Evening star., 1945-09-22
Bv MAI. GEN. EDWARD p.
KING Jr

able to get a few thingS-I needed
anything I could get. The Japs
had taken my baggage at Bataan,
but they let me keep my trousers
and shoes.
AS I look back on my prison days
In the Philippines, I know that the
men were treated more hberally
there than at any of the other
camps. We did not have to work,
but all of us read everything we
could get our hands on. In fact, weI
read almost to the point of memo
rizing. worked through an algebra
book many times and at times when
7 allowed myself a bit of mental
amusement, I thought back over my
school days at Boys High in At
lanta, when I struggled with this
subject. Had I known then that
would spend days in a prison camp
with an algebra book to help pass
the time, I don't think I would have
worried so much and burned the
midnight oil when I wanted to be
out with the gang.
Read Novel Six Times.
Being an Albanian, naturally got
big thrill over a copy of Gone
With the Wind which I read and
reread six times. I can say now
that I am an authority on Rhett
Butler and Scarlett OHara, to say
nothing of the South of that era.
] reviewed Shakespeare many times
also: but the one book I spent much
tame really studying and enjoying
was Adventures in Contentment,"
by David Grayson.
Sometimes I played solitaire
which I had always considered a
refuge of idiots. But it took my
mind of my men. those men I had
to surrender to suffering and death.
Many Of us in the camp who had
any strength at all took our daily
dozen, but the majority of us were
too weak to do anything requiring
physical energy. I suppose if prison
days can be happy, those days when
I was able to escape through literary
highways were the happiest, for 7
i.d not know that before long I
would live through the reign of
terror at KarenkO.
I'VE were moved from Tarlac by
rail to Manila and then by ship to
Takao and later to Karenko. Travel
conditions were not too bad under
the circumstances. Train transpor-
tation was fair, for We were travel
ing with japanese soldiers and so
Fred a little better. Gen. VAIN
wright and I shared a stateroom on
the ship to Takao. but from Takao
to Karenko all the prisoners in our
group were shipped in the hold.
1t was like travelling steerage, only
worse, for We were so packed in that
We could not turn over-We had to
follow the Asiatic custom of sleeping
on the floor When one man wanted
to turn over, all Of us had TO turn.
Now that it is all ended, I seem to
recall sleeping like that at college,
but of course under far different
circumstances. On that ship, how
ever, my memory did not play any
such flights of fancy. 1t was Cruel
ing hard and bitter, as we'll as hard
to take We were given three meals
a day>-if you call rice, more rice
and then some more rice, meals.
But they were to us. and We took it
and liked it.
Will Still Eat Rice.
Some of my nepheWs have asked
me if | ever wanted to eat any
more rice I told them yes, for when
I was in prison, didn't have enough
to get tired of it. That's how scanty
our rations were.
When we arrived at Karenko, we
fell into the hands of an organized
department created for prisoners of
war. There we encountered the
deliberate policy of humiliation bv
the meaneSt ASiatic standards. 1t
was revolving to know that among
the signatories to the Geneva Con-
vention was a race of people who
pretended to be human, yet whose
actions cOntradlcted it in every way
Our camp was on the east coast
of Formosa, where high mountains
lie close to the sea in one of the
most beautiful regions l have ever
. seen. The port of Karenko was
about 2 miles from the camp. We
were in japanese barracks, built by
the japanese for themselves; so If
We ever had break in living con-
ditions, it was then. There were
no particular objections to the place
except that it was too crowded. Gen.
Wainwright and I were in squad
room. The building was two stories
high, built of concrete, and uncom-
fortably cold, but not cold enough to
endanger our health.
Slept on Iron Beds.
We slept on iron beds whose mat
tresses were stuffed with straw. We
were issued two Jap Army sheets
and our pillows, five inches square
were stuffed with rice husks.
All prisoners, regardless of rank
were required to work on a farm
In Georgia We call it truck farm
The tricky japanese evaded the
Geneva Convention clause which
forbids employment of officers by
asking for volunteers Naturally we
all refused. With our refusal, oul
rationS were reduced to starvation
standards.
After two months of this. we were
further Inundated by being al
lowed to consent" to working. The
Japs were arrogant, Sinking anc
forceful when they announced
through an interpreter that WI
would be allowed to consent. Tha,
word allowed" will always be ironee
on my mind as one of the mos
despicable in the English language
My legs were swollen from beri.
beri, so only worked on the farm
for two months. But working woule
have been far better than the agon,
of witnessing the treatment tn,
Japs gave some of our men. Oul
legs never stopped hurting. W.
could never rest during the day. W.
could not lie down on our cots. W.
played cards on certain days, bu
there was not much enjoymen
fbere 0IIr perveS u,ere of th