Evening star., 1945-04-04
Liberated Yonks Reach Here After 8 City Tour
To Tell Kin of War Prisoners About Camps
BY GEORGE KENNEDY.

BY GEORGE KENNEDY.
A group of khaki-clad troupers
who have played to crowded houses
from coast to coast and from the
Great Lakes to the Gulf jauntily
alighted from CAT of the Air
Transport Command today at Ma
tional Airport. All wear the Purple
Heart Ribbon for wounds.
It was the end of a nine-week
tour in the plane for them-12
American soldiers, repatriated pris-
oners of war, who have described
life in enemy prison camps to more
than 10000 relatives and friends of
American young men taken prisoner
Their tour has covered 81 cities.
They are here for final one
night stand at Constitution Hall
Saturday night. Next of kin of
Washington prisoners of war have
been invited and the meeting will
be open to the public.
In New York they were mobbed
by mothers in the Armory on Park
avenue. After the meeting photo
graphs OF prisoners were thrust be-
fore their faces by the mothers in
hopes that they could say they saw
this boy or that boy alive and well,
and in many cases they were able to
give the desired answer.
Drove 500 Miles to Meeting.
"In Rapid City, N. Dak.," said
Corpl. Willard E. Hall from Caba-
nathan Camp in the Philippines, in
trying to suggest the kind of audi
ences they had, there was a man
who had driven 500 miles from
Butte, Mont. That was late in Feb
ruary and he hit blizzard and had
to be dug out-but he made 1t. And
l knew his son. was able to tell
him he was alive. 1t was the first
word he had.
THE man was an old d-timer-pros-
pector type. He said to me, Do you
know what I'm going to do tonight?
I'm goin' to get drunker'n hell
And he did"
The minute the II were seated in
a bus that was to take them to the
White House where they were to be
received by Mrs. Roosevelt, they
started ribbing each others act.
do not inclose hack saws, files or
pistols in your prisoner of war pack
ages several of them chirped.
They are taking off the intro
ductory speech of 1t. Col. Joseph B.
Kavanaugh of the provost marshal's
Office" said the public relations Of
ficer who accompanied them on the
tour.
You know" he continued, "the
boys got to be real ShoWmen. They
even started stealing one anothers
gags.
1T was Sergt. Harold Sheehan, a
Chicago fellow-there he is In the
front seat-who first got of the gag
about the counters. He did not talk
at every meeting-we alternated
them three at a time Pretty soon
the others were using it when he
wasn't on.
Its about the young aerial gun
ner at German Interrogation CEN
ter
Vat iss der grew of a Vlying
Vortress?' the German officer asks.
Fourteen gunners and two coun-
ters,' the kid replies, The counters
check off German fighters as We
knock them down."
TILL - SLs~ c:-ls-~
Corpl. Hall. tall red head from
Portland, Greg, was one of the SO
men saved when a Japanese ship
taking prisoners from the Philip
pines was torpedoed. Six hundred
and sixty-seven Americans were
lost.
"All over the country" he said,
parents of boys who went down on
that ship came to meetings. Sergt.
Mcpherson, who was also on that
ship, and I were able to tell many
of them that we had seen their sons
aboard. They had been already
notified by the War Department
but it seemed to give them some
satisfaction to talk with some one
who had been with their boys when
the ship was struck
These two are the only ones from
Jap prison camps in the group and
they bore the brunt of much ques-
tioning from anxious parents in
several cities.
"They were all disturbed by the
atrocity Stories" said Corpl. Hall.
The papers were filled with them
when the Cahanatuan internees
were rescued. When we told them
what really good times we had in
camp on some days and how much
we were let alone they were greatly
relieved"