The Wilmington morning star., 1945-11-14

Instead of a package for each O,
US - which would have meant Z
Dit OF meat, milk, cigarets ane
CANDY - we were given a small
portion OF our canned butter, cheese
and jam. and told that because Of
this the future deliveries of our sup
pies would have to be reduced.
DIARY NOTE
1t put us in the kind of mood nc
one wanted to be in. That Christ.
mas Day I wrote in my diary:
What a travesty on the Day.
Christmas, Hell! I only hope
my dear ones at home are hap
pier than l am"
Two fine boys, Pic. Lloyd L.
Kelly, U. S. Army, and Pvt Johnny
kroeze, Netherlands East Indies
Army, endeared themselves to me
for life, and made my remaining
months at Sian more ivable, when
they came into my room on Janu.
airy l, 1945, bearing a chair they
had ingeniously made out of a fold
ing American cot they unearthed.
hardly know of anything they
could have done for me that would
have been nicer. The chair had
arms, and shelf on one side on
which one could place a book. The
seat was made of canvas. 1 lower.
ed my old bones into it with sigh,
while they stood there with delight.
ed grins on their faces.
But it got them in trouble. With
the chair they brought along a
homemade gift card. It contained
suitable drawing for the season,
and underneath they had written:
Home Alive in AS October"
I carelessly left this heart-warm-
ing card on my table, and it was
found there at roll call that night
when Lieut.. Marui paraded in to
inspect the room and see that
everything was in place. His
eye Immediately alighted on the
card, which he snatched up and
read. He flew into a great rage.
Marui had Kelly and Kroeze on
the carpet the next day. He was
madden about the insignificance OF
the card than he was about the
chair, and he was almost m a
enough about the chair to take it
away from me.
why did you give General VAIN
wright that chair?" he beloved at
the boys. "And why have you sug.
gested that he may be home in
October?'
Kelly is a quick-witted lad. He
explained that he and Kroeze had
given me the chair because I had
done them a favor or two in the
past and they liked me.
The Jap let that go, after a time,
but he bore down hard on the in
scription on the card.
"Oh, that's joke" Kelly laugh
ed.
1T is not joke! It is an attack
on the Japanese war EFFORT" Marui
yelled.
But Kelly kept laughing.
mo, it's a joke, Lieutenant" he
insisted. You see, we were just
poking fun at the General"
Fun"
Yes" Kelly lied, manfully.
You see, the General has slogan
of his own, and we wanted %
ridicule it."
What is your generals slogan?"
the Jap asked suspiciously.
"The Golden Gate in 49," Kelly
answered, without batting an eye
lash, and that seemed to please the
oaf.
NEW SCARCE
Marui's worry over Home Alive
in As" was that he feared we were
getting news of Jap reverses. But
there was no way for us to find
out what was happening in the
world. We repeatedly made efforts
to get newspapers or radio news,
but to no avail. We wrote the Jan
colonel in charge of all prison
camps in Manchuria and to the In.
ternational Red Cross. The British
and Dutch wrote to their respec.
tive Protective Powers in Tokyo.
But the lid was on tight.
Our barracks, as I said, were
heated by steam. But it was at
times SO cold in there that had
to wear most of my clothes day
and night. Sgt. Carroll and Cpl. T.
J. Willard. helped by wangline
some flour from the kitchen, max.
ing paste, and sticking paper over
the ill-fitting windows.
When all the books were read
and re-read at Sian I spent my
daylight hours serving as the Of
fetal razor blade sharpener of the
camp. Just before he died at Kar
enko, poor Sgt. Cavanaugh willee
me his little concave-shaped razor
hone. became quite proficient al
the job, in fact so proficient thai
l was kept busy at it through
most of each day the rest of my
time at Sian.
I was able to sharpen as many
as 20 blades a day. There was ne
way of buying new blades, so il
was imperative that our old one:
be kept sharp. I made my owr
two blades last full year with
Cavanaugh's hone. 1 kept the
Dutch Governor Generals single