When the first food from the outside was delivered to Group One, the officer in question, in a public speech, announced that as senior officer he would divide the food according to rank, taking the largest share himself, giving the next largest share to the members of his staff, and on down the scale to the point where the enlisted men would receive nothing at all. There was a vigorous protest, particularly from those officers who stood to profit most, but to no avail. Verbatim transcripts of the speech were taken by a number of officers, who declared that they would ask for court martial proceedings against the offending gentleman the instant they were returned to freedom. It is doubtful, however, whether the offending officer or any of his accusers will be alive to proceed with the court. And this practice was later corrected. In June and July of 1942 the death rate at Cabanatush was 30 Americans a day. Each morning a fresh batch of bodies was brought out of the barracks and laid out in rows to await burial. This sometimes was a matter of days. First we had to receive per- mission from the japanese to take the bodies outside the camp to the burial ground. This permission was always delayed, because it upset the Japs' roll call. Then there was the problem of find- iug a burial detail, prisoners who were strong enough to carry the bodies out of the camp on our home-made stretchers and then dig the graves. As a result, bodies were always lying around the camp. Aside from the ever-present stench, and the swarms of flies, sanitary conditions were not helped. Not until late August did - 45 - |