Text Version


peculiar swellings of various glands. By mid-September my fingers
 
and feet began to ache severely from beri beri. Our doctors
 
showed us how to make up a yeast compound from our rice, and the
 
vitamin content probably arrested some cases of beri beri, although
 
it cured none. Many of our diet deficiency cases were slowly losing
 
their eyesight.
 
     At the time I left Cabanatuan in October, 1942, being transferred
 
 to another camp, approximately 3000 persons had died
 
there. Twenty-two hundred had died earlier at Camp 0'Donnell,
 
not counting the unknown number killed by the Japanese or who died
 
on the death march from Bataan. This makes a known total of more
 
than 5000 Americans dead by October, 1942. Up until the end of
 
1943 the Japanese had released the names o fonly 1800 dead. I am
 
certain that there have been many, many deaths at Cabanatuan since
 
I last saw that place.
 
     Most of the people who died at Cabanatuan were men who
 
had been captured on Bataan. For instance, one National Guard
 
colonel told me that in his regiment of 1,000, 25 had been killed
 
and 75 were missing at the fall of Bataan, but that 453 additional
 
men had died for various reasons while in the hands of the Japanese.
 
      One of the heroes of the prison (and there were many) was
 
a National Guard officer from New Mexico, Lt. Col. Cane, of the
 
200th Coast Artillery. Col. Cane made every effort to ease the lot
 
of the sick and the hungry, and often interceded on their behalf
 
with the Japanese prison officials. On one occasion, he was struck
 
brutally by Mr. Niimura, the interpreter, and he lay on the floor,
 
                                                    - 49 -
 
 
 
View Original View Previous Page View Next Page Return to Folder IndexReturn to Box Index