and tbe pride of tbe Army ol the United States. This
abould be so. for Corregidor and the other fortified islands in the
mouth of Manila Bay Wen! Army posta under Army command,
their big coast defense guns manned by Army personnel. But few
Americans koow that aU of CorTel1dor's beach defenses were the
respoosibilityof the Fourth Regiment« United States Marines,
and that about 1,800 marines, and mixed Army and Navy perSOMeI and FilipinOl - beteroaeoeous battalions made up ol
sailors without Ships, pilots without planes, the military flotsam
and jetsam of the Philippine defeat - comprised tbe only infantry
fightq force, and the principal combat troops " The Rock" had
The Fourth Marines, its strength bolstered toalmOlt 4,000 men
by attached perIOIlDeI from other services, fought the last
despairing fight for Con-egkJor when the end of American power
and prestige in the Orient seemed at band. Correl1dor was their
fJgbt aod this is their ltory - a story never before fully told
The Onl PbWpplae cam,.lp was a umpalga 01 dlIorpnlutioD aDd """tralioa, dluppcUtmeat aud blttemell. lbe
Japuele pubed ubore, ID most eases almOit unopposed. Some
at &be Pblllp,lae Arlll)' dlvts.... barely mobt1b.ed, bastUy
1ralDed, lU-eqaipped. vlrtaauy melted away, their mea fadIDllnto
lbe Juglesaad hilll uader the flnt Im,.ct of Ja ...aeae piaan.
The Fourth lOt its baptism ol bombings in and around
Oioogapo, and on Dec, 26-28 - its strength augmented by marine
detachments from Olonppo and cavite - it moved to Corregidcr
to man the beach defenses.
Corregidor is a ru&led.. rocky island about four miles long and
one and one-baH milee wide, withalongHatlow "tail" lOtbe east
At the beginning of the sieee, it was covered with thick tropic
verck1re. III precipitous terrain made it appear formidable, but
its fortifications were designed decades ago to repulse attacks
from the sea, not landing attempts from the abores of Luzon, or
assauiUrom tbe air,
Its JWlI and fire control system were old, ita anti-aircraft
II-THEQUAN
armament too smaD ror use agau.t bighflying bombers, and Its
water supply and power equipment inadequate. Contrary to p0pular reporw, there were no gun galleries cut into the rock. All the
guns were sited in the open, protected only by concrete ramparts
orsandbal revetments,
From Dec, 21 to Jan. 4 " The Rock" was bombed almost co~
tinuously, The damage done by one bombing was no sooner
cleared up than another attack compowlded it. It was dig and
work and toil, and lie flat on the belly and claw the earth when the
whoosh of the bombs gave warnirW of death,
There were DO greal battles oa Bat... - e.cept ln the
oeWlpapen beck bome. lD the camm•• iques aad the pras a~
coulILs. we repeatedly " defeated" the eaemy. The Ibe of &be
Japanese foren aDd the I cale 01 tile eaemy'l auacb were
frequeatly exagterated.. Ad.. O, 1M Japaaete t.....' a ~
tainblg aDd liele acUoo aplnlt Bataaa. a war at altritioll: they
allowed Ume aad diseale allClltarvalioa ttl weM.eIII our toren aDd
theD l m..hed
oar u.n.ln IbeIr flrIt major attack.
On Corregidor. there was a brief lull in the rain of death from
the sirles between Jan, 7 and 11, and intermitteat attacks
thereafter - but with alarms or raids several times a day. The
bombing contiooed. impassive, delJberate, tmhurried, demoniac.
There was not much tobe done about it
On Batua, &be I aad .. CO~ were begbulinl to 1ft dimly lbe
vt",e 01 defeat. SooDe 01 the mOl-tCGDtrovenla1 onIen.ln bb&ory
wallilued:
FORT Mll.LS. P.I.
Jan. 15. 1M2
Subject: Mellale from Geaeral MacArthur
To: All Ualt Commuclen.
The 'ollowlnl menage from Oeoeral MacArthur will be read
aad explaiaed to aU troopt. Every com....y eommaDder ..
charled with perMIlfIl rtipoulhWty for the deUvery of thlI.
mellage. Eadl headQu.rten wW 'ollow up CO _are rec:epU... by
every co"pa.y or limilar ••It:
, "Help II OD the way from the Valled Stales, lbouludl 01
iroo"" aDd baadredl 01 pllaea are belal ....,.tclr.ed. The end
time of arrival 01 reiaforcemeatiulDltDOWD al they will have to
Rlbt lbelr way through Japaaete attempt. ap.lnlt them. It ..
imperative lbat our tree.. bold ••UI these rdaforcemeats
arrive."
ID early February shelll began fallq 011 Corregidor from the
Cavite shore. Tbe enemy began a systematic attempt to silence
the island's batteries.
Tbe shellings usually occurred between 8:30 and 11 :30 A.M, ;
the morning hlze and the risinI sun made it impOlllble for
American gunners to spot the enemy', gun flashes . Slowly
damage and casualties mounted, and Sipl Corps linemen, ardinance repainnen and the medic. were busy day and night.
tllI'_"
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