Evening star., 1942-11-05
BY CAPT. WILLIAM LLOYD Os-
BORN and CAPT. DAMON GAUZE
AZ Told to LEE VAN Alta.
Third Of Fourteen Instauments.


Jap planes were strafing our lines
whenever" artillery barrages weren't
interfering with their aerial oper-
ations. Every man in the front lines
Of Bataan during those seven days
was at his gun "a out of "a hours
and the continuous crash of explod-
ing shells made sleep impossible
during the few hours of rest we had.
Early in the week a young lieu
tenant from the company defend
Ing sector near ours was sent Is
miles into the enemy lines on a
patrol reconnaissance mission. He
reported that the Japanese were
making stern preparations for the
big push and requested permission
to take another armed patrol Of Is
men several miles behind the lines
to destroy or harass Japanese con-
centrations in the vicinity of an
ancient, picturesque Catholic cathe-
dral which still stood despite re-
peated bomb and shell blasts. Per-
mission was granted and the COM
par1y set out. We learned q few
hours later that the lieutenant had
been killed as he entered the cathe-
dral BY Japs who had mounted q
machine gun on the altar.
Capt. Warren Stirling, who was q
member Of my company, immedi-
ately volunteered to take q patrol
and recover the young lieutenant's
body. Skillfully avoiding carefully
laid Japanese trap-the Japs had
apparently expected us to make an
attempt to bury the dead officer
properly-Stirling succeeded in wip-
ing out machine gun nests in the
cathedral belfry and within the
church itself. The young lieuten-
amt was buried In q jungle clearing
q mile from the cathedral with full
military honors.
Meanwhile enemy activity was
steadily increasing in my sector. My
main machine gun nests were under
the command Of Capt. Stirling and
Its. Patterson, Whipple and Gilbe,
who were showing, with the rest of
the men, the effects Of hour after
hour Of steady pounding and hour
after hour of nerve-shattering watt
Ing and watching for foe who was
expected to strike at any minute.
Half Of Outfit III.
Nearly so per cent Of my unit
and have found since that every
other outfit on Bataan has almost
identical figures were suffering |
from malaria or beriberi. They were
beginning to show pronounced signs
Of malnutrition, too. Never well fed
during all the months we were on
Bataan, the last hours of the heroic
gafrisons stand sapped every bit of
reserve strength from every man.
While the war Of steel and Of lead
was killing on every one - both
physically and mer1tally-I think the
war Of nerves behind the front lines
was just as tough. It was probably
worse, In fact, because when we were
fighting we could at least forget
personal troubles and physical con-
ditions for q few minutes.
There were many incidents during
those last few days which will re-
main in my memory always. Capt.
Donald, our squadron chaplain, was
one. He is Japanese prisoner now.
humor plus fine understanding of
other men, he was the perfect chap
lain under fire. His favorite recre-
alton was pipe smoking and he used
to be pufing away all the time. He
ran out Of tobacco, Of course, early
In the campaign, but he quickly
shifted to dried leaves, which
seemed to make him just as happy.
Every morning and every night he
would be in the front lines. chat
ting with the men, seeing If he
could help in any way and tossing
. conservative insult or two at the
Japs himself. The last time I saw
him was In concentration camp in
Bataan. He was still puf1ng his
pipe and gently trying to assist the
wounded to places Of temporary
comfort
I remember Capt. Bert Banks Of
Tuscaloosa, Ala. Bert was regi-
mental intelligence oficer. Ever
since he arrived on Bataan In late
December, he had written a Is or
20 page letter to his family. Each
week, just as faithfully, he would
tear up the letters he had written
the week before and start another
all over again. Bert was certain un-
til almost the end that we were
going to hold them and win. Bert
stopped writing letters that first
week Of April.
Attack Never Stopped.
Even the hell the Japs were rails
ing night and day couldn't keep
some Of our men from laughing
right back In their faces-and send
ing q few machine-gun bullets along
as gentle reminders of our presence.
Once . group of oficers-Lts. Ollie
Lancaster of Daytona Beach, Fla;
Claude Daniels of Bogalusa, La, and
Carl Mango of Erie, Pa, our squad
ron surgeon-were taking . hasty
bath In the filthy stream which
flowed practically through our camp.
Suddenly the Japs opened up with
q terrific barrage which looked Is
II b might precede an attack. Our
men hoped out OF the water,
wrapped only In some fig leaves, and
raced TO their foxholes to start
work.
The pummeling the Japs were
giving Us never stopped. Ny diary
for April Tread: I'VE have been un-
der continuous bombardment for
days. The Japanese are concen-
trating On the middle Of our front.
News has Just come that one regi-
ment has fallen back, leaving
hob about Z kilometers wide In the
center. We understand the JAps
ard pouring through. As yet We
hate received no withdrawal or
derf