The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-11-02

a Jap medical officer. Col. Barry
died OF the infection at 10:40 0 m.
on June II. We buried him, with
permission, in the Tarlac cemetery
about half mile northwest OF
the camp, and again l made a
sketch of the location - against the
day when I could possibly deliver
it to his family.
Brig. Gen. Stevens was another
Who had the misfortune to become
seriously i'll. He developed an alb.
scess on his liver and suffered a
slight heart attack. We were able
this time to have him moved 70 a
hospital.
But the hospital the Japs chose
was the one at Camp O'Donnell,
the worst nest in the Philippines
That was July 26, 1912, and the
rest OF us silently resolved that we
must not become any sicker than
We were - "a resolution that was
increasingly hard to make come
true when We looked at our bony
bodies and regarded the days sup
ply of food. Brooding over this, one
of oL1 officers lost his mind.
Tarlac brought together nlen who
had been separated on Bataan and
Corregidor and it was time for
quiet exchange of experiences and
beliefs.
1t was there, as l have reported,
That learned from Brig. Gen. Gilt,
ford Bluemel the full story of the
sorry condition of his Thirty-F1rs1
Philippine Army Division on the
eve OF the Jap strike at Luzon.
From other divisional commanders
| heard similar stories of frighte'l-
Ing umpreparedness, confirming
my own observations. We had in.
deed faced carefully trained foe
with one of the most helpless arm
les in the history of arms. It was
no comfort, sitting there in our
rags at Tarlac, to consider the state
OF our preparedness on the eve of
war which had been brewing in
Washington diplomatic circles for
a long time before the blow fell.
I spent some time with my diary
while at Tarlac, adding experiences
and reading earlier passages over
and over again. l had begun that
particular book of memories on
April 2, 1912, and the first entry in
the book always confronted me
when 1 opened it to add to my
story. That first entry, written just
short of two weeks after 1 took
over Gen. MacArthur's old place on
Corregidor, read:
con this date I hereby pledge.
myself that unless ordered by
higher authority to do so l will
not move my headquarters to
the south, in the event that
the fall of Corregidor is immi-
nent, but VII. if necessary, sur
render myself with my troops.
mo other course of action
would be honorable
Now, in Tarlac prison, learned
from officers who had served on
Corregidor before l reached there
that as far back as January, 1912,
al the beginning of the Battle OF
Bataan, the question of the survival
CT 'Bataan and Corregidor had been
discussed pessimistically.
At a conference on January "a.
Macarthur agreed with staff men
that Bataan was doomed, as in
deed it was, though oUr forces held
it against appalling odds through
the first week of April.
The Corregidor meeting of Janu-
airy concluded, as had been con-
Guided in theoretical plans If years
before, that Corregidor could not
long stand with Bataan in The pos
session of the enemy. It stood q
days.
At the same conference it was
ordered that supplies of food and
ammunition be withdrawn from Ba-
taan and a stockpile raised On Cor
regidor which would be capable OF
supplying 10000 men for taa pro-
posed defense of The Rock. Mac.
Arthur believed at that time that
Corregidor could stand until July
|, and predicted that Bataan might
fall by the middle of February.
When he was ordered 70 leave
for Australia on March 10, Bataan
was Still only nalf-conquered, but
he could see the hand writing 90
the wall, for at Mindanao ne told
officers - to whom l later talked
at Tarlac - that corregidor could
not est beyond June /.
He assumed that ! would be able
to set a force of 10000 men there
fer The Rocks defenss, out II, 900
was all l could muster Waen the
time came and, as you know,
Corregldo1 finally went down Old
May 6.
The men at Tarlac who had been
close to Macarthur during my
days on Bataan told me of the
Commander-in-chief's great de.
spair over our inevitable fate. He
told Major Gen. George F. Moore:
s'Never in history has a force of
this size been so left out on
limb"
At Tarlac I also learned for the