Evening star., 1945-10-24


we cran1med 25 persons into its
tight interior. Most of them were
nurses, but there were some all
ing officers, including Col. Pete Ir-
win, my assistant chief of staff
tG-3). Irwin was suffering from
ulcers which probably would have
caused his death had he been cap
tured. He reached Washington after
the gravelike silence of surrender
had settled over The Rock and was
able to report on the battle for the
island fortress until May 3.
I sent my favorite gun away from
Corregidor on that sub. 1t was
handsome Smith & Wesson revolver
which I had worn more often on
Bataan and Corregidor than I had
worn my regulation service auto
matte.
I had sent back to the States for
the revolver shortly before the war.
Now, when I feared it soon would be
taken away from me, I wanted my
son to have it. So I gave it to a
Col Savage of the Air Forces, who
was leaving on the sub, and told
him to take it home with him, send
1t to Mrs. Wainwright and tell my
wife to forward it to my son-a
captain in the Merchant Marine
My son eventually received it and
carried it through the war.
Nurse Refuses to Leave.
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 valuable
to her country than Capt Mieler,
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. Mieler had told
him she did not chose to leave
g.. as long as there's a patient in
the hospital" I considered-and
still consider-this truly great act
of heroism. She knew as we'll 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 bombed,
especially along the northern side of
the island which faced Bataan's
guns. One defending gun after an
lother was smashed, as were all of
the searchlights we were depending
upon to illuminate the. inevitable
landing forces.
Flag Is Hit Again.
The flag was hit again, near the
end. and as was the case when it
suffered an earlier blow on Corregi-
dor, men leaped from cover to re-
store it to the top of its towering
100-foot pole.
This time, however, the fallen
flag could not be run up from the
ground. One of the four men who
came to it's aid-they had to dodge
not only through intense Smelling
but also were attacked by three
Observation-Disclosures to the tor
of the swaying pole to fix the hal
yard.
The four brave men involved were
Can't. Arthur E. Huff, in charge o1
an antiaircraft battery; Corpl, Louis
A. Roark, Pfc. Roy o. Bailey anc
Pvt. Harley H. Laird. I awarded
Silver Stars to them in the course o!
many last-minute decorations ane
citations to some of the most gallant
fighting men and combat units the
world has ever seen.
It did not seem possible that tht
tempo of the Jap shelling coulc
possibly be increased. But on MAY
4 it reached its al time high during
q flve-hour period from 7 am. until
noon.
Mai. Gen. George F. Moore and I
making a careful check of tina
overwhelming artillery assault, dis
covered that the Jap batteries hi
Corregidor with a 500-pound, 240.
nm. shell every five seconds during
1.-THE fve-hour period. The big shells
whined in and struck us amid 6
shower of men, guns, dirt, rock ane
debris with clocklike precision
They fell at the steady rate of l.
every minute, which meant $500
shells for the five hours, enough tt
fill 600 trucks.
Drop 100000 Pounds.
I, Moore and I, delving further inte
the mathematics of the fury, esti.
mated at the end of the five in,
credible hours that the Japs hac
hit The Rock with 100000 pounds
of shells. These were statistic
which ignored the other beatings W,
took that day of May 4, 1912, for WI
also had 13 air raids that day.
Gen. George c. Marshall had ra
diced me from Washington the da.
before, asking for a frank estimat
of the situation in the Philippines
I replied:
Hostile air corps has bombe
Corregidor relentlessly since 2
March. Enemy Immediately EN-
placed artillery on south shore o
Bataan on April and since thel
has subjected our defenses to ar
tillery fire.
Beginning April 29-the Emper
or's birthday-hostile artillery fir
increased in intensity and has con
tinued at that tempo to the present
THE hostile bombing has been rela
lively ineffective, but artillery fir
from large-caliber guns-240-mm.-
lhas destroyed large percentage @
llcoast and beach defense artiller
Land small arms Since April 9 con
|tinued bombardment has cause
Habout 600 casualties and has low
Tered the morale of troops. Difficult
Ito maintain morale at best becaus
TROOPS have been under or subject t
ARTILLERY or air attack CONSTANT
Hsince December % and have re
aceiver half of poorly balanced ra
ition since January 8. Morale, how
ever, is amazingly good considerin
conditions under which troops ar
presently operating. Persistent re
E-.~+e <rox~, oy,aro fiyae i,,d;oota ~,