The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-10-24
Gen. Wainwright Describes Beginning
of End For Fortress of Corregido1
CHAPTER XVIII

CHAPTER XVIII
BY GENERAL JONATHAN M.
WAINWRIGHT
Copyright, 1945, King Fea-
lures Syndicate, Inc. Repro
duction in whole or in part
strictly prohibited.)
On Nav 8, however, three days
before the ultimate humiliation OF
surrender was forced upon me, we
did manage to evacuate a fairly
large party of nurses and officers
by submarine.
had learned from the Navy
several days previously that tile
submarine was in our waters and
was preparing to return to austria
liza to replenish its torpedo supply.
I arranged to have it come to Cor
regidor.
It surfaced just outside our mine
field and we crammed Is persons
into its tight interior. Most of them
were nurses, but there were some
ailing officers, including Col. Pete
Irwin, my assistant chief OF staff
(G-3). Irwin was suffering from
ulcers which would have probably
caused his death had he been cap
tured. He reached Washington aft
er the grave-like silence of sur
re had settled over The Rock,
and was able to report on the bat
tie for the island fortress until
May 8.
l sent my favorite away from
Corregidor on that sub. 1t was
handsome Smith and Wesson re-
volver which l had worn more oft
en- on Bataan and Corregidor than
I had worn my regulation serv'
ice automatic.
I had sent back to the States for
the revolver shortly before tn e
war. Now, when 1 feared it would
soon be taken away from me, l
wanted my son to have it. So !
gave it to a Col. Savage Of the
Air Forces, who was leaving on
the sub, and told him to take 1t
home with him, send it to Mrs.
Wainwright and tell my wife to
forward it to my son - captain
in the Merchant Marine. My son
eventually received it and carried
it through the war.
One of the most courageous acts
of the entire campaign happened
the night the submarine paid the
last call to Corregidor. No one had
worked harder or was more valu-
able to her country than Capt.
MEIER, chief nurse of the hospital
in the Tunnel. I told my surgeon,
Col. Cooper, that I wanted Capt.
Mieler's name included on the list
of girls to be taken out by the
submarine. She was the only nurse
I specifically named.
But Col. Cooper came to me
shortly after receiving my order
and reported that Capt. MEIER
had told him she did not CHOOSE to
leave las long as there's a pa
.tient in the hospital" I considered
- and still consider - this truly
great act of heroism. She knew as
well as I that she was signing her
captivity warrant.
After the submarine submerged
and left, the heat was turned on
us beyond all description. Without
:let-up we were shelled and bomb
ed, especially along the northern
sfee of the island which faced Ba-
taan's' guns. One defending gun
after another was smashed, S
were all of the searchlights we
were depending upon to illuminate
the inevitable landing forces.
FLAG HIT AGAIN
The Flag was hit again, near the
end, and as was the case when it
suffered an earlier blow on Cor.
regidor, men leaped from cover
to restore it to the top of its tower
ing 100foot pole.
This time, however, the fallen
Flag could not be run up from the
ground. One of the four men who
came to its aid they had to
dodge not only through intense
Smelling but also were attacked by
three dive-bombers climbed to
the top of the swaying pole to fix
the halyard.
The four brave men involved
were Capt. Arthur E. Huff, in
charge Of an antiaircraft battery,
Corp. Louis A. Roark, Pfc. Roy
o. Bailey and Pvt. Harley H.
Laird. I awarded Silver Stars to
them in the course Of many last
minute decorations and citations
to some of the most gallant fight.
ing men and combat units h e
world has ever seen.
It did not seem possible that the
tempo Of the Jap Smelling could
possibly be increased. But on May
4 1t reached it's all-time high dur.
ing five-hour period from 7 am.
until noon.
Major Gen. George F. Moore
and I, making a careful check Of
that overwhelming artillery as.
sault, discovered that the Jap bat.
teries hit Corregidor with 500.
pound, 240 nm. shell every five
seconds during the five-hour peri.
cd. The big shells whined in and
struck us amid shower of men
guns, dirt, rock and debris with
clock-like precision. They fell a
the staedy rate Of II every minute