Evening star., 1945-11-06
Wainwright Is Beaten to Ground by Jap Guord
And Has His Wrist Badly Cut by Buyonet
Continued From First Page.)

| iudtcu dIlQ Tie senior bTltlSA, Amer
ican and Dutch officers attended the
burial OF the urn.
BY December II, 1912, my weight
was down to 125ls pounds. 1t was
on this day that I was permitted
for the first time to write to my wife,
with the usual restrictions. There
were so many rules, however, that
there was little to write, unless a
man wanted to lie to keep up his
own or his family's courage.
On this day-just 36la years since
the day I graduated from West
Point-I did not give my wife the
figure of my weight. I just told
her, in the most innocent-appear-
ing phrasing possible, that I now
weighed exactly what ! did when I
graduated from the Point. That
was all she needed.
Ill With Starvation.
was taken sick the night OF
December II and for the next few
days lay on my bunk with a fever
and chills. 1t was a combination of
ailments, mostly starvation. Among
the ailments was beri beri, which
I had contracted several months
earlier. In my last days at Tarlac
I had been walking across q wooden
floor when Brig. Gen. Lewis Beebe
stopped me.
Say. you've got the foot SLAP" he
said.
Only then did I notice the tell-tale
way in which the soles of my shoes
were slapping the floor. The dry
type of beri beri causes the muscles
in the shins and ankles to lose their
sensitivity with the result that when
the heel is placed on the ground
while walking, the rest Of the foot
quickly collapses.
Beri beri or not, and most of us
at Karenko had it, we eventually
were forced to work. We decided
that it was either work, or death
by starvation, which left us little
choice. The Jap guards had in
simulated that If We did 60 to work
we would be supplied with work
rice" that is, an extra portion
allotted to workers.
But the Jap mind is a baffiing
nest, and going to work was not as
easy as expressing the willingness.
We had to appeal to them to permit
us to work, to make 1t appear that
We were breaking down their lofty
resolve to uphold the Geneva Con-
vention.
Absurd Negotiations End.
But at last the absurd negotia-
were done with, and we were told
that We would work on an area just
outside the prison barriers, an area
which would be cleared for a truck
farm. Whatever We raised, they
told us we could eat. Each officer
was given a tool which the Japs
called kuha and we called chun-
kle. and marched off.
A chunkle is dull-edged, wide
and very heavy adze mounted on
shaft about 21a feet long. 1t is
used for breaking soil. cutting out
brush or grass and grubbing for
roots and rocks.
BY this time we were In such
atrocious physical condition, how
ever, that for many of the senior Of
ficers this work was a dangerous
gamble with our lives. 1t was diff
cult even to walk on our clogs to
the area we had to clear. In my
case I came to depend more and
more on the light walking. stick
which Gen. Macarthur had left for
me on Corregidor when he departed.
|. But slowly and painfully we did
clear our first patch Of ground and
prepared it for the planting of vari-
Gus seeds. But we were not intrusted
with the seeds. The Japs knew very
well we would have eaten them.
Some Lose 100 Pounds.
AS for our work rice" we soon
saw that the Japs were using this
promise as another means of mock
ing us. At least half of the time
they refused to give it to us. The
work rice we did get, therefore,
was not enough to compensate for
the strength we were expending on
our tasks of walking to and from
the land and clearing it. The land
became much harder to clear, in ad-
dition, and our conditions sank ac-
cordingly. Some of the heavier
Dutch officers lost nearly 100 pounds.
One day in December was or
dered by Boots Nakashima-
to get Gems. Percival and terPorre-
ten and Gov. Gen. Tjarda van
Starkenbourg and bring them before
him. We lined up and Boots
waited until we bowed. Then he
launched into long and furious
charge that Jap internees in the
United States, India and Australia
were being grossly mistreated."
In my case he demanded that !
write to the War Department and
protest this treatment of Japs In
the United States. If I refused he
said. our own treatment at Karenko
would become worse. With the help
of Gems. King, Moore, Beebe and
Funk I did put a letter together the
next day, written in such a way as
to underline the fact that it was
coerced.
But the Japs never waited for that
letter to reach it's destination. In
fact, after Boots" dismissed us that
day, "a hours before the letter was
written, we saw him march across
the parade grounds on his queer
tight riding boots and run up the
steps toward the administration
buildings.
| went back to my room and while
sitting there I saw Boots" return
line up the Jap guard, and saw him
speak at length to his men.
Beatings Start.
I do not know what he said to
them. But I do know that imme-
diately thereafter all of us began to
undergo indiscriminate slappings
beatings and clubbings.
1t was on this night that / was
first struck. After the pm. roll
II