Blood Brothers: A Medic's Sketch Book Part 6

to plug holes in the 41st Division. The j.a.ps were now penetrating in large numbers.

On April 8, Gen. King called all his officers together; he tried to spare his starved, diseased, wounded, and exhausted troops such things as marching to internment camps; he requested conditions of surrender:

1. A four-hour armistice.

2. j.a.panese forces to remain in present positions during armistice.

3. Consideration be given for sick and wounded soldiers and civilians.

4. That U.S. Army transportation be used to carry sick and wounded to any internment camp that the j.a.panese General may direct. General Homma's Chief of Staff shouted, "Yuo vill sullendah unconitionarry!"

Bataan Falls: On April 9, 1942, starvation, disease and the ubiquitous j.a.panese caused the collapse of Bataan. General King became the first U.S. general ever forced to surrender his command to an enemy. He referred to his "heroes of Bataan" as follows: "Courage is a quality G.o.d has seen fit to dispense with utmost care. He limits it to His special favorites. He knows they will reward Him well, using the power with dignity, strength and distinction. The men of Bataan and Corregidor were His chosen favorites. They walked through unbearable h.e.l.l and labored on-under conditions that history had never recorded.

When they were supposed to be dead, these men of honor rose again-to battle a cruel enemy with this intangible weapon."

"When history of the Second World War is fully written, Americans will thrill to the story of the 'Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor!'"

The fall of Bataan ended any possibility of getting supplies for the 14th Infantry; our patrols had only three rounds of ammunition per man. We became quite depressed over the surrender of Bataan; we knew many of our friends there must be dead, wounded or suffering from starvation and many diseases.

Shortly we received the following order from Corregidor: "CUT STRENGTH OF 14TH INFANTRY TO 600! WAINWRIGHT." This was a big blow to the whole regiment.

Thousands of j.a.ps were ma.s.sed at Balete Pa.s.s and moving north into the Cagayan Valley. Our patrols kept us posted. Col. Warner, becoming frustrated and trying to determine what

positive effort could be made toward winning the war by his remaining troops, noted that the 14th Infantry held two valuable ports at Casiguran and Palanan. He took Major Minton and some Scouts across the Sierra Madre mountains to the Pacific coast to explore possibilities.

He considered finding or building a good pier for supplies to be brought in; he looked for suitable beaches for landing craft in the event of an invasion and as a last resort, boats that could carry personnel to China.

The j.a.panese troops were advancing on Echague, some fifteen miles from Jones. Guillermo was fearful lest the j.a.panese locate the regimental radio by triangulation of transmission waves. Guillermo and I, with several Scouts, got into two bancas and worked our way up the Cagayan River through a series of rapids to Pinippigan, where we spent the night. The following day, with the barrio teniente, we looked for places to hide the radio if it became necessary.

When we returned to Jones, we discharged nine hundred soldiers, to be sent home, to grease and hide their rifles, to hide their uniforms and equipment, and to become civilian farmers. They soon earned the reputation, "farmers daytime-soldiers nighttime."

Corregidor, the "Rock": With the fall of Bataan, the j.a.panese moved their heavy artillery right into the grounds of our Army hospitals on Bataan-to concentrate their ma.s.sive barrages on Corregidor-without fear of retaliation from the big guns on Corregidor. The sh.e.l.ling and bombing became relentless for several weeks.

On May 5th, as the j.a.panese barges were approaching Corregidor, General Wainwright offered to surrender to General Homma, who replied, "Imperial j.a.panese Army and Navy are only prepared to accept surrender of all American and Filipino troops in whole Archipelago - Homma."

One of the last messages to come from Corregidor: "Major Eugene C.

Jacobs, M.C., transferred to command of Col. John Horan in Mountain Province north of Baguio."

I reasoned, "Maybe his heart is giving him trouble and he feels the need of a doctor." My weight was down from 165 to 120 pounds. I had had amoebic dysentery for several months and had lost considerable strength. I didn't relish traveling some one hundred to 150 miles through areas held by the j.a.panese, to learn that Col. Horan had already surrendered to the j.a.panese.

(Later I learned that this is exactly what happened. He surrendered on May 14, 1942).

Corregidor Falls: With the silencing of the big guns and the radio on Corregidor on May 6th, we found ourselves unable to contact any ally.

In a matter of hours, we picked up the voice of General Wainwright over the j.a.panese radio in Manila: "WE ARE 8,000 MILES FROM THE UNITED STATES. THERE HAS BEEN AND WILL BE NO REINFORCEMENTS. FURTHER RESISTANCE AND BLOODSHED ARE USELESS.

I ORDER ALL FIL-AMERICAN FORCES IN THE PHILIPPINES TO LAY DOWN ARMS AND TO SURRENDER! WAINWRIGHT."

We were quite sure that Wainwright was being pressured by the j.a.panese to make his broadcast. We questioned whether or not a captured general still had the authority to issue orders to his former "unsurrendered"

command.

Transfer to Mountain Province: Trying to be a good soldier, I prepared to make my transfer to Col. Horan's Guerrilla Unit. I obtained a good guide and a strong horse. I told the officers and men of the 14th Infantry, "Good-bye and good luck." We started north.

After several days on the trail, the guide and I reached a small barrio east of Ilagan. Natives told us Ilagan was occupied by j.a.panese.

As I was bedding down in a small native shack, a Filipino quietly crept up to my bed, and said, "Sir! I am an emissary from General Aguinaldo in Palanan. Sir! General Aguinaldo wants to hide you from the j.a.panese for the duration of the war."

I was delighted; this seemed like the answer to a prayer. I had no idea where Aguinaldo had ever heard of me, or why he was interested in me. We did have one thing in common we were both doctors. I learned several things about Aguinaldo: he had been mayor of a small barrio.

When the Americans took the Philippines from the Spanish in 1899, Aguinaldo appointed himself the President of the Philippines and led an insurgent army of 40,000 against the Americans and fought a long and b.l.o.o.d.y war.

Aguinaldo was finally captured in Palanan by Gen. Fred Funston; he was brought to Manila as a prisoner, where he swore an oath of allegiance to the United States and became a good friend. The Military Governor, Gen. Arthur MacArthur, the

father of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, treated Aguinaldo as an honored guest in the Malacanong Palace in Manila.

General Aguinaldo's emissary told me to meet him the following day at a Spanish hacienda, the Buen-venida, near the barrio of San Mariano, about thirty miles to the south. He would lead me over the Sierra Madre Mountains to Palanan and General Aguinaldo.

The next morning the guide and I started south-attempting to find the designated hacienda. After riding all day, we finally arrived at a hacienda, but not the Buen-venida. When I inquired as to the direction to Buen-venida, the Spanish owner asked me:

"Did you come to surrender?" I answered with a very positive, "No!" He said, "Col. Warner and Major Minton are here with their staff-from Palanan." I answered, "I would like to see them!"

As I greeted Col. Warner and Major Minton, in walked another American from a different direction. Lt. Col. Theodore Kalakuka, QMC, Gen Wainwright's G-4 from Manila, saying, "I've been sent here by General Wainwright." Ted had arrived in a j.a.p plane from Manila with a j.a.panese pa.s.s. He continued, "He has ordered all Fil-American troops to surrender. If any unit does not surrender, all of the captives on Corregidor will be severely punished (probably slaughtered!)" For my benefit, he continued, "There are thousands of Americans in internment camps that are extremely sick and desperately in need of medical care.

Any American who does not surrender will be considered a deserter of the United States Army!" (Several weeks later, Ted died of cerebral malaria while looking for Americans who had not surrendered.)

Col. Warner pointed out to our officers that "the j.a.panese have a bounty on each of our heads. It is the beginning of the rainy season.

There is a great scarcity of food. The j.a.panese have warned the Filipinos that anyone caught helping Americans would be executed. The Filipinos can no longer afford to be friendly to Americans."

Chapter IV

COL. WARNER SURRENDERS THE 14th INFANTRY

(June 20, 1942)

Col. Warner officially surrendered the 14th Inf. to the j.a.panese on June 20th. The following day our group walked down to the river and obtained a guide and several bancas. We spent the day coasting down the river to Ilagan. On the way down, I decided that no American would be killed by my .45; I dropped it in the river.

In Ilagan, we hiked several blocks to a j.a.panese barracks, knocked on the door and tried to explain to some ignorant soldiers that "we had come to surrender!" We were about as welcome as a vacuum cleaner salesman. With little planning we could have "wiped them out." We were finally directed to an empty house across the street to spend the night, sleeping on the floor.

The next day we hired a Filipino caratella (pony cart) and rode about fifty miles to Echague where we repeated the surrender process at a cavalry barracks. Six of us Americans soon found ourselves sleeping on the concrete floor of the guard house of the old Constabulary Barracks, west of Echague. Our hosts were a squadron of j.a.panese cavalry-probably the same squadron we used to watch going up and down the highway.

Echague was the town where Guillermo Nakar and I had frequent conferences with the Governor and provincial officials. We were only fifteen miles from the radio shack, where Nakar was persisting in his efforts to contact Gen. MacArthur.

I didn't get to Palanan to meet General Aguinaldo! I have often wondered how different my life might have been-sitting out the war with Aguinaldo.

Guests of a j.a.panese Cavalry Squadron: For one month, we six Americans were a.s.signed to perform all of the unpleasant ch.o.r.es of the squadron, pumping water by hand, preparing vegetables, burying garbage, etc. We were pleased when we heard through the "bamboo telegraph" (rumors whispered to us by the natives selling us bananas and coconut cookies) that the government officials that we had appointed had been accepted by the j.a.panese. We knew that they would maintain a certain loyalty to the United States.

The j.a.ps called us "captives," not P.O.W.s. Each morning and each evening, we had to stand formation with the squadron

facing east repeating an allegiance to the Emperor (we subst.i.tuted our own words, which we deemed more appropriate).

Nakar Successful: About the 4th of July, Col. Nakar succeeded in contacting Australia. I quote from Gen. MacArthur's book, Reminiscences: "After the fall of Corregidor and the Southern Islands, organized resistance to the j.a.panese in the Philippines had supposedly come to an end. In reality, it never ended. Unfortunately for some time, I could learn nothing of these activities. A deep pall of silence settled over the whole archipelago.