Claim: Richard Sakakida was recruited into the U.S. Army in 1941 and was later stationed in the Philippines, but escaped the country before it fell to Japan.
Evidence: He was recruited into the U.S. Army in March 1941, while America was still a neutral in World War II. After intensive training, on April 7, 1941, he and Komori set sail for the Philippines, then an American possession, aboard the USS Republic (AP-33). After the outbreak of hostilities with Japan, Sakakida was rounded up by the Philippine Constabulary and eventually ended up in Bilibid Prison, still maintaining his cover as a civilian, but he was recognized and released. In December 1944, Sakakida decided that the time had finally come to flee. The Japanese occupation of the Philippines (Filipino: Pananakop ng mga Hapones sa Pilipinas; Japanese: 日本のフィリピン占領; Hepburn: Nihon no Firipin Senryō) occurred between 1942 and 1945, when Imperial Japan occupied the Commonwealth of the Philippines during World War II.