The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1943-03-16
Cooked Human Bones
In Japanese Canteen
Continued from Page y

following morning. But just before
6 o'clock the Jap began taking down
his shelters and packing his field
kits, including cooking utensils. Just
before we started to move In, he
started to move out.
mot to fight his way out, mind
you, but simply to try to march
through our lines with staggering
load OF field equipment and cook
ing pots on each mans back. He
didn't offer to fight. Apparently he
expected us to step aside and open
a pathway for him. He didn't offer
to surrender, so We killed every Jap
there"
Many things you have heard
about Japanese soldiers are not
borne out by first-hand observa-
ton In New Guinea. You have
heard, for instance, that their packs
are light. On the contrary, their
equipment Is much heavier than
that OF the Americans or Austral-
ianS. IT Is awkward and cumber-
some, but the Jap carries 1t with
him wherever he goes.
No First Aid Equipment
Medicine takes up much Of the
space In the pack, but II Is not first
aid equipment. 1t Is medicine de-
signed to keep the soldier healthy
-vitamin pills, salt tablets, quinine,
Such things as gauze, Sulfa drugs
and disinfectants are missing. The
reason for this Is that Japanese
officers lose interest In O man once
he Is wounded or becomes too Ill
to fight. He then Is regarded as a
liability and Is crossed of the list
and forgotten.
I asked Herring about the men
tai and physical makeup of the in
dividual Japanese soldier, and he
replied:
He Is a strong, stupid little beast.
He has no imagination and does
exactly what he Is told.
"All his military schooling Is along
the positive side-what he should
do to advance under this set OF
conditions, what under this other.
How he should keep well and pre-
vent injury.
But nobody has told him what
to do when he finds he cannot ad-
vance, when he Is faced with a
choice of death or surrender.
1.-THE Japanese command takes the
very simple position that an officer
or soldier should never get into
such q situation. It involves dis
loyalty to the emperor by depriv-
ing him Of an effective fighting man.
1t involves a loss Of face and Is
simply not to be thought Of.
consequently We have a variety
OF surprising results. For one thing.
Japanese field commanders send
nothing but optimistic reports to
Tokyo. II he were In a dangerous
position and sent In a realistic re-
port in order to get help and ex-
tricate his mean. he would be told
he had failed his emperor and to
do away with himself to make room
for more competent successor. Few
OF the commanders seem willing to
accept that disgrace so they fight
on stubbornly in completely hope
less situations and, unit by unit,
We wipe them out"
An Australian, Lieut.. Col. l.. T.
Shave. told me this story illustrat-
ing the fatalistic attitude Of the
Japanese:
I'VE had a Jap company sur
rounded over here the other day.
We called on the officer in command
to surrender his forces.
HE marched out with what we
thought was a white flag. We were
greatly interested because 1t would
have been the first instance In the
whole New Guinea campaign Of
such a formal surrender.
But half way between his lines
and ours he stopped, and clapped
his hands. An orderly appeared be-
hind him bearing a canteen OF
water. The officer tremendously
washed his hands. then dried them
on the flag, which turned out TO
be towel.
We watched a few moments but
we had a war to fight, so we told
him we would give him count OF
ten to come forward and surrender.
He folded his arms. We counted to
nine.
Before we could count ten he
said, In English:
"Out! (The Japs are great base
ball FANS.
I'VE fired and he died.
"He had left his men on their own.
There has never yet In this CAM
paign been a japanese unit surrender
as such. The largest number saw
surrender in group was so or go
over ct Buna, and they turned out to
be about 70 per cent Korean labor
troops. Yesterday we took "a pris-
oners near here, but again only four