The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-10-27
CHAPTER Fl
H. GENERAL JONATHAN M.
~ WAINWRIGHT

n, ZEN EnAL JO1NA4IIf1N W.
~ WAINWRIGHT
lconyright 1915, King Features
Syndicate, Inc. Reproduction
IN whole or in part strictly
prohibited.)
General Masaharu Homma, con-
oueror of my starved and depict
sd forces, kept me and my staff
etficers waiting for hours at the
onnointed surrender house on the
ebares Of Manila Bay, that unfor-
sattable night of May 6, 1912.
grhen he did arrive he did so with
He drove up dramatically in a
.ea,ltiful shiny Cadillac, thanked
Wv three overdressed aides. Be-
lind the Cadillac was a car filled
n staff officers and following
shon, was a car for Jap war cor
respondents.
zen. Homma stepped out of the
,sr. and I think all of us were a
, H astonished by his size. He
, stood nearly six feet. tall, W S
ssavilv built and must have
neighed close to 200 pounds
W. wore an olive dr. b
W. ,ronical unifrom, with a white
.hirt open at the neck. He had on
~. s regulation small cloth cap of
No Jap officer. He was bedecked
with several bright rows Of dec
orations and campaign ribbons,
.nd carried the inevitable sword.
How they worship those damned
swords!
He stood there a moment, CIV
mo us a look Of bored contempt,
hen idly saluted, brushed past us
md walked up on the porch. We
allowed him, silently.
A long table had been arranged
An the porch. He took a seat in
the center and motioned for his
two principal staff officers to sit
An either side OF him. His three
aides. with their brilliant yellow
SHOULDER sashes, stood rigidly be-
hind his chair.
was beckoned into the seat
facing Homma from across t h e
table. Brig. Gen. Lewis Beebe sat
on my left, Col. Johnny Pugh on
nv right, Major Bill Lawrence
and Major Tom Dooley on the
TANKS. Sgt. Hubert Carroll stood
behind me.
Homma stared through me. I
took my formally signed surrend-
or document out of my pocket and
handed 1t to him. He could read
and speak English perfectly, but
he would not so much as glance
at the paper. He turned it over to
his Interpreter, Lieut.. Nakamura,
who read it aloud to him in Japa-
nese.
Then he spoke sharply to Ma
kamura, with a look or two at
me.
General Hon,na replies that no
surrender will be considered I'M
less it includes all United States
and Philippine troops in the Philip
pine Islands," he asserted.
TELL him I command no forces
in the Philippines other than the
harbor defense troops and small
detachments in northern Luzon,"
I answered. Tell him that the
troops in the visayan Islands and
on Mindanao are no longer under
my command. They are command
ed by Major General William F,
Sharp, who in turn is under Cen
eral Macarthur s, high command -
NO REPLY
Homma muttered sharply TOR
moment. = ,'--.>,
General Homma says that he
does not believe you," the inter-
prefer spoke up. "Ie says that it
has been reported many times by
the United States radio that you
command all troops in the Philip
pines. He will not accept any sur
render unless it includes all
forces"
I repeated that did not COM
mand Sharp's > troops. Homma
shrewdly asked me when had re-
leased Sharp from my command,
and I replied several days ago."
though It had been only a matter
Of hours. .
Besides" I added, "even IT
I did command General Sharp S
troops l have no means left for
communicating with them. l have
destroyed my radio equipment"
Send staff officer to Sharp.
! will furnish plane" Homma
answered, through Lieut.. Naka-
nura. \.
We argued back and forth Tor
several minutes, until Homma raid
very sharply:
'Hostilities against the fortified
Islands will be continued unless
the japanese surrender terms are
accepted
was desperately cornered. MY
troops on Corregidor and the other
islands in the Bay were almost
completely disarmed, as well as
wholly isolated from the outside
world.
I tried once again to confirm
the surrender to these men ana
myself. But, upon hearing my re-
peated statement, Homma sudden
ly jumped up from the table, look,
ed down at me, repeated his threat
to continue the assault on Corregl-
dor and the other forts. and strobe