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 - |