Evening star., 1945-11-11
Jops Punish y. S. Officers Who Refuse to Work
By Starvation and Keeping Them Awake
(Thirtg-sirth OF a Series J
BY GEN. JONATHAN M.
WAINWRIGHT.

VAIN WhIuu1.
The heartless Japs at Shirakawa
prison camp quickly took steps to
punish my brave officers who stood
up for their rights under the Geneva
Convention and refused to engage
In menial work.
These officers were no longer per-
mitted to lie or sit on their hunks
before bedtime. They could not as
semble in groups of more than two.
They could not visit outside their
barracks. All their entertainment
was Cancelled. Two or three times
every night they were routed out of
bed, had to dress, go to the parade
grounds and stand roll call. They
we're always kept waiting in the
dark for a Jap officer to appear.
When they were dismissed they
came back, undressed, went back to
bed for another hour or two, and
then were summoned again.
Then the Japs declared that q
sanitation emergency existed, in
volving the health of the entire
camp, and ordered our officers to
cut out all grass, brush and trees
In a large area around the camp
This was their program to de-
stroy mosquito-breeding areas. The
Americans were worked harder than
they had ever been worked on the
Shirakawa farm, but, since they
were being punished, they were not
given the work rice" they earned
and SO S desperately needed. All
began Ito lose weight at an alarm
ing rate.
Japs Take Best of Pigs.
At one of their worst times dur
ing this, period. with the older off,
GERS hardly able to do more than
stand. the Japs authorized the
slaughter of one pig each week.
Those pigs had been bought and
raised by our men, including the
officers who were now being made
to work against all covenants and
their wishes.
But when the first pig was butch
cred the JapS took all the best cuts,
gave the remaining parts to the en-
listed men, who of course were still
working land who had never been
given chance to rebel, and to
those officers who had remained at
work.
One fantastically cruel month
followed another, and still our off,
GERS held out on the strength of
sheer American fortitude and will
power. Ravenous as they we're, they
even came to laugh at the efforts of
the Japs to break them down.
Toward the end of their fearful
ordeal, two representatives of the
protective powers visited the Shi-
rakawa camp. The Geneva Con-
vention provides that belligerent
governments shall designate some
neutral government to act as their
representative in dealing with the
enemy nation in matter concern
ing prisoners of war. Switzerland
was the protective power for the
American and British prisoners
Sweden represented the Dutch. A
Swiss and a Swedish delegate made
the trip to the camp.
Japs Name Spokesman.
The Japs, forwarned, of course,
appointed certain spokesmen to
speak for our men at this meeting,
which naturally made it farcical,
because the true purpose of such
meetings is for the protective power
to determine If the captor nation is
living up to the provision of the
convention. The American spokes-
men were told in advance exactly
what they must say to the Swiss
and Swede. They were forbidden to
discuss anything of consequence
concerning the camp Before the
protective powers arrived the Japs
rounded up all the starvlings in
the area, ordered them to go inside
the barracks, wash and put on their
best remaining clothes
The American officers selected to
speak with the Swiss had so little
to say except to look the man in
the eye and invite his attention to
their haggard bodies, that the meet
ing broke up much sooner than the
Japs had anticipated In leaving
the camp. therefore, the Swiss and
the Swedish delegates ran into a
group of our dirty, disheveled
starved officers returning from their
forced work in the fields.
The Japs did their best to run
the men to cover before the dele
gates could see them, but they failed
Our officers just stood there in their
sweaty breachclothes and let them
selves be seen. The Swiss delegate
attempted to say something to an
American major general, but before
the American could answer more
than a word or two he was brushed
aside and sent indoors
Nothing good ever came of this
tragic meeting. If the Swiss did
render his report, it was ignored
Ordeal Finally Ends.
The ordeal of our courageous
officers at Shirakawa ended on Octo-
ber i, 1914 At 3 o'clock that after
noon they, along with certain Brit
ish and Dutch officers, were peremp-
torily ordered to pack their belong
ings and were told they would be
sent to Japan the next day.
The small group of senior officers
and orderlies, to which I was at
tached, joined the courageous mer
of Shirakawa early in October, 1914
in Japan. And together we proceed.
ed toward Manchuria.
We had no way of knowing it, but
this was to be the last milepost o1
our long travail. All we knew wher
told that we would be sent far north
was the sinking feeling a man gets
when he learns that his prison sen.
fenced has been prolonged. Had we
been kept in the Philippines we ever
now would have been free men. Fol
Douglas, true to his promise to me
on Corregidor two days before he
left for Australia, had come back
:. come back with great feet tc
support him and manpower beyond
the dreams of defeated commanders
such as ourselves.
However, we were far from the
Philippines by that time.
Before ! was permitted to leave
MilkSad for the ,aeu Y,riSo,, In, fhe