Pvt. Ross Casmo Jr. was born on September 12, 1919, in Ohio to Ross Casmo Sr. and Vinnie Mae Beidler-Casmo. His parents divorced during the 1920s, his mother married Roy C. Tillis, and he became a half-brother to a sister and brother. The family resided at 859 Leonard Avenue in Columbus, Ohio. He attended high school for two years before leaving and working for the Civilian Conservation Corps. When the Selective Service Act took effect on October 16, 1940, he registered and named his mother, Vinnie Mae Tyllis, as his contact person. He also indicated he was working at the Donaldson Baking Company in Columbus. Ross was inducted into the U.S. Army on March 22, 1941, at Fort Hayes in Columbus and sent to Ft. Knox, Kentucky, for basic training. What armor school he attended after basic training is not known.
After he completed basic training, he was assigned to a tank battalion, but it is not known where he was sent. He appears to have been one of the men who joined the 192nd Tank Battalion to replace a National Guardsman released from service. He may have come from the 3rd Armor Division, also at Camp Polk, or the 32nd Armor Regiment stationed at Camp Beauregard, Louisiana. Other men joined the battalion on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay to replace a man who failed his final physical. The 757th Tank Battalion was stationed at Ft. Ord, California, and it is known men joined the 192nd from the unit. At this time, Col. James R. N. Weaver also became the commanding officer of the 192nd.
The 192nd boarded the U.S.A.T. Gen. Hugh L. Scott and sailed on Monday, October 27th. The sea was rough during this part of the trip, so many tankers had seasickness and also had a hard time walking on deck until they got their “sea legs.” It was stated that about one-tenth of the battalion showed up for inspection the first morning on the ship. Once they recovered they spent much of the time training in breaking down machine guns, cleaning weapons, and doing KP.
During this part of the trip, one of the soldiers had an appendectomy. A day or two before the ships arrived in Hawaii, the ships ran into a school of flying fish. Since the sea was calm, that night they noticed the water was a phosphorous green. The sailors told them that it was St. Elmo’s Fire. The ship arrived at Honolulu, Hawaii, on Sunday, November 2nd, and had a four-day layover. As the ship docked, men threw coins in the water and watched native boys dive into the water after them. They saw two Japanese tankers anchored in the harbor that arrived to pick up oil but had been denied permission to dock.
The morning they arrived in Hawaii was said to be a beautiful sunny day. Most of the soldiers were given shore leave so they could see the island. During this time they visited pineapple ranches, coconut groves, and Waikiki Beach which some said was nothing but stones since it was man-made. They also noticed that the island residents were more aware of the impending war with Japan. Posters were posted everywhere. Most warned sailors to watch what they said because their spies and saboteurs on the island. Other posters in store windows sought volunteers for fire-fighting brigades. Before they left Hawaii, an attempt was made to secure two 37-millimeter guns and ammunition so that the guns could be set up on the ship’s deck and the tank crews could learn how to load them and fire them, but they were unable to acquire the guns.
On Thursday, November 6th, the ship sailed for Guam but took a southerly route away from the main shipping lanes. It was at this time it was joined by, the heavy cruiser, the U.S.S. Louisville, and, another transport, the U.S.A.T. President Calvin Coolidge. The ships headed west in a zig-zag pattern. Since the Scott had been a passenger ship, they ate in large dining rooms, and it was stated the food was better than average Army food. As the ships got closer to the equator the hold they slept in got hotter and hotter, so many of the men began sleeping on the ship’s deck. They learned quickly to get up each morning or get soaked by the ship’s crew cleaning the decks. Sunday night, November 9th, the soldiers went to bed and when they awoke the next morning, it was Tuesday, November 11th. During the night, while they slept, the ships crossed the International Dateline. Two members of the battalion stated the ship made a quick stop at Wake Island to drop off a radar crew and equipment.
During this part of the voyage that lasted 16 days, fire drills were held every two days, the soldiers spent their time attending lectures, playing craps and cards, reading, writing letters, and sunning themselves on deck. Other men did the required work like turning over the tanks’ engines by hand and the clerks caught up on their paperwork. The soldiers were also given other jobs to do, such as painting the ship. Each day 500 men reported to the officers and needle-chipped paint off the lifeboats and then painted the boats. By the time they arrived in Manila, every boat had been painted. Other men not assigned to the paint detail for that day attended classes. In addition, there was always KP.
Two men stated that the ship made a stop at Wake Island, but this has not been verified. It is known that around this time, radar equipment and its operators arrived on the island. On Saturday, November 15th, smoke from an unknown ship was seen on the horizon. The Louisville revved up its engines, its bow came out of the water, and it took off in the direction of the smoke. It turned out that the unknown ship was from a friendly country. Two other intercepted ships were Japanese freighters hauling scrap metal to Japan.
Albert Dubois, A Co., stated that they were in a room on the ship and listening to the radio. Recalling the event, he said, “We were playing cards one day at sea. President Roosevelt’s speech to America was being piped into the room we were in. I still hear his voice that evening in November 1941. ‘I hate war, Eleanor hates war. We all hate war. Your sons will not and shall not go overseas!’ We were already halfway to the Philippines.”
When they arrived at Guam on Sunday, November 16th, the ships took on water, bananas, coconuts, and vegetables. Although they were not allowed off the ship, the soldiers were able to mail letters home before sailing for Manila the next day. At one point, the ships passed an island at night and did so in total blackout. This for many of the soldiers was a sign that they were being sent into harm’s way. The blackout was strictly enforced and men caught smoking on deck after dark spent time in the ship’s brig. Three days after leaving Guam the men spotted the first islands of the Philippines. The ships sailed around the south end of Luzon and then north up the west coast of Luzon toward Manila Bay.
The ships entered Manila Bay, at 8:00 A.M., on Thursday, November 20th, and docked at Pier 7 later that morning. One thing that was different about their arrival was that instead of a band and a welcoming committee waiting at the pier to tell them to enjoy their stay in the Philippines and see as much of the island as they could, a party came aboard the ship – carrying guns – and told the soldiers, “Draw your firearms immediately; we’re under alert. We expect a war with Japan at any moment. Your destination is Fort Stotsenburg, Clark Field.” At 3:00 P.M., as the enlisted men left the ship, a Marine was checking off their names. When an enlisted man said his name, the Marine responded with, “Hello sucker.” Those who drove trucks drove them to the fort, while the maintenance section remained behind at the pier to unload the tanks. Some men stated they rode a train to Ft. Stotsenberg while other men stated they rode busses to the base.
The day started at 5:15 with reveille and anyone who washed near a faucet with running water was considered lucky. At 6:00 A.M. they ate breakfast followed by work – on their tanks and other equipment – from 7:00 A.M. to 11:30 A.M. Lunch was from 11:30 A.M. to 1:30 P.M. when the soldiers returned to work until 2:30 P.M. The shorter afternoon work period was based on the belief that it was too hot to work in the climate. The term “recreation in the motor pool,” meant they worked until 4:30 in the afternoon.
During this time, the battalion members spent much of their time getting the cosmoline out of the barrels of the tanks’ guns. Since they only had one reamer to clean the tank barrels, many of the main guns were cleaned with a burlap rag attached to a pole and soaked in aviation fuel. It was stated that they probably only got one reamer because Army ordnance didn’t believe they would ever use their main guns in combat. The tank crews never fired their tanks’ main guns until after the war had started, and not one man knew how to adjust the sights on the tanks. The battalion also lost four of its peeps, later called jeeps, used for reconnaissance to the command of the United States Armed Forces Far East also known as USAFFE.
Before they went into the nearest barrio which was two or three miles away, all the newly arrived troops were assembled for a lecture by the post’s senior chaplain. It was said that he put the fear of God and gonorrhea into them.
It is known that during this time the tank battalions went on at least two practice reconnaissance missions under the guidance of the 194th. They traveled to Baguio on one maneuver and to the Lingayen Gulf on the other maneuver. Gen. Weaver, the tank group commander, was able to get ammunition from the post’s ordnance department on the 30th, but the tank group could not get time at one of the firing ranges.
At Ft. Stotsenburg, the soldiers were expected to wear their dress uniforms. Since working on the tanks was a dirty job, the battalion members wore coveralls to work on the tanks. The 194th Tank wore coveralls in their barracks area to do work on their tanks, but if the soldiers left the battalion’s area, they wore dress uniforms – which were a heavy material and uncomfortable to wear in the heat – everywhere; including going to the PX. Their tropical uniforms had been ordered but had not arrived.
For recreation, the soldiers spent their free time bowling or going to the movies on the base. They also played horseshoes, softball, and badminton, or threw footballs around during their free time. On Wednesday afternoons, they went swimming. Passes were given out and men were allowed to go to Manila in small groups.
When the general warning of a possible Japanese attack was sent to overseas commands on November 27th, the Philippine command did not receive it. The reason why this happened is not known and several reasons for this can be given. It is known that the tanks took part in an alert that was scheduled for November 30th. What was learned during this alert was that moving the tanks to their assigned positions at night would be a disaster. In particular, the 194th’s position was among drums of 100-octane gas, and the entire bomb reserve for the airfield and the bombs were haphazardly placed. On December 1st, the tankers were ordered to the perimeter of Clark Field to guard against Japanese paratroopers. From this time on, two tank crew members remained with each tank at all times and were fed from food trucks.
Gen. Weaver on December 2nd ordered the tank group to full alert. According to Capt. Alvin Poweleit, 192nd, Weaver appeared to be the only officer on the base interested in protecting his unit. On December 3rd the tank group officers had a meeting with Gen Weaver on German tank tactics. Many believed that they should be learning how the Japanese used tanks. That evening when they met Gen. Jonathan Wainwright, they concluded that he had no idea how to use tanks and would have thrown them away in battle. It was said they were glad Weaver was their commanding officer. That night the airfield was in complete black-out and searchlights scanned the sky for enemy planes. All leaves were canceled on December 6th. The next day Weaver visited every tank company of the tank group.
Although official reports of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor were sent to the military command in the Philippines at 2:30 am, For the tankers, it was the men manning the radios in the 192nd communications tent who were the first to learn of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 8th at 7:00 a.m. Gen. Weaver, Maj. Miller, Major Wickord, and Capt. Richard Kadel, 17th Ordnance, read the messages of the attack. Miller left the tent and informed the officers of the 194th about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. All the members of the tank crews were ordered to their tanks which were joined by the battalion’s half-tracks at their assigned positions at Clark Field.
Roy Diaz stated that at 4 am the C Company’s first sergeant entered their barracks and woke them up and told them that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor and told them that the Japanese were on their way. He also stated the men got up and began loading machine gun belts. S/Sgt. Byron Veillette, A Co., ran through the 194th’s command area shouting that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. Capt. Fred Moffitt gathered his men and told C Company that the US was at war. Many tankers didn’t believe the war had started since they expected to participate in maneuvers. Some men believed this was just the start of the maneuvers. The tank crew members, not with their tanks, were ordered to them. The battalion’s halftracks took up positions next to them. The reconnaissance detachment went to its position in the rice paddy. They watched P-40 fighters take to the air from the battalion’s positions. It was said that in every direction a man looked, American planes could be seen in the sky. The tankers got most of their news about the attack from listening to radio dispatches received on a big radio on what was the command half-track.
After hearing the news about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Capt. Altman called his company together and ordered the remaining members of the tank crews to their tanks. The half-tracks were also ordered to tank up positions next to the tanks. The members of the company not assigned to a tank or a half-track remained in the battalion’s bivouac.
News reached the tankers that Camp John Hay had been bombed at 9:00 a.m. All morning the sky above the airfield was filled with American planes. Men said no matter what direction they looked they saw planes. At 11:45 the American planes landed and were parked in a straight line – to make it easier for the ground crews to service them – outside the pilots’ mess hall. The men assigned to the tanks and half-tracks were receiving their lunches at food trucks. Gen. King put out a written order telling the unit commanders that the threat of being bombed was over and they could allow their men to return to the main base, in rotations, for rest, baths, and hot meals. It was lunchtime and members of the tank battalion not assigned to tanks were allowed to go to the mess hall to eat. Col. Miller ordered the men under his command to remain with their tanks and half-tracks.
Around 8:00 A.M., the planes of the Army Air Corps took off and filled the sky. At noon, the planes landed and were lined up – near the pilots’ mess hall – in a straight line to be refueled. While the planes were being serviced, the pilots went to lunch. The members of the tank crews received their lunches from the battalion’s food trucks. It was reported that only two of the seven radar sets in the Philippines were operational and the dispatches the operators sent to Manila of approaching planes took an hour to reach Manila. One 194th half-track crew tuned into a Manila radio station and heard a news flash that Clark Field was being bombed. At about 12:45 p.m. an amphibious plane landed on a runway near the tankers and after it came to a stop, its passengers and crew got and and ran to the opposite side of the airfield. About 11 hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the company lived through the Japanese attack on Clark Field. (It should be noted that the attack on Pearl Harbor happened at 1:55 A.M. on December 8th in the Philippines, so the attack on Clark Field was almost 11 hours later.)
The tankers were eating lunch when planes approached the airfield from the north. At first, they thought the planes were American and counted 54 planes in formation. They then saw what looked like “raindrops” falling from the planes. It was only when bombs began exploding on the runways that the tankers knew the planes were Japanese. It was stated that no sooner had one wave of planes finished bombing and were returning to Formosa than another wave came in and bombed. The second wave was followed by a third wave of bombers.
The bombers were quickly followed by Japanese fighters that sounded like angry bees to the tankers as they strafed the airfield. The tankers watched as American pilots attempted to get their planes off the ground. As they roared down the runway, Japanese fighters strafed the planes causing them to swerve, crash, and burn. Those that did get airborne were barely off the ground when they were hit. The planes exploded and crashed to the ground tumbling down the runways. The Japanese planes were as low as 50 feet above the ground and the pilots would lean out of the cockpits so they could more accurately pick out targets to strafe. The tankers said they saw the pilots’ scarfs flapping in the wind. One tanker stated that a man with a shotgun could have shot a plane down. When the Japanese were finished, there was not much left of the airfield.
After the attack, the soldiers watched as the dead, the dying, and the wounded were hauled to the hospital on bomb racks, trucks, and anything else that could carry the wounded was in use. When the hospital filled, they watched the medics place the wounded under the building. Many of these men had their arms and legs missing.
The tankers were receiving lunch from their food trucks and as they stood in line to be fed they watched as 54 planes approached the airfield from the northwest. Men commented that the planes must be American Navy planes. That was until someone saw Red Dots on the wings and then saw what looked like “raindrops” falling from the planes. Maj. Miller shouted at his men to take cover and then bombs began exploding on the runways. It was then that the tankers knew the planes were Japanese. It was stated that no sooner had one wave of planes finished bombing and were returning to Formosa than another wave came in and bombed. The second wave was followed by a third wave of bombers. One member of the 192nd, Robert Brooks, D Co., was killed during the attack and several tankers were wounded.
The bombers were quickly followed by Japanese fighters that sounded like angry bees to the tankers as they strafed the airfield. The tankers watched as American pilots attempted to get their planes off the ground. As they roared down the runway, Japanese fighters strafed the planes causing them to swerve, crash, and burn. Those that did get airborne were barely off the ground when they were hit. The planes exploded and crashed to the ground tumbling down the runways. The Japanese planes were as low as 50 feet above the ground and the pilots would lean out of the cockpits so they could more accurately pick out targets to strafe. The tankers said they saw the pilots’ scarfs flapping in the wind. One member of the 192nd stated that a man with a shotgun could have shot a plane down. The men on the tanks opened fire on the planes as they flew over. One new lieutenant chastised them for giving away their position even though the tanks were plainly visible from the air.
The Coast Artillery had trained with the latest anti-aircraft guns while in the States, but the decision was made to send them to the Philippines with older guns. They also had proximity fuses for the shells and had to use an obsolete method to cut the fuses since the unit’s fuse cutter was in Manila being repaired at the time of the attack. Many of the shells they fired fell to the ground without exploding.
The Zeros strafed the airfield and headed toward and turned around behind Mount Arayat and returned to strafe again. When the Japanese were finished, there was not much left of the airfield. It was stated that the bodies of the dead lay on the runways since many were Air Corps ground crew members. It also appeared that everything was on fire from airplane hangers, automobiles, trucks, and airplanes. The runways of the airfield were pot-marked with craters from the bombs. The entire attack lasted about 45 minutes.
When the Japanese were finished, there was not much left of the airfield. The tankers watched as the dead, dying, and wounded were hauled to the hospital on bomb racks, on trucks, and in and on cars. Anything else that could carry the wounded was in use. Within an hour the hospital had reached its capacity. As the tankers watched the medics placed the wounded under the building. Many of these men had their arms and legs missing. The battalion members set up cots under mango trees for the wounded and even the dentist gave medical aid to the wounded. The battalion’s medics gave first aid to the wounded.
After the attack, the tank crews spent much of the time loading bullets by hand from rifle cartridges into machine gun belts since they had gone through most of their ordnance during the attack. That night, since they did not have any foxholes, the men used an old latrine pit for cover since it was safer in the pit than in their barracks. The entire night they were bitten by mosquitoes. Without knowing it, they had slept their last night on a cot or bed, and from this point on, the men slept in blankets on the ground. One result of the attack was D Company was never transferred to the 194th and remained part of the 192nd throughout the Battle of Bataan.
The next day, those men not assigned to a tank or half-track walked around Clark Field to look at the damage. As they walked, they saw there were hundreds of dead. Some were pilots who had been caught asleep, because they had flown night missions, in their tents during the first attack. Others were pilots who had been killed attempting to get to their planes.
The men from both tank battalions recovered the 50 caliber machine guns from the planes that had been destroyed on the ground and got most of them to work. They propped up the wings of the damaged planes so they looked like the planes were operational hoping this would fool the Japanese to come over to destroy them. When the Japanese fighters returned, the tankers shot two planes down. After this, the planes never returned.
After the attack 194th was sent to a bivouac three kilometers north of Clark Field at Mabalacat. They spent their time loading ammunition belts because they had fired so much during the attack on Clark Field. The tankers were issued Infield and Springfield rifles. Since the rifles were from World War I, one out of every two worked. The tankers cannibalized two of the same type of rifles to get one working rifle.
On the night of the 12th, the battalion was ordered to bivouac south of San Fernando near the Calumpit Bridge. Attempting the 40-mile move, without lights, at night was a nightmare and one tank overturned when it went off the road. They finally arrived at their new bivouac at 6:00 A.M. on December 13th and spent the rest of the day and the next night there. The tanks were in an area of few trees surrounded by rice paddies, meaning the furthest they could go off the road was a few feet. Because of this, the battalion was scattered in three locations. Japanese planes flew over but did not bomb or strafe them.
The tankers bivouacked near the barrio of Muntinlupa. There they had the job of attempting to defend against any invading troops. The battalion’s six reconnaissance half-tracks and 40 men were supposed to defend against any landings at Batangas Bay, Tayabas Bay, and Balayan Bay. The battalion remained there from Dec. 14th to Dec. 24th. During this time the tankers spent much of their time on reconnaissance patrols hunting down Fifth Columnists who used flares at night and mirrors during the day near ammunition dumps. An order had been issued that no lights could be used at night. On one occasion, they saw someone signaling with a flashlight from a building. The tanks opened fire on the building. When they entered the building, there was no one in it, but they also had no more problems with fifth columnists.
The tanks spent the night at Tagatay Ridge. The tankers slept on the ground in sleeping bags. During the night they were awakened when the gasoline truck sent to fuel the tanks exploded and lit the area like it was day. Someone had placed gasoline cans on the batteries and one battery sparked and the can exploded. The next day they continued their trip south and had to cross bridges with ten-ton limits. The tanks were fourteen tons but the bridges held. It was also stated the battalion was sent to Batangas in southern Luzon. On the 15th, the battalion received 15 Bren gun carriers but turned some over to the 26th Cavalry, Philippine Scouts. These were manned by grounded Air Corps men and used to test the ground to see if it could support the weight of tanks.
On December 22nd, A Company and D Company, 192nd, were ordered to the Agno River near Carmen. C Company remained behind at Batangas. The tankers at 2:15 P.M. started the more than 150-mile movement north to meet the Japanese at an area 85 miles northwest of Manila. They soon discovered that without air cover it was unsafe to move during the day, so the tanks were moved at night to prevent them from being attacked by Japanese planes. It was stated that driving a tank at night was never safe, but something that a tank driver learned to do. One reason this was unsafe was that the tank crews never knew what lay ahead. George Chumley D Co., 192nd, stated that, “anyone who said he wasn’t afraid was lying,” and that they were always afraid. What happened is that the men became used to being afraid. When they got close to their objective, to protect the battalion from strafing, most of the battalion went to the left on Route 3 toward Tarlac and the river while A Company was sent down Route 5 toward Cabanatuan and San Jose and then along the river until it rejoined the rest of the battalion. When the tanks passed through the barrio of San Jose, they saw the dead bodies of Filipino men, women, and children who had mistaken Japanese Zeros for American planes. When they came out to wave at the planes, they were strafed.
When the battalion arrived at its destination near Lingayen Gulf, D Company’s tanks were near a ridge, so many of the tankers climbed to the top, where they found defending troops, ammunition, and guns. The soldiers were just sitting there watching the Japanese ships in the Gulf since they had received orders not to fire. The tankers walked down the ridge and waited until they received orders to drop back and let the Japanese occupy the ridge. They watched as the Japanese brought their equipment to the top of the ridge. The Americans finally received orders to launch a counterattack which failed.
It was on December 24th, that Miller was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. On that date, the tanks were sent to an area 85 miles northwest of Manila. The tankers at 2:15 P.M. on Christmas Eve started a 105-mile movement to meet the Japanese. The tanks were supported by two divisions of the Philippine Army. According to Capt. John Riley, most of the men had already concluded they would lose the battle for Luzon, but they also made the decision that they would tie up the Japanese as long as possible. Men stated that the US had asked them to hold out for six months. Later on the 24th, the battalions formed a defensive line along the southern bank of the Agno River with the tanks of the 192nd holding the Agno River from Carmen to Tayug, and the 194th holding the line on the Carmen-Alcala-Bautista Road. One platoon from A Co. had taken positions west of Carmen. When they began taking fire from a strong Japanese force, he ordered the tanks to open fire with their machine guns. It was at 3:00 P.M. on December 25th that the tankers engaged the Japanese. The two Filipino Army Divisions with the tanks withdrew leaving the tank battalions alone to face the Japanese. Realizing that they had a very good chance of being cut off, the platoon’s commanding officer ordered his tanks to withdraw through Carmen the evening of December 26th.
The tank battalions formed a defensive line along the southern bank of the Agno River with the tanks of the 192nd holding the Agno River from Carmen to Tayug, and the 194th holding the line on the Carmen-Alcala-Bautista Road. The tanks were about five yards apart. It was on the 26th that the Japanese artillery fire began landing near the tanks. The Self-propelled mounts of the Filipino Scout would take positions between the tanks fire several rounds and move to another position. Shells began landing around the tanks, so the crews buttoned themselves in their tanks. The tanks did not have anti-personnel shells to use against infantry, but the tankers used the tanks’ 37-millimeter guns against armored vehicles and their machine guns against infantry. The fire stopped the Japanese advance for a while but the Japanese brought up more artillery and resumed the attack. It was at this time that Sgt. Herbert Stobel – who was standing in the turret of his tank – was killed when a shell exploded above his tank. The tanks fell back toward Bamban and then skirmished with the Japanese at Plaridel. At Calumpit, the tanks were involved in a full blown battle.
The tank companies also were given the job of protecting the artillery. The guns were mobile and hooked onto the tanks with a special carriage which allowed them to be moved. According to the tankers, it took a lot of preparation to set them up and a lot of preparation to take them down. The tankers didn’t like doing this job because minutes after the guns began firing, the Japanese sent up reconnaissance planes to find the guns. When they did find the guns, Zeros would appear and strafe the area. The gun crews quickly learned to “shoot and scoot.” After firing a few rounds the guns were quickly broken down and moved out of the area.
On January 12th, Co. D, 192nd, and Co. C, 194th, were sent to Cadre Road in a forward position with little alert time. Land mines were planted on January 13th by ordnance to prevent the Japanese from reaching Cadre Road. C Co., 194th, was sent to Bagac to reopen the Moron Highway which had been cut by the Japanese on January 16th. At the junction of Trail 162 and the Moron Highway, the tanks were fired on by an anti-tank gun which was knocked out by the tanks. They cleared the roadblock with the support of infantry.
General Weaver also issued the following orders to the tank battalions around this time: “Tanks will execute maximum delay, staying in position and firing at visible enemy until further delay will jeopardize withdrawal. If a tank is immobilized, it will be fought until the close approach of the enemy, then destroyed; the crew previously taking positions outside and continuing to fight with the salvaged and personal weapons. Considerations of personal safety and expediency will not interfere with accomplishing the greatest possible delay.”
During this time, the tanks often found themselves dealing with officers who claimed they were the ranking officers in the area and that they could change the tank company’s orders. Most wanted the tanks to kill snipers or do some other job the infantry had not succeeded at doing. This situation continued until Gen Weaver gave a written order to every tank commander that if an officer attempted to change their orders, they should hand the officer the order. When the officer looked up at the tank commander, the tank commander had his handgun aimed at the officer. Gen Weaver had ordered the tank commanders to shoot any officer attempting to change their orders. This ended the problem.
On January 20th, A Company was sent to save the command post of the 31st Infantry. On the 24th, they supported the troops along the Hacienda Road, but they could not reach the objective because of landmines that had been planted by ordnance. The battalion held a position a kilometer north of the Pilar-Bagac Road with four self-propelled mounts. At 9:45 A.M., a Filipino warned the tankers that a large force of Japanese was on their way. When they appeared the battalion and self-propelled mounts opened up with everything they had. The Japanese broke off the attack, at 10:30 A.M., after losing 500 of their 1200 men. It was also at this time that the Japanese ended the assault and waited for fresh troops to arrive.
The defenders were ordered to withdraw on the 25th to a new line known as the Pilar-Begac Line. The tanks covered the withdrawal with the 192nd covering the withdrawing troops in the Aubucay area and the 194th covering the troops in the Hacienda area. At 6:00 PM the withdrawal started over the only two roads out of the area which quickly became blocked, and the Japanese could have wiped out the troops but did not take advantage of the situation.
The tank battalions, on January 28th, were given the job of protecting the beaches. The Japanese later admitted that the tanks guarding the beaches prevented them from attempting landings. The tank battalions, on their own, took up the job of protecting the airfields at Cabcaban, Bataan, and Mariveles, since Japanese paratroopers were known to be available. The tanks and half-tracks were well hidden in the jungle around the airfields and different plans were in place to be used against Japanese forces.
One night, the Japanese attempted to land troops on a beach guarded by B Co., 192nd. There was a tremendous firefight, but the next morning not one Japanese soldier landed on the beach. The Japanese later told the tankers that the tanks were the reason why they attempted no other landings. While doing this job, the member of B Co. also noticed that each morning when the PT boats were off the coast of Bataan they were attacked by Japanese Zeros. The tank crews made arrangements with the PT boats to be at a certain place off the beach at a certain time and waited for the Zeros to arrive and attack. This time when they arrived, they were met by machine gun fire from the PT boats but also from the machine guns of the tanks and half-tracks. When the Zeros broke off the attack, they had lost nine of twelve planes.
The tanks were at the Abucay-Hacienda Line which on the east went from Manila Bay to the mountains in the center of Bataan and held by the 1st Corps. It then extended, on the west, from the mountains to the South China Sea and was held by the 2nd Corps. The mountains had no fortifications since it was believed they were impenetrable. The Japanese occupied them and were able to get the defenders to fire at their own men by setting off firecrackers between the units. Snipers were the biggest problem and the tanks often found themselves being ordered by an officer – who claimed to be the “immediate commander” because he was the highest-ranking officer in the area – to exterminate the problem. This situation got so bad that Gen Weaver gave each tank commander a written order that he handed to the officer. After reading it, the officer would look up at the tank commander who had his .45 pointed at the officer. Weaver’s order, ordered the tank commanders to shoot any officer who attempted to change their orders.
Because of the jungle canopy, the nights on Bataan were so dark that the tankers could not see after dark. It was at night that the Japanese liked to attack. When the attacks came, if the tankers were lucky they were able to use their tanks’ machine guns on them. They could not use the turret machine guns since the guns could not be aimed at the ground. If the tank commander had attempted to use his pistol standing in the turret, he was an easy target, so the tanks would simply withdraw from the position.
Both battalions were sent to cover the junctions of the Back Road and East Road with the Abucay-Hacienda Road on January 25th. The defenders dropped back to the Pilar-Bagac Line which was a solid line from one side of Bataan to the other. To do this, the tanks held the old line and attempted to give the impression that a counter-attack was taking shape while the other troops withdrew. While holding the position, the 45th Infantry, Philippine Scouts, fought its way to the position at 3:00 A.M. One platoon was sent to the front of the column of trucks that were loading the troops. The tanks provided heavy fire so that the infantry could withdraw and inflicted heavy losses on the Japanese. Later in the day, both the 192nd and 194th held a defensive line on the Balanga-Cardre-BaniBani Roads until the withdrawal was completed at midnight. They held the position until the night of January 26th, when they dropped back to a new defensive line roughly along the Pilar-Bagac Roads.
It was in the jungle that the tankers found out how inappropriate the M3 tanks were for use in the Philippines. Off the road, they had to travel with their turrets backward. If the tankers did not do this, the guns would get stuck in the jungle growth. The tanks were also restricted to the roads since they would get stuck in the mud of the rice fields. The high silhouettes and straight sides of the M3 also made the tanks easy targets for the Japanese.
The 194th’s tanks were ordered to withdraw. During the withdrawal, one of A Company’s platoon, under the command of 2nd Lt. Carroll Guin, had fallen behind another platoon and took the wrong turn where the roads came together as a “Y.” The road they went down went back to the front lines. The platoon was stopped by 1st Lt. Ted Spaulding who had seen them gone down the road, chased them down with his half-track, and then ran on foot to the lead tank stopping it about two miles from the front.
The tankers also found the engineers were ready to blow a bridge before the battalion had crossed it. Spaulding and 1st Lt. Charles Fleming ordered them to wait. Not long after this, the 194th under Lt. Col. Miller arrived and crossed. When it was believed all the vehicles had crossed, the engineers lit the fuses. Just then a half-track arrived carrying Capt. Fred Moffet began to cross the bridge when about halfway across he saw smoke. Moffet ordered his driver to back the half-track off the bridge which went up in an explosion seconds later. A board from the explosion hit Moffet and injured his leg.
The 194th set up its bivouac in a Mango grove. It was said that the trees made it impossible for the Japanese planes to see the tanks. A stream also ran through the grove which provided the tankers with the opportunity to bathe. For most of their time in the grove, things were quiet. They heard that the 192nd had been involved in two battles with the Japanese, the first involved Japanese Marines landing on points of Bataan, and the second was to eliminate two pockets of Japanese troops trapped behind the main defensive line when the attack was pushed back. They also heard that the 192nd had suffered several casualties.
The 17th Ordnance Company and the battalion’s maintenance section worked on the tanks to keep them running. In some cases, they cut down the barrels of the main guns so they could be used. They also reported that the rivets in the hauls popped when the tanks were hit by enemy fire, and the rivets injured the crews. The tank group command reported that the tanks’ suspension systems were failing. It was determined that the volute springs were freezing up because of their exposure to salt water. This information was sent to Washington D.C. which ordered that every vehicle using the volute spring suspension system be given new suspension systems. It also resulted in the M3 being redesigned. The front of the tanks was sloped removing the right angle, the hauls were welded, the doors in front of the driver and assistant driver were removed, and an escape hatch in the belly of the tanks was added.
Throughout the Battle of Bataan, men held the belief that aid would arrive. The tanks and half-tracks were well hidden in the jungle around the airfields and different plans were in place to be used against Japanese forces. The Japanese bombed the airfields during the day and at night the engineers would repair them. 50-gallon drums were placed around the airfields to mark the runways, and at night fires could be lit in them to outline the landing strip. The soldiers were hungry and began to eat everything they could get their hands on to eat. If it could be eaten, it soon became scarce on Bataan. The Carabao were tough but if they were cooked long enough they could be eaten. They also began to eat horse meat provided by the 26th U.S. Cavalry. During this time the soldiers ate monkeys, snakes, lizards, horses, and mules. The only animal that most men could not eat was the monkeys. The reason why was the monkeys’ faces made them look too human.
The battalion was given beach duty to defend one of the two beaches on the east side of Bataan where the Japanese could land troops. The tank crews were also assigned guard duty. Their job was to prevent Japanese infiltrators. The tankers set up roadblocks along gravel roads and stopped and searched everyone coming down the road. The tankers ordered anyone coming down the road to halt and if the person didn’t they opened fire. It was noted that the battalion’s bivouac was along the road that ranThe tanks also became a favorite target of the Japanese receiving fire on trails and while hidden in the jungle and could not fight back. The situation was so bad that other troops avoided being near the tanks. In one case, the 26th Cavalry turned down a tank company’s offer of assistance in a counter-attack. They were also involved in skirmishes with the Japanese, but the battalion was not involved in either the Battle of the Points or the Battle of the Pockets.
On one occasion, the tankers were moving their tanks to a sugarcane field. They discovered that the field was filled with Japanese soldiers. The tankers opened fired and killed over 300 Japanese soldiers. The Japanese sent raiding parties into the Filipino and American lines at night. They would kill someone and then drop back. To prevent themselves from giving away their positions, the Americans had orders to use bayonets at night and not their guns.
The reality was that the same illnesses that were taking their toll on the Bataan defenders were also taking their toll on the Japanese. American newspapers wrote about the lull in the fighting and the building of defenses against the expected assault that most likely would take place. The soldiers on Bataan also knew that an assault was coming, they just didn’t know when it would take place. The Japanese dropped surrender leaflets on the defenders that were printed on tissue paper. Most showed a scantily clad blond on them. Men stated that if the picture had been a hamburger and milkshake the Japanese may have had the results they wanted. The one good thing about the leaflets is that they made good toilet paper.
Capt. Altman ordered the tank crews to destroy their tanks. They either cut the gas lines or opened the fuel cocks and threw torches into the tanks. Within minutes, the ammunition inside the tanks began exploding. It was reported the half-tracks were sent over the edges of cliffs. They also destroyed the handguns they had.
According to a member of HQ Co., 194th, Gen. King spoke to the men and said, “I’m the man who surrendered you, men. It’s not your fault.” He also spoke to the members of the 17th Ordnance Company and B Company, 192nd, and told them something similar. King ordered them to surrender and threatened to court-martial anyone who didn’t. Gen. King with his two aides, Maj. Cothran and Captain Achille C. Tisdelle Jr. got into a jeep carrying a large white flag. They were followed by another jeep – also flying another large white flag – with Col. Collier and Maj. Hurt in it. As the jeeps made their way north they were strafed and small bombs were dropped by a Japanese plane. The drivers of both jeeps and the jeeps were provided by the tank group and both men managed to avoid the bullets. The strafing ended when a Japanese reconnaissance plane ordered the fighter pilot to stop strafing.
At about 10:00 a.m.the jeeps reached Lamao where they were received by a Japanese Major General who informed Gen. King that he reported his coming to negotiate a surrender and that an officer from the Japanese command would arrive to do the negotiations. The Japanese officer also told him that his troops would not attack for thirty minutes while King decided what he would do. No Japanese officer had arrived from their headquarters and the Japanese attack had resumed.
King sent Col. Collier and Maj. Hunt back to his command with instructions that any unit in the line of the Japanese advance should fly white flags. After this was done a Japanese colonel and interpreter arrived and King was told the officer was Homma’s Chief of Staff who had come to discuss King’s surrender. King attempted to get assurances from the Japanese that his men would be treated as prisoners of war, but the Japanese officer – through his interpreter – accused him of declining to surrender unconditionally. At one point King stated he had enough trucks and gasoline to carry his troops out of Bataan. He was told that the Japanese would handle the movement of the prisoners. The two men talked back and forth until the colonel said through the interpreter, “The Imperial Japanese Army are not barbarians.” King found no choice but to accept him at his word.
Unknown to Gen. King, an order attributed to Gen. Masaharu Homma – but in all likelihood from one of his subordinates – had been given. It stated, “Every troop which fought against our army on Bataan should be wiped out thoroughly, whether he surrendered or not, and any American captive who is unable to continue marching all the way to the concentration camp should be put to death in the area of 200 meters off the road.”
The Japanese ordered them to remain where they were the rest of the day and they went to sleep along the side of a road. The next day they woke to the sound of Japanese artillery firing at Corregidor. The island had not surrendered. From the battalion’s officers, an older Japanese general attempted to find out where the water line to Corregidor was located. The water line did not exist, but the Japanese believed that it did and that they could get the island to surrender by cutting off its water.
At 7:00 P.M., the POWs were ordered to go out on the road near their bivouac. The POWs were ordered out to a road where the Japanese who had no interpreters beat and clubbed the Prisoners of War until they formed ranks. As they stood on the road, a shell from Corregidor hit the barn where they had spent the night. They were put into detachments of 100 men with four men in each row and marched about one kilometer when they were stopped. The Japanese then began searching the POWs. The first thing they had the POWs do was to show their hands. The GI tank wristwatch he was wearing was easily seen. A guard noticed the ring on one man’s hand and asked, “Wife-oo” and the man nodded yes, and the guards moved on to the next POW. They went from man to man taking rings and watches. If a POW attempted to argue for the ring, the guards simply took their bayonets and cut the man’s finger off. A Japanese officer arrived and shouted at the guards who stopped searching the POWs. The POWs had started what they simply called “the hike” or “the march.” The POWs marched for three or four kilometers toward Cabcaben and then turned around and marched back to where they started. They were ordered to sit along the sides of the road.
Late in the afternoon they were ordered to from ranks and marched about over six miles to Cabcaben Airfield. At the airfield they were put into a bull pen with the guards patrolling. It was nearly dusk and more and more detachments of POWs kept arriving. The POWs were given enough space to lie down for the night. The POWs slept closely together because it was cold at night. The next morning the Japanese woke them and had them form ranks. As they made their way north toward the Lamao area of Bataan. They were joined by other POWs coming from side roads and trails. The Japanese had sent out detachments looking for stragglers. There were many more Filipino POWs than Americans and the two groups mixed. The road was hard to walk on because of the holes from the shelling and bombings. There was also destroyed equipment on it and the bodies of the dead. The POWs were moved to the side of the road whenever a Japanese convoy came by heading south. The Japanese soldiers tried to hit the POWs in their heads with their rifle butts as they passed them.
When they started the march, the guards were combat veterans who viewed the POWs as combat veterans. Some men stated that the guards, at first, did not stop them from getting water if they had canteens. When the guards were changed the abuse started. The new guards were not combat veterans. It was only as time went on this was stopped and men were bayoneted or shot attempting to get water. This happened because the POWs broke ranks to run to the artesian wells and the Japanese wanted them to remain in columns.
The guards were assigned a certain distance to cover and wanted to finish it as fast as possible so they moved the POWs at a faster pace which was hard for the POWs in worse shape. If a man fell, the guards did not want to stop the column so they shot or bayoneted the man. When the guards finished their assigned part of the march, the POWs were allowed to rest, but when the new guards took over, they also wanted to finish their part of the march as fast as possible, so the POWs once again were moved at a fast pace.
At Camp O’Donnell, the POWs were taken into a large field where they were counted and searched and all extra clothing that they had was taken from them and not returned. Blankets, knives, and matches were taken from them. If a man was found to have Japanese money or other items on them, they were taken to the guardhouse. Finally, the camp commandant came out, stood on the back of a flatbed truck, and told them that they were enemies of Japan and would always be Japan’s enemies. He also told them that they were captives and not prisoners of war and would be treated accordingly. After the speech, the prisoners were allowed to go to their barracks. Over the next several days, gunshots were heard to the southeast of the camp as the POWs who had Japanese items on them were executed for looting.
Each unit was assigned its own barracks with the 192nd, 194th, and 17th Ordnance in the same area. There was not enough housing for the POWs and most slept under buildings or on the ground. The barracks were designed for 40 men and those who did sleep in one slept in one with as many 80 to 120 men. Most of the POWs slept on the ground under the barracks. There was no netting to protect the men from malaria-carrying mosquitos as they slept, so many men soon became ill with malaria. The ranking American officer was slapped after asking for building materials to repair the buildings.
The POWs received three meals, mainly rice, a day. For breakfast, they were fed a half cup of soupy rice and occasionally some type of coffee. Lunch each day was half of a mess kit of steamed rice and a half cup of sweet potato soup. Some men said it was slop and made men violently ill. They received the same meal for dinner. All meals were served outside regardless of the weather. Men stated that other men would push the food away and not eat and were gradually starving themselves. When they realized that they were dying they tried to eat but had completely lost their appetites for any food. By May 1st, the food had improved a little with the issuing of a little wheat flour, some native beans, and a small issue of coconut oil. About once every ten days, 3 or 4 small calves were brought into the camp. When the meat was given out, there was only enough for one-fourth of the POWs to receive a piece that was an inch square. A native potato, the camote, was given to the POWs, but most were rotten and thrown out. The POWs had to post guards to prevent other POWs from eating them. The camp had a Black Market and POWs who had money could buy a small can of fish from the guards for $5.00.
One of the biggest problems with the food was the cooks – regardless of unit – pilfered extra food for themselves. It was reported that some of the cooks looked healthier than the average POW. The cooks even sold the food to other POWs. When the cooks were replaced in an attempt to deal with the problem, the new cooks soon were doing the same thing.
There was only one water faucet in the camp, and the prisoners stood in line for two to eight hours waiting for a drink. The Japanese guards at the faucet would turn it off for no reason and the next man in line would stand as long as four hours waiting for it to be turned on again. This situation improved when a second faucet was added by the POWs who came up with the pipe, dug the trench, and ran the waterline. Just like the first faucet, the Japanese turned off the water when they wanted water to bathe, but unlike the first water line, the POWs had the ability to turn on the water again without the Japanese knowing it.
There was no water for washing clothes, so the POWs would throw out their clothing when it had been soiled. In addition, water for cooking had to be carried three miles from a river to the camp, and mess kits could not be washed. The slit trenches in the camp were inadequate and were soon overflowing since most of the POWs had dysentery. The result was that flies were everywhere in the camp including the POW kitchens and in the food.
The camp hospital had no soap, water, or disinfectant. When the ranking American doctor at the camp wrote a letter to the camp commandant, Capt. Yohio Tsuneyoshi, asking for medical supplies. He was told never to write another letter. The Archbishop of Manila sent a truckload of medical supplies to the camp, but the Japanese commandant refused to allow the truck into the camp. When the Philippine Red Cross sent medical supplies to the camp the Japanese took 95% of the supplies for their use. When a second truck was sent to the camp by the Red Cross, it was turned away.
The POWs in the camp hospital lay on the floor elbow to elbow and only one medic – out of the six medics assigned to care for 50 sick POWs – was healthy enough to care for them. When a representative of the Philippine Red Cross stated they could supply a 150-bed hospital for the camp, he was slapped in the face by a Japanese lieutenant.
The Manila Society – which was a branch of the Philippine Red Cross – collected a great quantity of clothing, medicines, powdered milk, marmalade, and oatmeal and delivered it to the Red Cross which was under Japanese control. They were told they could help make juices and packages of sweet coconut for the POWs and did so. When they were finished, the Japanese stated that it was too good for the Americans and that the packages would be given to their soldiers.
Each morning, the bodies of the dead were found all over the camp and were carried to the hospital and placed underneath it. The bodies lay there for two or three days before they were buried in the camp cemetery by other POWs who were suffering from dysentery and/or malaria. To clean the ground under the hospital, the bodies were moved to one side, the ground was scraped and lime was spread over it. The bodies were placed in the cleaned area, and the area they had lain was scraped and lime was spread over it. At one point, 80 bodies lay under the hospital awaiting burial.
The dead were carried to the cemetery in litters and placed in a grave with four other POWs. It was not unusual for a POW working this detail to die and be put into the grave with the other dead. Before they were buried, the dead were stripped of their clothing, which was boiled in hot water and then given to another POW who needed clothing.
When the POWs returned to the cemetery in the morning to dig graves for the men who had died during the night, they found the arms and legs of the dead sticking out of the ground and wild dogs pulling on them. The men would chase off the dogs, knock the arms and legs down, and rebury them.
A Japanese clerk, Mr. Nishimura, was in charge of giving work details assignments to the POWs. It was stated he was the camp interpreter and a member of the diplomatic corps. Work details were sent out on a daily basis. Each day, the American doctors gave a list of names to the Japanese of the POWs who were healthier enough to work. If the quota of POWs needed to work could not be met, the Japanese put those POWs who were sick but could walk, to work. When these men returned to the camp many died. The death rate among the POWs reached 50 men dying a day.
Documents from after the war state that some of the Japanese assigned to the camp had drug problems which may have contributed to the abusive treatment of the POWs. POWs stated that they noticed that at times the guards had glassy eyes and seemed that their speech was slurred. It also was stated that the Japanese government ordered those soldiers caught abusing drugs be executed. The document also stated that the Japanese government went to great lengths to cover the problem up.
The Japanese finally acknowledged that they needed to do something so they opened a new camp at Cabanatuan. The only POWs who would remain in the camp were those POWs considered “too ill” to be moved. Most of those POWs would die in the camp.
His parents a letter from the War Department in May 1942.
Dear Mrs. V. Casmo:
According to War Department records, you have been designated as the emergency addressee of Private Ross Casmo Jr., 35,030,783, who, according to the latest information available, was serving in the Philippine Islands at the time of the final surrender.
I deeply regret that it is impossible for me to give you more information than is contained in this letter. In the last days before the surrender of Bataan, there were casualties which were not reported to the War Department. Conceivably the same is true of the surrender of Corregidor and possibly other islands of the Philippines. The Japanese Government has indicated its intention of conforming to the terms of the Geneva Convention with respect to the interchange of information regarding prisoners of war. At some future date, this Government will receive through Geneva a list of persons who have been taken prisoners of war. Until that time the War Department cannot give you positive information.
The War Department will consider the persons serving in the Philippine Islands as “missing in action” from the date of surrender of Corregidor, May 7, 1942, until definite information to the contrary is received. It is to be hoped that the Japanese Government will communicate a list of prisoners of war at an early date. At that time you will be notified by this office in the event that his name is contained in the list of prisoners of war. In the case of persons known to have been present in the Philippines and who are not reported to be prisoners of war by the Japanese Government, the War Department will continue to carry them as “missing in action” in the absence of information to the contrary, until twelve months have expired. At the expiration of twelve months and in the absence of other information the War Department is authorized to make a final determination.
Recent legislation makes provision to continue the pay and allowances of persons carried in a “missing” status for a period not to exceed twelve months; to continue, for the duration of the war, the pay and allowances of persons known to have been captured by the enemy; to continue allotments made by missing personnel for a period of twelve months and allotments or increase allotments made by persons by the enemy during the time they are so held; to make new allotments or increase allotments to certain dependents defined in Public Law 490, 77th Congress. The latter dependents generally include the legal wife, dependent children under twenty-one years of age, and dependent mother, or such dependents as having been designated in official records. Eligible dependents who can establish a need for financial assistance and are eligible to receive this assistance the amount allotted will be deducted from pay which would otherwise accrue to the credit of the missing individual.
Very Truly yours
J. A. Ulio (signed)
Major General
The Adjutant General
The POWs formed detachments of 100 men each, on June 1st, and were marched to Capas. There, they were put in steel boxcars with two Japanese guards. At Calumpit, the train was switched onto another line which took it to Cabanatuan. The POWs disembarked and were taken to a schoolyard where they were fed cooked rice and onion soup. From there, they were marched to Cabanatuan Camp #1 which had been the headquarters of the 91st Philippine Army Division and was known as Camp Pangatian. The transfer of the healthier POWs to the camp was completed on June 4th.
The camp was three camps. Cabanatuan #1 housed most of the POWs who had been captured on Bataan and held at Camp O’Donnell. Cabanatuan #2 was two miles from Camp 1 and was closed because it lacked an adequate water supply. It was later reopened and held Naval POWs. Cabanatuan #3 was eight miles from Camp 1 and six miles from Camp 2. It housed most of the POWs from Corregidor and was closed on October 30th and the POWs were sent to Camp 1. Once in the camp, the POWs were allowed to run the camp. The Japanese only entered if they had an issue they wanted to deal with. To prevent escapes, the POWs set up a detail that patrolled the fence of the camp. The reason this was done was that those who did escape and were caught were tortured before they were executed while the other POWs were made to watch. It is believed that no POW successfully escaped from the camp.
The barracks in the camp were built to house 50 POWs, but most had between 60 to 120 POWs in them. It appears that the tankers initially lived with their own barracks. The POWs slept on double-deck bamboo shelves nine feet wide and eight feet long, without mattresses, bedding, or mosquito netting. Many developed sores and became ill. The POWs were assigned to barracks which meant that the members of their group lived together and went out on work details together since the Japanese had instituted the “Blood Brothers” rule. If one man escaped the other nine men in his group would be executed. POWs caught trying to escape were beaten. Those who did escape and were caught were tortured before being executed. It is not known if any POW successfully escaped from the camp. It was said that the Japanese guards would attempt to get the POWs assigned to guard the inside of the fence to come outside the perimeter of the fence. If the man did, he was shot and the guards told their commanding officer that the POW was “trying to escape.”
In the camp, the prisoners continued to die, but at a slower rate. The camp was divided between a duty side and a hospital side. The camp hospital consisted of 30 wards that could hold 40 men each, but it was more common for them to have 100 men in them. Each man had approximately an area of 2 feet by 6 feet to lie in. The POWs were sent to the hospital side of the camp not for treatment but to isolate them from the healthier POWs. The sickest POWs were put in “Zero Ward,” which was called this because it was missed by the Japanese when they counted barracks. There were two rolls of wooden platforms around the perimeter of the building. The sickest POWs were put on the lower platform which had holes cut into it so they could relieve themselves. The platform was covered in feces which was made worse by the excrement from the higher platform dripping down onto it. Most of those who entered the ward died. When a POW died, the POWs stripped him of his clothing, and the man was buried naked. The dead man’s clothing was washed in boiling water and given to a prisoner in need of clothing. The Japanese put a fence up around the building to protect themselves and would not go into the area.
During June, the first cases of diphtheria appeared in the camp, and by July, it had spread throughout the camp. The Japanese finally gave the American medical staff antibiotics to treat the POWs, but before it took effect, 130 POWs had died from the disease by August. For those POWs with tuberculosis who were in the hospital, their rations were reduced to 240 grams of rice, camote (made from camote peelings), and powdered dried fish. In addition, the POW doctors were given four twelve-ounce cans of milk for every 39 patients with malaria.
The medicine given to the POWs had to be divided between Cabanatuan and Bilibid. Cabanatuan received 50 percent of the medicine and Bilibid 50 percent. But when the large POW detachment was sent to Davao, Bilibid received only 30 percent and Davao 20 percent. By doing this division, medicine that would do the POWs good was divided into small quantities resulting in them having no real medical value.
The POWs had the job of burying the dead. To do this, they worked in teams of four men that carried a litter of four to six dead men to the cemetery where they were buried in graves containing 15 to 20 bodies. The water table was high so when the bodies were put into the graves, POWs held them down with poles until they were covered with dirt. The next day when the burials continued, the dead were often found sitting up in their graves or dug up by wild dogs.
It appears that he was selected for a work detail at this time. The date when the POWs arrived at Ft. McKinley varies from source to source. Some sources state they arrived on October 12, 1942, while other sources state that the first POW detachment sent to Ft. McKinley arrived on November 23rd. All sources agree that the POW detachment was made up of 270 men. There, the POWs did cleanup work clearing the grounds of junk from the battle. The POWs lived in the two-story barracks of the 45th Infantry Division, Philippine Scouts. The entire POW compound covered an area of 300 feet by 150 feet that the POWs were allowed to walk around. The POWs lived in the upper and lower squad rooms and the rest spread throughout the rest of the building. Since there was limited room, the men slept shoulder to shoulder on sawale floor mats and in ten men mosquito nets issued by the Japanese. Blankets were also issued, but there were several POWs without them. No furniture was provided, but they were able to get chairs and tables from nearby buildings. The POWs washed their clothes in buckets that they found or made. When the detail started, the POWs were issued coconut fiber hats and shoes. Both these items did not last long on the detail.
The latrines in the camp had three stalls, a four-foot urinal, a tray sink with five spigots, and a shower room with four showerheads. Because of the demand on the facilities in the morning and evening about one-fourth of these were out of service at any time. Because of the lack of proper materials, the POWs were unable to keep all the showers functioning despite their best efforts.
The POW kitchen was in a stone building that was fifty feet from the POW barracks. Meals for the men were prepared in four halved oil drums that served as stoves that had no grates or chimneys to vent smoke. Cooking utensils consisted of four rice pots, two knives, an icebox, and an old well perforated Army-issued stove. The POWs also managed to get a meat grinder, several more knives, and a wooden chopping block. A pool table became the main food preparation table in the kitchen. Water spigots were added and the water drained into the floor and out of the building through holes the POWs chiseled through the wood. Waste from the kitchen was hauled away by Filipinos and burnt.
The POWs ate their meals on the second floor of a barracks that served as a mess hall with the Japanese quarters on the first floor. There were enough tables and benches for every POW, and the meals were carried to them in five-gallon drums. About 80% of the POWs had mess kits with the other 20% using pottery plates, tin pans, and tin cans. They were able also to clean their mess gear.
The camp medical facilities were two small rooms served as a hospital but there was no medical equipment or supplies until December 1942. A table that was found in a nearby building was used for examinations under a 40-watt light bulb. Water – when needed – came from a latrine twenty feet away from the infirmary. POWs who were ill were not required to work. Requests for medical supplies to the Japanese commanding officer were ignored. Most of the POWs treated at the hospital had foot or leg injuries since they worked without shoes.
The POWs were moved to Nielson Field. Some sources state the move took place on January 20, 1943, while others state it happened on January 29, 1943. For the first six weeks, the POWs marched 8 kilometers to the airfield each morning and marched 8 kilometers back to their barracks in the evening. Later, they rode trucks to the airfield. Some sources also state the compound was 500 feet by 200 feet and surrounded by barbed wire while others state it was approximately 300 feet by 200 feet. These may simply be the dimensions for each of the POW compounds.
The POWs were soon moved to Camp Nielsen where they lived in four Nipa barracks that were 150 feet long by 20 feet wide which had been built for them. Each barrack had a six-foot-wide aisle down the center with sleeping platforms along the walls. One-quarter of the space was used for sleeping quarters for the officers which meant the enlisted POWs slept shoulder to shoulder again. The center aisle was lit by a 40-watt light bulb located above the center aisle. One barracks contained the camp’s medical facility which occupied a quarter of the building. There were two 7-foot-long shelves on each wall that served as beds for the sick. There were no medical supplies or equipment. The area was lit by the one 40-watt bulb in the barrack and even though the POW doctor requested more lighting be provided, and was assured it would be dealt with, nothing was ever done. Again, most of the POWs suffered leg or foot injuries.
The POWs cleaned the area around the barracks daily and the ill POWs swept up the area around the tables where they ate. On the POWs’ “day off,” the barracks were emptied of furniture and everything was put in the sun. The barracks were then swept and mopped. This ended in February 1944 when the POWs began working 6½ days a week.
Behind each barrack was a small building, with a concrete floor, that was its latrine with seven individual latrine boxes in separate stalls. The latrines were concrete pits with individual latrine boxes sitting over them. Nothing had been done to prevent the flies from breeding in the pits so maggots soon crawled up the sides of the pits and filled the latrines. The native ants proved to be an ally to the POWs and wiped out the maggots. Flimsy covers were made that usually solved the problem, but once in a while, there still was a problem with flies. The POWs on sick call cleaned the latrines daily and with a creosote solution once a week.
The latrines also had shower rooms with seven showers. There were also spigots attached to the showers that allowed the POWs to fill buckets, canteens, and other utensils. The water was also used to prepare their meals. It was quickly found that when all the showers were turned on there was not enough water pressure for them to work, so most of the bathing was done by using the spigots. All the water came from a 1½ inch pipe that was soon tapped to supply water to other buildings. Several times when the POWs tried to wash all they got from the line was a trickle of water. Since the building and showers were flimsy, it was not long before most were not working.
The kitchen used to prepare meals was on the Japanese side of the compound. It appears the kitchen had a concrete floor, brick and clay ovens, and two storage rooms. The floors were relatively clean because the POWs used wood ashes to cover them. Flies were always a problem in the kitchen and at Nielson, it was worse because the native workers threw their garbage from their meals anywhere and also relieved themselves anywhere. Tables for meals were in the center aisle of each barracks. Waste from the kitchen was hauled away by Filipinos and burnt.
There, the POWs worked at constructing a northeast to the southwest runway and building revetments at Nielson Field. The runway was built through rice paddies which made the work harder since they still had water in them. There were tents for sun and rain protection, but as time went on these became dilapidated. There was plenty of drinking water and the latrines were straddle trenches fenced in on three sides.
The workday for the POWs was from 8:00 A.M. until Noon and 1:00 P.M. until 5:00 P.M. The noon lunch was later reduced to two 15-minute breaks; One in the morning and one in the afternoon. Later, the number of breaks was increased to three 15-minute breaks in the morning and afternoon. When they arrived at the airfield they were divided into two groups which alternated between working for an hour while the other and resting for an hour. The work was hard and required the POWs to remove dirt and rock – with picks and shovels – from one area and dump it onto the runways. Wheelbarrows were used at first, which turned out to be ineffective and resulted in many POWs being physically unable to work. Small mining cars were brought in that the POWs filled with dirt and rock before they were pushed by five men down a track that was from 200 feet to 500 feet long. When they reached the area where the material was wanted as a base for the runway, they emptied the car. The number of men working on each car was later reduced to three men. The POWs were forced by guards, standing along the tracks, to push the cars at a fast pace. It was not uncommon for the guards to push the cars as they ran. The POWs received one day off a week.
In May 1943 – some sources state March – the Japanese instituted the “speedup program” to get the work done quicker. The POWs weren’t sure if this was done because the construction was behind schedule or if the airfield was needed because of the military situation. The POWs looked forward to the rainy season when they believed work would be temporarily suspended. Instead, they were made to work in the rain in conditions that were worse than before the rains. On most days, the heaviest downpours did not stop work, but it is known that there were occasional times when the Japanese halted work for half the day. When the POWs returned to their barracks, they had no dry clothes to change into, so they went to bed in wet clothes resulting in over half the POWs becoming sick.
The POWs would fall in for work and those men who believed they were too sick would fall out and form a separate line. It was a Japanese soldier who decided who was sick enough to remain in quarters and who should go to work. Often, the POWs were severely beaten by the guard. The Japanese later allowed the POW doctor to select who would remain in camp, but they often sent men to work who the doctor felt were too sick to work.
It was on July 9th, that the War Department released a list of men known to be Japanese Prisoners of War. Ross’ name was on the list. His family had received a message from the War Department weeks earlier.
REPORT JUST RECEIVED THROUGH THE INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS STATES THAT YOUR SON PRIVATE ROSS CASMO JR IS A PRISONER OF WAR OF THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS LETTER OF INFORMATION FOLLOWS FROM THE PROVOST
ULIO THE ADJUTANT GENERAL.
Within days of receiving the first message, his wife received the following letter:
The Provost Marshal General directs me to inform you that you may communicate with your son, postage free, by following the inclosed instructions:
It is suggested that you address him as follows:
Pvt. Ross Casmo Jr., U.S. Army
Interned in the Philippine Islands
C/O Japanese Red Cross, Tokyo, Japan
Via New York, New York
Packages cannot be sent to the Orient at this time. When transportation facilities are available a package permit will be issued you.
Further information will be forwarded you as soon as it is received.
Sincerely
Howard F. Bresee
Colonel, CMP
Chief Information Bureau
At this time, the Japanese finally realized that they had to deal with the sick so they had the POW doctor make a list of POWs too ill to do heavy work and assigned them light work. The Japanese also reduced the number of carloads of rock the POWs had to move a day and the POWs could walk the cars to the dumping area instead of being forced to push them as fast as possible. The speed-up was also ended on July 4th.
Small mining cars were brought in, and the POWs filled the cars with dirt and rocks before they were pushed by five men down a track from 200 feet to 500 feet long. When they reached the area where the material was wanted, they emptied the car. On March 28th, the Japanese instituted the “speedup program” to get the work done quicker. The POWs did not know if it was because they had fallen behind in the construction of the runway, or if it was because the war was going badly for the Japanese, and they needed the runway finished. This lasted until July 4th when it ended. When the work was finished on the runway, the POWs were moved, on October 25, 1943, to Camp Murphy #1 where they were housed in the former headquarters building.
The POWs were housed in the former headquarters building which was a two-story building with multiple rooms. 250 POWs were quartered on the second floor in crowded conditions so the POWs slept in the hallway and on the landings of the stairwells. The POWs requested lumber to build platforms for the POWs to sleep on, but the Japanese ignored the requests. The POWs were able to build a small number of bunk beds with scrap lumber that they found.
At first, tents were provided for protection against the sun and rain, but many were stolen by the Filipinos and the rest deteriorated until they were useless. There was plenty of water for drinking and adequate latrines were provided. The POWs were divided into two groups. One group worked for an hour while the other rested. This was later reduced to two 15-minute breaks in the morning and afternoon. Later, the number of breaks was increased to three 15-minute breaks in the morning and afternoon. The POWs worked from 8:00 A.M. to noon and from 1:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. The POWs were divided into two groups. While one group was working for an hour, the other group rested. The work was hard and called for the POWs to carry dirt and rock to the area where the runway was being built. Wheelbarrows were used at first, which turned out to be ineffective and resulted in many POWs being physically unable to work. The POWs received one day off a week.
There were five tile latrines for POW use with 13 stalls, 13 urinals, 9 sinks, and 1 shower, but like in the other camps, much of the plumbing needed to be repaired. The POWs repaired them and somehow managed to keep most of them running. They also built 8 other showers and an area where their mess kits could be washed. Water pressure was adequate up to February 1944, but later there were days when the POWs went hours without water at noon or in the evening when the POWs returned from work. The latrines were emptied every two months with cans that were dumped in a dried-out creek.
The POW kitchen was a napa building with a dirt floor that was 20 feet from the POWs’ barracks. Wood ashes were once again spread on the floor and kept the floors relatively sanitary. Water was supplied by a single hose. Meals appear to have been prepared in 50-gallon drums that had been cut in half lengthwise. Flies again were a problem in the kitchen. Since the POWs worked about ¾ of a kilometer from the camp, they returned to the camp for lunch and then marched back to the worksite.
Garbage was a problem in the camp since the Filipinos were not allowed to collect it and haul it away. Garbage pits were dug but were put into use before they were deep enough and were filled near the top. They soon became the breeding grounds of flies. Within weeks maggots were crawling out of the pits. To stop this, fires were built in the pits to control the fly population.
The POWs’ food ration was cut and many became ill. The sick call took place in the evening until 8:00 P.M. when roll call took place. A Japanese private determined who was sick enough not to work. The American doctor later was allowed to decide which POWs could not work. Often Japanese doctors went over his selections and determined which POWs would remain in the camp hospital. To the American medical staff, it seemed that the Japanese doctors sent men to work because they wanted to save face.
The POWs were again involved in building a north-to-south runway at Zablan Field, and their work hours were changed in January 1944. From that time on, the POWs started at 7:00 A.M. and worked until 11:00 A.M. to avoid the hottest part of the day. In the afternoon, the POWs worked from 1:30 to 5:00 P.M. Once again they did the work with picks and shovels. They had their one day off a week which was later cut to a half-day off a week. Once in a while, the POWs got half a day off for a Japanese holiday. On May 26th, the afternoon work hours were extended to 6:00 P.M. At some point, some POWs were assigned to building a second runway about three miles from the camp. Since the detachment had more than doubled in size, part of it was taken by truck to an airfield 4 kilometers from the camp and began building a runway there with picks and shovels. The lunch for the POWs was brought to the airfield each day.
There were no latrines at the worksite and men relieved themselves anywhere. This resulted in the site quickly being covered in human defecation. The spread of disease was prevented by the sun and the rain washing away the waste. Straddle trenches were built, but it appears they were not used for long.
The POWs once again worked on constructing a runway. This time it was a north/south runway through a rice paddy at Zablan Field. When the work started the rice paddies were filled with water and it was the rainy season. In addition to picks and shovels, the POWs also operated diesel compressors, rollers, and drills. Each day they walked about three-quarters of a mile to where the construction was taking place. For lunch, they returned to their barracks. There was never enough water for the POWs when working, so men attempted to bring it with them in bottles if they did not have canteens. No latrines were provided, so the POWs relieved themselves anywhere they wanted at the worksite. The spread of disease was prevented because of the sunshine, and frequent rains. This problem was never adequately dealt with.
The Japanese built five new barracks at Camp Murphy and the POWs were moved to them on April 28, 1944. This new housing was given the name Camp Murphy 2. The original POW compound was located about 250 yards away. A total of 200 POWs were housed in each of the barracks. The entire POW compound was 350 by 400 feet.
On January 4, 1944, the workday changed and the POWs now worked 7 A.M. to 11:00 A.M. To avoid the heat of the midday, the POWs started again at 1:30 and worked until 5:00 P.M. Their one day off a week was cut to half of a day off. Sometimes, they received half the day off for some Japanese holiday. Their work hours were changed a second time with their afternoon hours being extended until 6:00 P.M. The POWs worked for one hour and were given one hour off. Since they were divided into two groups, one group would always be working.
Their job was to build a runway through rice paddies which meant they had to move dirt and rock to build it. To do this, they had mining cars which they pushed down 300 to 500 feet down a track to where the dirt was to be dumped.
The POWs were moved to Camp Murphy 2 on January 29, 1944, which was 200 yards from their old quarters. On March 1, 1944, the POWs witnessed the execution of Pvt. George Garrett by the camp commander, Lt. Yoshi Koshi, for planning to escape. According to the POWs, Garrett and two other men had planned an escape and were informed on by the Navy Chief Signalman, Harold Hirschberg, who the POWs considered a collaborator. According to the POWs, Hirschberg told Garrett, who he had, had a fight with, “You’ll never leave this camp alive.” The POWs stated that over several days, the Japanese starved Garrett, beat him, and finally placed a garden hose in Garrett’s mouth until his stomach was filled with water. The Japanese then stood on his abdomen which caused his death three days later.
The Japanese decided that work needed to be done at another airfield close by, so POWs were sent there to work. The airfield was 4 kilometers from Camp Murphy, and they were taken to it in trucks. They also received their meals at the airfield.
One of the biggest problems the POWs, and Japanese were having at this time was what was known as “foot pain” which was a form of dry beriberi. If a man in the hospital showed signs of it, one Japanese soldier hit them in the head with a broom handle. The Japanese slowly came to respect the American medical staff’s selections and stopped questioning them.
According to medical records kept at the prison, Ross was admitted to the hospital ward on July 19, 1944, with beriberi. For the POWs in Bilibid, one of the biggest problems the POWs had was boredom. Being that they were being held in a prison, they received little news about the outside world except what POWs entering the prison told them. As large numbers of POWs were being sent to Japan, or another part of the Japanese Empire, Ross remained behind at the prison.
The first American planes were seen over Manila on September 21st. These were soon followed by other planes and became such a common occurrence that the POWs stopped paying attention to them. Most men simply wanted to know when the Americans would free them. While this was going on, the Japanese continued to transfer POWs out of the Philippines.
The POWs only had rumors of the advancing American forces. The one story they heard at the beginning of February was those men who were still at Cabanatuan had been liberated by American forces at the end of January. They hoped that this would soon happen to them. The POWs could hear the sounds of battle and the fighting continued throughout the night. Around 6:30 P.M. February 1st, the fighting stopped and the following night was quiet. On February 2nd, the last American POW died in the prison of dysentery. The POWs heard a series of detonations that lasted for over an hour to the southeast at 10:30 P.M. There were some small ones and big ones that were mixed. The POWs heard the echoes of explosions all night long and began to believe that it was just a matter of days before they were free.
February 3rd was a normal day for the POWs who went around performing their chores. They told each other the latest rumors as they ate their evening meal. It was at that time that six American planes flew over the compound flying very low and very slowly. At 6:00 P.M. they took part in an evening roll call. At 6:30, they heard the sound of artillery in the distance. Then they heard heavy machine-gun fire which got closer and closer and closer. All hell broke loose and there was light artillery fire or fire from tanks, heavy machine-gun and light machine-gun fire, rifle fire, and pistol fire all coming from the north and east of the prison. At 10:30 P.M., the electricity went out in the prison. The POWs heard the sound of guns and the ammunition dumps going up. The sound of moving tanks, artillery fire, and small arms explosions continued until 2:00 A.M. when everything got quiet except for heavy artillery that could be heard in the distance.
On the morning of February 4th, the POWs talked about what they had heard. They also noticed that the Japanese guards seemed to be getting ready to leave. The senior American medical officer was called to the Japanese commanding officer’s office and told that they were freeing the POWs, but he also told them to stay inside the prison. Before the camp commandant left, he posted a typed document stating the Japanese were releasing the POWs.
“1. The Japanese army is now going to release all prisoners of war and internees here on its own accord.
“2. We are assigned to another duty and shell be here no more.
“3. You are at liberty to act and live as free persons but you must be aware of probable dangers if you go out.
“4. We shall leave here foodstuffs, medicines, and other necessities of which you may avail yourselves for the time being.
“5. We have arranged to put signboard at the front gate bearing the following context: ‘Lawfully released prisoners of war and interests are
quartered here. Please do not molest them unless they make positive resistance.’”
At 11:45 A.M., the Japanese left and the POWs posted guards and waited for the Americans to arrive. The POWs had three good meals that day and noted that a small American plane flew over the prisoner repeatedly that day. At some point, the electricity to the prison went out.
It was the evening of February 4th, when soldiers in funny-looking uniforms appeared at Bilibid. The POWs recalled that the windows of the buildings were boarded up and that the soldiers broke into the building to see what was behind the boarded-up windows. It was at 6:00 P.M., and a wooden shutter on one of the walls was knocked down by a rifle butt. The POWs had posted guards to prevent anyone from leaving the prison. As it turned out, the Americans had completely surrounded the prison and had been trying to get into it to see what was inside. At first, the POWs thought the soldiers were Germans because of their helmets and uniforms. It was only when the soldiers spoke to them in English that the POWs knew that they had been liberated. According to the former POWs, there wasn’t a dry eye among the POWs or the liberating troops.
The POWs remained in the prison. Since the possibility existed that the Japanese may attempt to retake the prison. The 37th Infantry Division, from Ohio, came to the compound and visited the POWs. They were followed by the 148th Infantry and 7th Division. They gave the former POWs their whiskey, beer, K-rations, cigarettes and the cigars that the Filipinos had given them. They also learned that the Japanese had wired explosives that were set to timers. When the power went out, the timers stopped working preventing the explosives from going off.
At 9:00 P.M. on February 5th, there was gunfire on three sides of the prison so the decision was made to move the former POWs to the Ang Tibay shoe factory on the outskirts of Manila. The members of the 148th Infantry carried POWs out on litters and they were evacuated in ambulances and in jeeps. The soldiers also helped the weak onto trucks and made sure that all the POWs were out of Bilibid which was completed by 11:35 P.M. The former POWs were moved to a brewery and drank beer.
On February 6th, the former POWs were ordered back to Bilibid since it had better sanitary facilities. When they got there, they found it had been looted and much of their personnel effects were gone. They received their first American food that morning which was canned ham and eggs, cereal milk, K biscuits, butter, jam, and coffee with milk and sugar. The former POWs who were seriously ill and needed better medical treatment were sent to Santo Tomas on February 9th. On the 10th, more men were sent there while those men not able to make the trip were sent to Quezon Institute with the remainder transferred to the 12th Replacement Battalion.
After reaching American lines, the former POWs received medical treatment. Ross was promoted to Staff Sergeant. He arrived in the United States in late 1945 and was hospitalized at Letterman General Hospital suffering from malnutrition and was also diagnosed with astigmatism. Most likely the result of a beating while a POW. His mother – who was now Mrs. James Hudson – learned he was free and received a note from him written on a brown piece of scrap paper. It said, “Thanks to Go, free again. Feeling fine.”
He returned to Columbus, Ohio. He married, Clara, became the father of two daughters and a son, and worked for the U.S. Post Office. The couple would divorce. Ross would marry several times and later move to Texas. On July 30, 1984, he received the Bronze Star.
Ross Casmo passed away on October 18, 1996, in Tyler, Texas. He was cremated and his ashes were returned to Columbus where they were interred at Chapel Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens in Columbus.