Evening star., 1944-02-09

Comdr. Mccoy:
There was a feeling, particularly
among the enlisted men, that Uncle
Sam had merely been caught off
balance by puny but cunning foe
in the first round, and that the
knockout punch even now was on
the way. In Old Bilibid Prison, in
Manila, this feeling was expressed
in such statements as 1--WE won't be
here long-a couple weeks, maybe,
or a month"
But those Of us who had served
as staff officers knew something of
tho problems involved and were not
so optimistic. We knew that the
United States had suffered her
worst defeat in history and we knew
that the Job ahead would be long
and hard.
From our few furtive contacts
with civilian Filipinos outside our
prison walls, we learned the Japs
were losing no time in bringing the
New Order in East Asia to the
Philippines. We had the additional
advantage Of two listening points,
one Of us (Comdr. Mccoy being in
prison with staff officers at Pasay,
and the other (Col. Mellnik) in Old
Bilibid.
All Filipinos, we learned, were
forced to bow to the Japanese. All
streets with American names were
being given japanese names. All
commercial enterprises we're being
given Japanese direction. Cultured
Filipinos were being told subtly that
their place in the greater East Asia
co-prosperity sphere was in the rice
paddles and abaca fields. In ad-
dition, the English language spoken
by almost every Filipino over 35) was
to be forbidden, and was to be re-
placed by Nippon-Go, a sort of SIM
plif1ed basic Japanese"
Col. Mellnik:
Comdr. Mccoy still was at Pasay
when learned on May 81, 1912, that
I was to be transferred to the pri-
soner-of-war camp at Cabanatuan
about IS miles north of Manila in
Luzon.
AS was their custom when Amer
lean military prisoners were to be
moved, the japanese waited until
the heat had reached its peak before
loading some 800 of us into iron
boXcars. There were 100 men to
each car, with no room to sit or lie
down. The cars were tightly closed
so that there was no ventilation.
The inside of the car was like an
oven with no water or sanitary
facilities Several men tainted, but
there were no deaths.
When we got off the train at Ca
banatuan we were put into an open
field surrounded by barbed wire and
patrolled by sentries. We were told
that We would remain overnight.
Filipino civilians watched us from
respectful distance, some of them
bearning bananas, papayas and
mangoes, but the Jap sentries kept
them warned back with their bayo-
nets.
Guard Buys Fruit.
1t. Col. Carl Eaglehart and I
Weic lying W Keep COOL uIlUeI d
pup tent which We had put up. The
sight of the fruit was tantalizing
beyond description. Carl had been
language student in Japan and,
finding few pesos between us, he
spoke in japanese to a nearby
guard, asking him to buy us some
fruit.
The Jap seemed delighted at
hearing an American speak his Ian
guage. Much to our surprise he got
us the fruit, and then fastened
away. We were wolfing down the
fruit when the guard returned,
smiling and bowing. He spoke to
Carl in Japanese.
Something's up" Carl said to me.
"The Jap C. o. wants to see US"
The guard escorted us to the COM
manding officer. He greeted us in
perfect English, but we could see
that he was in murderous mood.
After the greeting he fixed us with
what seemed an interminable seoul.
Then he spat at us suddenly: What
did you Americans mean by bomb
ing and cunning japanese
cities?"