Pvt. Joseph Donald Lajzer was born on October 31, 1918, in Toledo, Ohio. He was one of five sons and two daughters born to Peter and Katherine Lajzer. With his three brothers and two sisters, he lived at 3345 Maple Street in Toledo and attended St. Albert’s School and then Webster Elementary School. He attended Woodward High School for three years but left to support his family. Joe worked to construct a park with Company 3516 of the Civilian Conservation Corps at Camp SCS-40 in Attica, Ohio.
When the Selective Service Act took effect, Joe registered for the draft on October 16, 1940, and named his sister, Mary, as his contact person. He was inducted into the Army in 1941 and sent to Ft. Knox, Kentucky for basic training where he was trained as a tank driver and to do maintenance work on machine guns. He then was sent to Camp Polk, Louisiana, where he joined the 753rd Tank Battalion which had been sent there from Ft. Benning, Georgia but was not taking part in the military maneuvers that were being held in Louisiana.
On June 1st, at Camp Polk, Louisiana, the 753rd GHQ Tank Battalion was activated. Most of its officers and many of its first enlisted men were sent to join the battalion from Ft. Benning, Georgia. On June 3rd, 492 men from Selective Service left Ft. Knox and joined the battalion, on June 5th. It is known that some men took their specialized training at Camp Polk, but other men assigned to the battalion may have remained at Ft. Knox and attended school there.
The Louisiana maneuvers took place taking place, but the battalion did not take part in them since it was still training. The 192nd Tank Battalion took part in the maneuvers and was ordered to Camp Polk, at the end of the September, instead of returning to Ft. Knox as expected. The members of the battalion speculated where they were going to be sent. Some men said Ft. Benning, others said Ft. Lewis, Washington, while still others said they would return to Ft. Knox, Kentucky. It was on the side of a hill that the members of the 192nd were informed that they were being sent overseas.
Those National Guard members of the battalion who were married with dependents, with other dependents, 29 years old or older, or whose National Guard enlistments would end while the battalion was overseas, were allowed to resign from federal service. The battalion’s commander, because of his age, was replaced by Major. Theodore Wickord his executive officer. Replacements for the men came from the 753rd Tank Battalion. It was at this time that Joe volunteered to become a member of the 192nd Tank Battalion and was assigned to B Company. The company had been an Illinois National Guard tank company and many of the men were still former National Guardsmen. Joe went from living in a barracks to living in a tent with the other members of the company. This was made worse by the fact that it seemed to rain every day while they were at Camp Polk.
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.
At the fort, the tankers were met by Gen. Edward P. King Jr. who welcomed them and made sure that they had what they needed. He also was apologetic that there were no barracks for the tankers and that they had to live in tents. The fact was he had not learned of their arrival until days before they arrived. He made sure that they had dinner – which was a stew thrown into their mess kits – before he left to have his own dinner. D Company was scheduled to be transferred to the 194th Tank Battalion so when they arrived at the fort, they most likely moved into their finished barracks instead of tents that the rest of the 192nd. The 194th had arrived in the Philippines in September and its barracks were finished about a week earlier. The company also received a new commanding officer, Capt. Jack Altman.
The other members of the 192nd pitched their tents in an open field halfway between the Clark Field Administration Building and Fort Stotsenburg. The tents from WW I and pretty ragged. They were set up in two rows and five men were assigned to each tent. There were two supply tents and meals were provided by food trucks stationed at the end of the rows of tents. Their tanks were in a field not far from the tanks. The worst part of being in the tents was that they were near the end of a runway. The B-17s when they took off flew right over the bivouac about 100 feet off the ground. At night, the men heard planes flying over the airfield. Many men believed they were Japanese, but it is known that American pilots flew night missions.
The 192nd arrived in the Philippines with a great deal of radio equipment to set up a radio school to train radiomen for the Philippine Army. The battalion also had many ham radio operators after arriving at Ft. Stotsenburg, the battalion set up a communications tent that was in contact with ham radio operators in the United States within hours. The communications monitoring station in Manila went crazy attempting to figure out where all these new radio messages were coming from. When they were informed it was the 192nd, they gave the 192nd frequencies to use. Men sent messages home to their families that they had arrived safely.
With the arrival of the 192nd, the Provisional Tank Group was activated on November 27th. Besides the 192nd, the tank group contained the 194th Tank Battalion with the 17th Ordnance Company joining the tank group on the 29th. Both units had arrived in the Philippines in September 1941. Military documents written after the war show the tank group was scheduled to be composed of three light tank battalions and two medium tank battalions. Col. Weaver left the 192nd, was appointed head of the tank group, and was promoted to brigadier general. Major Theodore Wickord permanently became the commanding officer of the 192nd.
It was at this time that the process to transfer D Company to the 194th Tank Battalion began. As part of the transfer, all the company’s medical records were organized so that they could be given to the medical detachment of the 194th. D Co. officers were transferred to other companies of the 194th.
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 battalion went on at least two practice reconnaissance missions under the guidance of the 194th. It 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 192nd followed the example of the 194th Tank Battalion and 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.
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.
On Monday, December 1st, the tanks were ordered to the perimeter of Clark Field to guard against paratroopers. The 194th guarded the northern end of the airfield, while the 192nd guarded the southern end where the two runways came together and formed a V. Two members of every tank crew remained with their tanks at all times, and meals were brought to them by food trucks. On Sunday, December 7th, the tankers spent a great deal of the day loading bullets into machine gun belts and putting live shells for the tanks’ main guns into the tanks.
Gen. Weaver on December 2nd ordered the tank group to full alert. According to Capt. Alvin Poweleit, Weaver appeared to be the only officer on the base interested in protecting his unit. When Poweleit suggested they dig air raid shelters – since their bivouac was so near the airfield – the other officers laughed. He ordered his medics to dig shelters near the tents of the companies they were with and at the medical detachment’s headquarters. 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. 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.
It was the men manning the radios in the 192nd communications tent who were the first to learn – at 2 a.m. – of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 8th. Major Ted Wickord, Gen. James Weaver, and Major Ernest Miller, 194th, and Capt. Richard Kadel, 17th Ordnance read the messages of the attack. At one point, even Gen. King came to the tent to read the messages. The officers of the 192nd were called to the tent and informed of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The 192nd’s company commanders were called to the tent and told of the Japanese attack.
Most of the tankers heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor at roll call that morning. Some men believed that it was the start of the maneuvers they were expecting to take part in. They were also informed that their barracks were almost ready and that they would be moving into them shortly. News reached the tankers that Camp John Hay had been bombed at 9:00 a.m.
Captain Donald Hanes told B Company about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and ordered all the members of the tank crews to their tanks. Some sources state the half-tracks took up positions alongside the tanks while other sources state they remained in the battalion’s bivouac.
It was just after noon and the men were listening to Tokyo Rose who announced that Clark Field had been bombed. They got a good laugh out of it since they hadn’t seen an enemy plane all morning, but before the broadcast ended that had changed. At 12:45 p.m., 54 planes approached the airfield from the northwest. Men commented that the planes must be American Navy planes until someone saw Red Dots on the wings. They then saw what looked like “raindrops” falling from the planes and when bombs began exploding on the runways 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.
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.
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. This meant that most of their shells exploded harmlessly in the air.
The Zeros doing a figure eight strafed the airfield and headed toward and turned around behind Mount Arayat. One tanker stated that the planes were so low that a man with a shotgun could have shot a plane down. It was also stated that the tankers could see the scarfs of the pilots flapping in the wind as they looked for targets to strafe. Having seen what the Japanese were doing, the half-tracks were ordered to the base’s golf course which was at the opposite end of the runways. There they waited for the Zeros to complete their flight pattern. The first six planes that came down the length of the runways were hit by fire from the half-tracks. As they flew over the golf course, flames and smoke were seen trailing behind them. When the other Japanese pilots saw what happened, they pulled up to about 3,000 feet before dropping their small incendiary bombs and leaving. The planes never strafed the airfield again.
While the attack was going on, the Filipinos who were building the 192nd’s barracks took cover. After the attack, they went right back to work on building the barracks. This happened several times during the following air raids until the barracks were destroyed by bombs during an air raid. According to the members of the battalion, it appeared the Filipino contractor wanted to be paid; war or no war.
When the Japanese were finished, there was not much left of the airfield. The soldiers watched as the dead, dying, and wounded were hauled to the hospital on bomb racks, and trucks, and 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. When the hospital ran out of room, the battalion members set up cots under mango trees for the wounded and even the dentist gave medical aid to the wounded.
Sgt. Robert Bronge, B Co., had his crew take their half-track to the non-com club. During the 17 days that the 192nd had been in the Philippines, Bronge had spent three months of pay, on credit, at the non-com club. When they got to the club they found one side was collapsed from an explosion of a bomb nearby. Bronge entered the club and found the Aircorpsmen – assigned to the club – were putting out fires or trying to get the few planes that were left into the air. He found the book with the names of those who owed the club money and destroyed it. His crew loaded the half-track with cases of beer and hard liquor. When they returned to their assigned area at the airfield, they radioed the tanks they had salvaged needed supplies from the club.
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 tents. 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 that D Company was never transferred to the 194th.
The tankers 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. The next day when the Japanese fighters returned, the tankers shot two planes down. After this, the planes never returned. It was at this time every man was issued Springfield and Infield rifles. Some worked some didn’t so they cannibalized the rifles to get one good rifle from two bad ones.
The next morning the decision was made to move the battalion into a tree-covered area. Those men not assigned to a tank or half-track walked around Clark Field to view the damage. As they walked, they saw there were hundreds of dead. Some of the dead 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 tanks were still at the southern end of the airfield when a second air raid took place on the 10th. This time the bombs fell among the tanks of the battalion at the southern end of the airfield wounding some men.
C Company was ordered to the area of Mount Arayat on December 9th. Reports had been received that the Japanese had landed paratroopers in the area. No paratroopers were found, but it was possible that the pilots of damaged Japanese planes may have jumped from them. That night, they heard bombers fly at 3:00 a.m. on their way to bomb Nichols Field. The battalion’s tanks were still bivouacked among the trees when a second air raid took place on the 10th. This time the bombs fell among the tanks of the battalion at the southern end of the airfield wounding some men.
On the 10th, the half-tracks were in the battalion’s area watching the airfield. A formation of Japanese bombers bombed the area. As the crews sat in the half-tracks a 500 bomb exploded about 500 feet from them. The bombs fell in a straight line toward the half-tracks. One bomb fell 25 feet from the half-tracks and then eighteen feet in front of the half-tracks. The final bomb fell about 250 feet behind the half-tracks. The shriek of the bombs falling scared the hell out of the men. T/4 Frank Goldstein radioed HQ and told them about the unexploded bombs. A bomb disposal squad was sent to the area. Later, a jeep pulled up and an officer and enlisted man marked where the sixteen unexploded bombs were located. The crew could see the smoke rising from the fuses of the unexploded bombs. Another jeep and a bulldozer arrived and dirt was pushed over the bombs. The half-track’s crew radioed HQ and told them they were moving to the old tank park away from the bombs.
On December 12th, B Company was sent to the Barrio of Dau to guard a highway and railroad against sabotage. The other companies of the 192nd remained at Clark Field until December 14th, when they moved to a dry stream bed. Around December 15th, after the Provisional Tank Group Headquarters was moved to Manila, Major Maynard Snell, a 192nd staff officer, stopped at Ft. Stotsenburg where anything that could be used by the Japanese was being destroyed. He stopped the destruction long enough to get five-gallon cans loaded with high-octane gasoline and small arms ammunition put onto trucks to be used by the tanks and infantry.
The tank battalion received orders on December 21st to proceed north to Lingayen Gulf to relieve the 26th Cavalry, Philippine Scouts. During the move north, B Company rejoined the battalion. B and C Companies were sent north but because of logistics problems, they soon ran low on fuel. When they reached Rosario on the 22nd, Cpl. Russell Vertuno was waiting for them, but there was only enough fuel for one tank platoon, from B Company, to proceed north to support the 26th Cavalry.
Lt. Ben Morin’s platoon approached Agoo when it ran head-on into a Japanese motorized unit. The Japanese light tanks had no turrets and sloped armor. The shells of the American tanks glanced off the tanks. Morin’s tank was knocked out and his crew was captured. During this engagement, a member of another tank crew, Pvt. Henry J. Deckert, was killed by enemy fire when a shell hit the ball joint of the machine gun port and the concussion decapitated him. He was later buried in a churchyard. Sgt. Willard VOn Bergen bent down to talk to his driver and an armor-piercing shell went through the turret where he had been standing. The remaining tanks withdrew and reported destroyed, but all were later put back into use. This was the first tank action in World War II involving American tanks. From this time on, the tanks served as a rear guard, holding roads open until all the other troops withdrew before falling back to another predetermined position to repeat the action. The Provisional Tank Group Headquarters remained in Manila until December 23rd when it moved with the 194th north out of Manila.
On December 23rd and 24th, the battalion was in the Urdaneta area. The bridge they were going to use to cross the Agno River was destroyed and the tankers made an end run to get south of the river. As they did this, they ran into Japanese resistance early in the evening. They successfully crossed the river in the Bayambang Province. One tank platoon went through the town of Gapan. After they were through the town, they were informed it had been held by the Japanese. They could never figure out why the Japanese had not fired on them.
On Christmas Day, the tankers had a turkey dinner which amazed them since they hadn’t showered or changed their clothes for eighteen days. A Company lost its commander, Capt. Walter Write, on December 26th. According to the story, he saw Sergeant Owen Sandmire placing landmines in the road. The mines were made by Philippine Ordnance from cigar boxes with dynamite. Write took a mine away from Sandmire and told them it looked funny. As he was placing it, it exploded in his hands. Before he died, he asked that roses be placed on his grave, but since there were no roses, the men placed a native red flower on his grave. The tanks held the position until 5:30 in the morning on December 27th when the 192nd and part of the 194th fell back to form a new defensive line. From there, they fell back to the south bank of the BanBan River which they were supposed to hold for as long as possible. The tanks were at Santo Tomas near Cabanatuan on December 28th and 29th serving as a rear guard against the Japanese.
The tanks were near Santo Tomas on the 28th and were spread out from east to west and were being bombed and shelled. A few minor injuries were reported. They were ordered to fall back to San Isidro which was located south of Cabanatuan where they were shelled again resulting in one tank being flipped onto its side when a shell landed near it. The crew was taken to a field hospital with minor injuries. The tank was put in an upright position and manned by another crew. It was noted that the tank crews were physically in poor condition from lack of sleep, lack of food, and constantly being on alert.
The night of the 29th, A Company’s 2nd and 3rd platoons were at Zaeagosa and bivouacked for the night on both sides of a road. A noise was heard and the sentries woke up the tank crews. The tankers watched a Japanese bicycle battalion of 100 to 300 men come riding down the road and into their bivouac. The tankers opened up with everything they had. When they ceased fire, they had wiped out the entire bicycle battalion. When they were ordered to withdraw, the tanks went over the bodies.
It was at this time that a platoon of B Company tanks found itself on a road holding up the Japanese advance. without knowing it, five tanks took a narrow road that led to the Japanese lines. The drivers of the tanks stayed close enough so that they could see the tank in front of their tank when a shell exploded behind one of the tanks. The tanks were trapped since there was no room for them to turn around. At Ft. Knox, they were taught that if you are lost, or trapped, to double your speed. The tanks hurdled down the road running through gun nests. a roadblock, and running down Japanese soldiers. The tanks turned around, ran through the Japanese positions again, and escaped.
The next morning, December 30th, 2nd Lt. William Read’s, A Co., 192nd, tank platoon was serving as a rearguard and was in a dry rice paddy when it came under enemy fire by Japanese mortars. Read was riding in a tank when one of the enemy rounds hit one of its tracks knocking it out. After escaping the tank, Read stood in front of it and attempted to free the crew. A second round hit the tank, directly below where he was standing blowing off his legs at the knees and leaving him mortally wounded. The other members of his crew carried Read from the tank and laid him under a bridge. Read would not allow himself to be evacuated since there were other wounded soldiers. He insisted that these men be taken first. He would die in the arms of Pvt. Ray Underwood as the Japanese overran the area.
The Japanese had broken through two Philippine Divisions holding Route 5 and C Company was ordered to Baluiag to stop the advance so that the remaining forces could withdraw. On the morning of December 31st, 1st Lt. William Gentry, commanding officer of a platoon of C Company tanks, sent out reconnaissance patrols north of the town of Baluiag. The patrols ran into Japanese patrols, which told the Americans that the Japanese were on their way. Knowing that the railroad bridge was the only way to cross the river into the town, Gentry set up his defenses in view of the bridge and the rice patty it crossed. One platoon of tanks under the command of 2nd Lt. Marshall Kennady was to the southeast of the bridge, while Gentry’s tanks were to the south of the bridge hidden in huts in the barrio. The third platoon commanded by Capt Harold Collins was to the south on the road leading out of Baluiag, and 2nd Lt. Everett Preston had been sent south to find a bridge to cross to attack the Japanese from behind.
Early on the morning of the 31st, the Japanese began moving troops across the bridge. The engineers came next and put down planking for tanks. A little before noon Japanese tanks began crossing the bridge. Later that day, the Japanese assembled a large number of troops in the rice field on the northern edge of the town.
Major John Morley, of the Provisional Tank Group, came riding in his jeep into Baluiag. He stopped in front of a hut and was spotted by the Japanese who had lookouts on the town’s church steeple. The guard became very excited so Morley, not wanting to give away the tanks’ positions, got into his jeep and drove off. Gentry had told Morley that his tanks would hold their fire until he was safely out of the village. When Gentry felt the Morley was out of danger, he ordered his tanks to open up on the Japanese tanks at the end of the bridge. The tanks then came smashing through the huts’ walls and drove the Japanese in the direction of Lt. Marshall Kennady’s tanks. Kennady had been radioed and was waiting. Kennady held his fire until the Japanese were within view of his platoon and then joined in the hunt. The Americans chased the tanks up and down the streets of the village, through buildings and under them. By the time C Company was ordered to disengage from the enemy, they had knocked out at least eight enemy tanks.
C Company withdrew to Calumpit Bridge after receiving orders from Provisional Tank Group. When they reached the bridge, they discovered it had been blown. Finding a crossing the tankers made it to the south side of the river. Knowing that the Japanese were close behind, the Americans took their positions in a harvested rice field and aimed their guns to fire a tracer shell through the harvested rice. This would cause the rice to ignite which would light the enemy troops. The tanks were about 100 yards apart. The Japanese crossing the river knew that the Americans were there because the tankers shouted at each other to make the Japanese believe troops were in front of them. The Japanese were within a few yards of the tanks when the tanks opened fire which caused the rice stacks to catch fire. The fighting was such a rout that the tankers were using a 37 mm shell to kill one Japanese soldier.
The tank company was next sent to the Barrio of Porac to aid the Philippine Army which was having trouble with Japanese artillery fire. From a Filipino lieutenant, they learned where the guns were located and attacked destroying three of the guns and chasing the Japanese destroying trucks, and killing the infantry. The tanks were ordered to fall back to San Fernando and were refueled and received ammunition. From this time on, the tank battalions served as a rear guard and held roads open until other units passed them and organized a new defensive line. Once it had been established, they then dropped back to the new line.
The tanks were stationed on both sides of the Calumpit Bridge, on December 31st and January 1st. keeping the bridge open for the Southern Luzon forces. The defenders were attempting to stop the Japanese advance down Route 5 which would allow the Southern Luzon Forces to withdraw into Bataan. Platoons from B and C Company saw movement in the distance and opened fire. They later learned that they had knocked out five Japanese tanks. It was while doing this job that the defenders received orders to withdraw. General Wainwright was unaware of the orders since they came from Gen. MacArthur’s chief of staff. Because of the orders, there was confusion among the Filipinos and American forces defending the bridge over the Pampanga River with half of the defenders withdrawing. Due to the efforts of the Self-Propelled Mounts, the 71st Field Artillery, and a fierce attack by the 192nd Tank Battalion the Japanese were halted and the Southern Luzon Forces crossed the bridge.
From January 2nd to 4th, the 192nd was again holding a road open from San Fernando to Dinalupihan so the southern forces could escape. A Company, on January 5th, was near the Gumain River attached to the 194th Tank Battalion. It was evening and they believed they were in a relatively safe place. Lt. Kenneth Bloomfield told his men to get some sleep. Their sleep was interrupted by the sound of a gunshot. The tankers had no idea that they were about to engage the Japanese who had launched a major offensive. There was a great deal of confusion and the battle lasted until 5:00 A.M. when the Japanese broke off the attack having suffered 50 percent casualties.
It was at this time the tank battalions received these orders which came from Gen. Weaver: “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.”
The Japanese attacked on January 6th at Layac Junction. The defenders included the 26th Cavalry, Philippine Scouts, the 31st Infantry Regiment, the 26th Cavalry, artillery, self-propelled mounts, and the tank group. This was the first major battle in the defense of Bataan and the defenders halted the advance. That night the tanks withdrew into the peninsula with the 192nd holding its position so that the 194th could leapfrog past it, cross the bridge, and then cover the 192nd’s withdrawal over the bridge. The engineers were ready to blow up the bridge, but Lt. Col. Ted Wickord, 192nd, noticed A Co. 192nd, was missing and ordered the engineers to wait until he had looked to see if they were anywhere in sight. He found the company, asleep in their tanks, because they had not received the order to withdraw across the bridge. After they had crossed, the bridge was destroyed which made the 192nd the last American unit to enter Bataan. Each tank platoon lost one tank at this time. This was done to provide tanks to D Company, while those crews still without tanks were used as replacements. It was on the 7th, that the food ration was cut in half, and not too long after this was done malaria, dysentery, and dengue fever began hitting the soldiers.
The next day, the battalions were between Culo and Hermosa and assigned a road to enter Bataan which was worse than having no road. The half-tracks kept throwing their rubber tracks and members of the 17th Ordnance Company assigned to each battalion had to re-track them in dangerous situations. The battalion’s tanks had shore duty from Abucay to Lamao on the east side of Bataan. The area took most of the Japanese artillery fire, bombings, and strafing. Self-propelled mounts were assigned to the tank group and each needed a driver so tank drivers were reassigned to the SPMs. The SPMs had a crew of an American driver, a Filipino Scout sergeant who commanded the SPM, and a gun crew from the Philippine Army. The tank drivers were replaced by other members of the battalion who could drive tanks. The tank battalions also received 15 Bren-gun carriers each which were driven by members of the Army Air Corps who reassigned themselves to the tank battalions. Other self-attached Army-Air Corps personnel repaired engines, welded, and served in tank crews. The battalion’s medics were scattered among the companies providing aid. The battalion dropped back to Kilometer 142 on the 12th and did not stay long. When kitchen trucks arrived, the little food they had was divided up among the men.
During this time, the members of HQ Company drove fuel and supply trucks keeping the tanks supplied. It was not unusual for them to find themselves behind enemy lines since the line had moved since they received their orders. Those trained as tank mechanics kept the tanks running often making the repairs on the front line, while other men repaired electric systems on the tanks.
Fighting the Japanese for the tankers was made more difficult by the fact that when the tank battalions arrived in the Philippines the only shells that they had been issued for their tanks’ main guns were armor-piercing shells. As it turned out, the Philippine ordnance department had an abundance of anti-personnel shells from World War I. The 17th Ordnance Company converted over 1,000 rounds for use by the tank crews against the Japanese.
A composite tank company was formed the following day under the command of Capt. Donald Hanes, B Co., 192nd. Its job was to protect the East Coast Road north of Hermosa open and to stop Japanese tanks attempting to use it to overrun the next defensive line that was forming. While in this position, the tanks were under constant enemy artillery fire. The rest of the tanks were ordered to bivouac south of the Abucay-Hacienda Road. When word came that a bridge was going to be blown, all the tanks were ordered out of the area, which included the composite company. This could have resulted in a catastrophe, but the Japanese did not take advantage of the situation. The tanks bivouacked south of the Pilar-Bagac Road and about two kilometers from the East Coast Road. It had almost been one month since the tank crews had a rest. At this time, the tanks had maintenance work done on them by the 17th Ordnance Company. Most of the tank tracks had worn down to bare metal and the radial engines had long past their 400-hour overhauls. It was also on this day that the tank platoons were reduced to three tanks per tank platoon.
The remainder of the tanks were ordered to bivouac south of Aubucay Hacienda Road. While there, the tank crews had their first break from action in nearly a month. The tanks, which were long overdue for maintenance, were serviced by 17th Ordnance and the tank crews had two or three days of rest. It was also at this time that tank companies were reduced to ten tanks, with three tanks in each platoon. This was done so that D Company would have tanks. It was on January 9th that the Japanese launched a major offensive on what was called the Aubucay Hacienda line that stretched from Aubucay on the east coast of Bataan to the China Sea on the west.
The Japanese attacked through the Aubucay Hacienda Plantation which was the location of most of the fighting took place. The defenders stated that the bodies of the dead Japanese piled up in front of them and made it more difficult for the next Japanese troops to advance against the line. One tanker from B Co., 192nd, said that when they walked among the Japanese dead, they found hypodermic needles on them. To him, this explained why they kept coming at the tanks even after they had been hit by machine gun fire. The defenders’ artillery was so accurate that the Japanese later stated the defenders were using artillery pieces like they were rifles. The biggest problem was that the defenders had no air cover so they were bombed and stated constantly and were constantly harassed by snipers. The tanks often had the job of protecting the artillery. None of the tank companies liked doing this job since after the guns fired a few rounds a Japanese reconnaissance plane would be sent up to locate the guns. It wasn’t long after this that the Japanese would zero in on where the guns were located. The tankers and artillery crews learned how to “shoot and scoot” very quickly.
It was during this time Capt. Robert Sorensen was replaced as C Company’s commanding officer by Capt. Harold Collins. Also during this time, Capt. Fred Bruni, who was the commanding officer of HQ Company, was made A Company’s CO to replace Capt. Walter Write. At the same time Capt. Sorensen, replaced Capt. Donald Hanes as commanding officer of B Company. Hanes was made commanding officer of HQ Company.
The defenders were ordered to withdraw on the 25th to a new line known as the Pilar-Begac Line. The tanks were given the job of covering 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.
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.
Companies A and C were ordered to the west coast of Bataan, B Company was held in reserve, and 17th Ordnance held the southern shore of Bataan. During the night, they were kept busy with repeated threats both on and offshore. 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. During the day, the Japanese would bomb and strafe the airfields, and at night the engineers would repair the airfields. 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 tank battalions, on January 28th, were given the job of protecting the beaches. The 192nd was assigned the coastline from Paden Point to Limay along Bataan’s east coast, while the battalion’s half-tracks were used to patrol the roads. B Company was defending a beach, along the east coast of Bataan, where the Japanese could land troops. One night while on this duty, the company engaged the Japanese in a firefight as they attempted to land troops on the beach. When morning came, not one Japanese soldier had successfully landed on the beach. The Japanese later told the tankers that their presence on the beaches stopped them from attempting landings.
The tank battalions guarded the two beaches on the eastern side of Bataan where the Japanese could attempt landings. The 194th assigned the coast from Limay to Cacaben and the 192nd was assigned the coastline from Paden Point to Limay. The half-tracks of both battalions were used to patrol the roads. One night while on this duty, the B Co., 192nd, engaged the Japanese in a firefight as they attempted to land troops on the beach. When morning came, not one Japanese soldier had successfully landed on the beach. The Japanese later told the tankers that their presence on the beach stopped them from attempting landings.
While doing this job, the tankers noticed that each morning when the PT boats were off the coast they were attacked by Japanese Zeros. B Company made arrangements with the PT boats to be off the beach one morning and wait for the Zeros to arrive and attack. This time when the Japanese Zeros attacked, 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.
B Company had been up all night on beach duty. Every morning “Recon Joe” flew over attempting to locate the tanks under the jungle canopy. On the morning of February 3rd, the tankers were attempting to get some sleep. Sgt. Walter Cigoi aggravated about the plane waking him up, pulled his half-track onto the beach and took a “pot shot” at the plane but missed. Twenty minutes later, Japanese planes appeared and bombed the position. When the bombs hit the treetops, they exploded. Most of the soldiers took cover in or under the tanks. When the attack was over, the tankers found Pvt. Richard Graff and Pvt. Clemath Peppers were dead. Pvt. Francis McGuire and an unknown member of the company were wounded. The unknown man had his leg partially blown off. The tankers attempted to put him in a jeep but his leg kept flopping and got in the way. To get him into the jeep, his leg was cut off by T/4 Frank Goldstein. Peppers and Graff were buried at the cemetery at Cabcaben Army Airfield.
At the same time, B Company was on beach duty, the battalion took part in the Battle of the Points on the west coast of Bataan where the Japanese landed troops using barges that ended up trapped on points sticking out from Bataan. When they attempted to land reinforcements, they landed in the wrong place. One was the Lapay-Longoskawayan points from January 23rd to 29th, the Quinauan-Aglaloma points from January 22nd to February 8th, and the Sililam-Anyasan points from January 27th to February 13th. The Japanese had been stopped, but the decision was made by Brigadier General Clinton A. Pierce that tanks were needed to support the 45th Infantry Philippine Scouts. He also requested the tanks from the Provisional Tank Group.
On February 2nd, a platoon of C Company tanks was ordered to Quinauan Point where the Japanese had landed troops. The tanks arrived at about 5:15 P.M. He did a quick reconnaissance of the area, and after meeting with the commanding infantry officer, made the decision to drive tanks into the edge of the Japanese position and spray the area with machine-gun fire. The progress was slow but steady until a Japanese 37 milometer gun was spotted in front of the lead tank, and the tanks withdrew. It turned out that the gun had been disabled by mortar fire, but the tanks did not know this at the time.
The decision was made to resume the attack the next morning, so the 45th Infantry dug in for the night. The next day, the tank platoon did reconnaissance before pulling into the front line. They repeated the maneuver and sprayed the area with machine gunfire. As they moved forward, members of the 45th Infantry followed the tanks. The troops made progress all day long along the left side of the line. The major problem the tanks had to deal with was tree stumps which they had to avoid so they would not get hung up on them. The stumps also made it hard for the tanks to maneuver. Coordinating the attack with the infantry was difficult, so the decision was made to bring in a radio car so that the tanks and infantry could talk with each other.
Only 3 of 23 tanks were being used and without the support of infantry and the trick during the attack through the jungle was to avoid large trees and clear a way for the infantry to attack. This they did by thrusting into the jungle. They only became aware of enemy positions when they were fired on. The tanks were supposed to have support from mortars but the ammunition was believed to be defective. It was found that the mortars were manned by inexperienced air corpsmen converted to infantry who had no idea that the arming pins on the mortar shells had to be pulled before firing them so the shells landed and did not explode.
On February 4th, at 8:30 A.M. five tanks and the radio car arrived. The tanks were assigned the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, so each tank commander knew which tank was receiving an order. Each tank also received a walkie-talkie, as well as the radio car and infantry commanders. This was done so that the crews could coordinate the attack with the infantry and so that the tanks could be ordered to where they were needed. The Japanese were pushed back almost to the cliffs when the attack was halted for the night. The attack resumed the next morning and the Japanese were pushed to the cliff line where they hid below the edge of the cliff out of view. It was at that time that the tanks were released to return to the 192nd.
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.
The tank companies also took part in the Battle of the Pockets in February to wipe out Japanese soldiers who had been trapped behind the main defensive line after a Japanese offensive was stopped and pushed back to the original line of defense. The Little Pocket was on top of a hill a quarter mile behind the main line of defense. The Big Pocket was a half mile south of Trails 5 and 7. Fighting in the Big Pocket the tanks would enter the pocket one at a time to replace a tank in the pocket. Another tank did not enter the pocket until a tank exited the pocket. Doing this was so stressful that each tank company was rotated out and replaced by one that was being held in reserve.
To exterminate the Japanese, two methods were used. The first was to have three Filipino soldiers ride on the back of the tank. As the tank went over a Japanese foxhole, the Filipinos dropped three hand grenades into the foxhole. Since the grenades were from WWI, one out of three usually exploded. The other method used to kill the Japanese was to park a tank with one track over the foxhole. The driver gave the other track power resulting in the tank going around in a circle and grinding its way down into the foxhole. The tankers slept upwind of their tanks so they wouldn’t smell the rotting flesh in the tracks.
While the tanks were doing this job, the Japanese sent soldiers, with cans of gasoline, against the tanks. These Japanese attempted to jump onto the tanks, pour gasoline into the vents on the back of the tanks, and set the tanks on fire. If the tankers could not machine gun the Japanese before they got to a tank, the other tanks would shoot them as they stood on a tank. The tankers did not like to do this because of what it did to the crew inside the tank. When the bullets hit the tank, its rivets would pop and wound the men inside the tank.
In the Big Pocket, C Company lost one tank, on February 2nd, that had gone beyond the area controlled by the defenders. The tank was disabled by a thermite mine. It appeared that the crew – Sgt. Elmer Smith, Pvt. Vernor Deck, Pvt. Sidney Rattner, and Pvt. Robert Young – were killed by hand grenades thrown into the tank as they attempted to evacuate it. When the tank was recovered, the battalion’s maintenance section removed the bodies which was a gruesome job. The bodies were so badly mangled that the only way to identify them was by matching personal possessions and clothing to the bodies. One man appeared to have been alive when the Japanese began to fill the tank with dirt from the foxhole they dug under it since a handgun with a spent bullet casing was found in the tank. The tank was put back into service.
During the Battle of Toul Pocket, Cpl. Jack Bruce, A Co., was hit by enemy fire and an attempt was made to rescue him. On February 12th. during this recovery attempt, Sgt. John Hopple, HQ Co, was wounded by a sniper as he, Sgt. Owen Sandmire, A Co., and two other members of the battalion attempted to rescue Bruce. The four men crawled out to Bruce, while under fire, put him on the litter, and returned him to American lines. Three of the four rescuers were wounded. Sandmire drove Hopple and the others who had been wounded to the field hospital. To do this he drove down the west coast of Bataan, through Mariveles, and back up the east coast to the field hospital. Because of the tropical climate, infections set in quickly. Hopple succumbed to his wounds later in the day on February 18th at Hospital #1, Little Baguio, on Bataan.
What made this job of eliminating the Japanese so hard was that they had dug “spider holes” among the roots of the trees. Because of this situation, the Americans could not get a good shot at the Japanese. Since the stress on the crews was tremendous, the tanks rotated into the pocket one at a time. A tank entered the pocket and the next tank waited for the tank that had been relieved to exit the pocket before it would enter. This was repeated until all the tanks in the pocket were relieved.
In another incident, a tank from B Company became wedged between two trees after its driver was blinded by a flame thrower. The crew was ordered out of the tank and told to run. As they ran, the Japanese machine-gunned them. The tank commander was killed instantly, while the other three men made it into a sugarcane field. Only one of the three men was found the next day and was sent to the hospital where he recovered from his wounds. Another man was taken prisoner, while the last man was never heard from again. He may have died from his wounds or was killed by the Japanese. It appears that this tank was also recovered.
The tankers, from A, B, and C Companies, were able to clear the pockets by February 18th, but before this was done, one C Company tank that had gone beyond the American perimeter and was disabled with the crew inside. The tankers stated the tank just sat there, and when the sun came up the next day, the tank was still sitting there. During the night, its crew had attempted to escape the tank and was buried inside the tank, by the Japanese who had dug a machine gun nest under it. When the tank was recovered, it was turned on its side to remove the dirt and recover the bodies of the crew. It was said that one man looked like he was still alive as the tank was filled with dirt. The crew was buried and the tank was put back into use. It was for their performance during this battle that the 192nd Tank Battalion would receive one of its Presidential Unit Citations
The 192nd unlike other units had arrived in the Philippines just before the start of the war, so they did not have the opportunity to stockpile food. The soldiers were hungry and began to eat everything they could get their hands on to eat. 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. To make things worse, the soldiers’ rations were cut in half again on March 1, 1942. This meant that they only ate two meals a day. The Japanese also were dropping surrender leaflets with the picture of a scantily clad blond on them. The Japanese would have been more successful at getting the Americans to surrender if the picture had been a hamburger since the men were so hungry they more likely would have surrendered for a good meal. The one good thing about the leaflets was they were printed on tissue paper which the men used as toilet paper.
The amount of gasoline in March was reduced to 15 gallons a day for all vehicles except the tanks. This would later be dropped to ten gallons a day. It was during this time that Gen Wainwright wanted to turn the tanks into pillboxes. Gen Weaver pointed out to Wainwright that they did not have enough tanks to effectively do this, and if they did, they soon would have no tanks. Gen. Weaver suggested to Gen. Wainwright that a platoon of tanks be sent to Corregidor, but Wainwright declined.
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 newspapers in the U.S. wrote about the lull in Bataan and the preparations for the expected offensive.
Having brought in combat-harden troops from Singapore, the Japanese launched a major offensive on April 3rd supported by artillery and aircraft. The artillery barrage started at 10 AM and lasted until noon and each shell seemed to be followed by another that exploded on top of the previous shell. At the same time, wave after wave of Japanese bombers hit the same area dropping incendiary bombs that set the jungle on fire. The defenders had to choose between staying in their foxholes and being burned to death or seeking safety somewhere else. As the fire approached their foxholes those men who chose to attempt to flee were torn to pieces by shrapnel. It was said that arms, legs, and other body parts hung from tree branches. A large section of the defensive line at Mount Samat was wiped out. The next day a large force of Japanese troops came over Mt. Samat and descended the south face of the volcano. This attack wiped out two divisions of defenders and left a large area of the defensive line open to the Japanese.
A Co. was attached to the 194th Tank Battalion and was on beach duty with A Co., 194th. When the breakthrough came, the two tank companies were directly in the path of the advance. When the Japanese attempted to land troops, their smoke screen blew into their troops causing them to withdraw.
On April 7th, the 57th Infantry, Philippine Scouts, supported by tanks, attempted to restore the line, but Japanese infiltrators prevented this from happening. During this action, one tank was knocked out but the remaining tanks successfully withdrew. C Company, 194th, which was attached to the 192nd, had only seven tanks left. The Japanese attacked the line held by American troops on April 8th. It was said that the Japanese made what the Americans called “A Bridge of Death” where the Japanese threw themselves on the barbed wire until there were enough bodies on it so the following troops could walk over it. The defenders were not only defending against a frontal attack, but they also were defending against attacks on their flanks and rear.
It was the evening of April 8th that Gen. King decided that further resistance was futile, since approximately 25% of his men were healthy enough to fight, and he estimated they would last one more day. In addition, he had over 6,000 troops who were sick or wounded and 40,000 civilians who he feared would be massacred. His troops were on one-quarter rations, and even at that ration, he had two days of food left. He also believed his troops could fight for one more day. Companies B and D, 192nd, and A Company, 194th, were preparing for a suicide attack on the Japanese in an attempt to stop the advance. At 6:00 P.M. tank battalion commanders received this order: “You will make plans, to be communicated to company commanders only, and be prepared to destroy within one hour after receipt by radio, or other means, of the word ‘CRASH’, all tanks and combat vehicles, arms, ammunition, gas, and radios: reserving sufficient trucks to close to rear echelons as soon as accomplished.”
Shortly after daylight Collier and Hunt returned with word of the appointment. It was at about 6:45 A.M. that tank battalion commanders received the order “crash.” Capt. Robert Sorensen, the company commander, ordered the crews to destroy their tanks. They cut the gas lines and threw torches into the tanks. Within minutes, the ammunition inside the tanks began exploding. After this was done, Sorenson and Major John Morley got into his jeep and made their way to Bayakaguin Point which was the command post for the tank group. Behind them in half-tracks were the tank crews of B Company. After arriving there, it was reported the half-tracks were driven off cliffs and several men attempted to reach Corregidor.
It was at 10:00 P.M. that the decision was made to send a jeep – under a white flag – behind enemy lines to negotiate terms of surrender. The problem soon became that no white cloth could be found. Phil Parish, a truck driver for A Company realized that he had bedding buried in the back of his truck and searched for it. The bedding became the “white flags” that were flown on the jeeps. At 11:40 P.M., the ammunition dumps were destroyed. At midnight Companies B and D, and A Company, 194th, received an order from Gen. Weaver to stand down. At 2:oo A.M. April 9, Gen. King sent a jeep under a white flag carrying Colonel Everett C. Williams, Col. James V. Collier, and Major Marshall Hurt to meet with the Japanese commander about terms of surrender. (The driver was from the tank group.)
Shortly after daylight Collier and Hunt returned with word of the appointment. It was at about 6:45 A.M. that tank battalion commanders received the order “crash.” As Gen. King left to negotiate the surrender, he went through the area held by B Company and the 17th Ordnance Company and spoke to the men. He said to them, “Boys. I’m going to get us the best deal I can. When you get home, don’t ever let anyone say to you; you surrendered. I was the one who surrendered.” Gen. King with his two aides, Maj. Wade R. Cothran and Captain Achille C. Tisdelle Jr. got into a jeep carrying a large white flag. Another jeep followed them – 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 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.”
Joe was next posted on a machine-gun detail with two other members of the 192nd who each worked a two-hour shift. The machine gun covered an area that the Japanese could attack through. One night Joe was doing his shift when a Sgt. Chuck Kimberly told him of the surrender, so he finished the shift and left the other two men to sleep. The next morning they destroyed the machine gun and not that long afterward, Japanese soldiers came through the clearing that their machine gun had covered. The Japanese soldiers searched Joe and the others. The first soldier took his watch, the next Japanese soldier took his lighter and gave him matches, and a third soldier took the matches.
He rejoined the company and it made its way to Mariveles and stayed there for a day. They were fed a spoonful of rice and a square piece of bacon. Joe and two other men pulled their food so that they would each get a larger portion. At some point, they were ordered to form detachments of 100 men and then ordered to move. They had no idea that they had started what they called, “the march.”
The first five miles were extremely hard because they were uphill. The beatings and killings started almost at the same time as the march started. One guard would beat a POW while five minutes later another guard would give the POW a cigarette. The guards were assigned to march a certain distance so they often made the POWs march at a faster pace. Those men who were sick had a hard time keeping up and if they fell out were bayoneted or shot. When the distance was covered, the column was stopped and allowed to rest and the guards were replaced with new guards who also wanted to complete their part of the march as fast as possible.
Joe recalled that the POWs had no food, no water, and no rest. On the march, he tried to help the weaker POWs march. One of these was Maj. Havelock Nelson. The worst part of the march was the lack of water and the heat. At the end of each day, the POWs were placed in a bullpen for the night. The next day the prisoners were led out of the pen four at a time. When 100 men had been counted, their march would start anew. Only those prisoners who marched were fed and those who stayed in the bullpens were not fed or given anything to drink.
On the fourth day of the march, Joe and the other Prisoners Of War heard a rumor that the injured would be driven to the POW camp. Joe began to act like he was lame. He slowly began to fall behind his group. To his left was a guard, the guard looked at Joe and chased him with his bayonet pointed at Joe. He recalled that the prisoners marched well into the night, and as they marched, were unaware that they were marching on the bodies of the dead who had been run over by Japanese trucks.
Joe also recalled, “Some of the Filipinos would try to hand you food. They had to sneak it to you or the Japanese would shoot them. There were artesian wells along the way, but the Japanese didn’t want us to drink.”
“I was thirsty, so I sneaked over to one to fill my mess kit cup. I saw a dead American soldier laying there, so I went downstream from him. There were a couple more lying there. I knelt down to fill my cup, and I heard a bullet whistle by my head.”
At Lamao, the POWs were herded into a corrugated metal warehouse, with a concrete floor, for the night. Suddenly, there were two shots and no one knew what happened but they believed that it was a warning to the prisoners to quiet down. The floor of the building was covered with human waste and the men slept in it. The next morning the prisoners exited the building and continued the march.
Not too far from Lamao, there was evidence that heavy fighting had taken place there. There were the bloated bodies of many Filipinos lying on the ground. One headless body lay in the middle of the road. A few yards away lay the head. It looked like it had been chopped off the body.
They continued the march, they were marched through Layac and Lubao. Clouds were drifting slowly by when he heard someone say, “Send it down J. C.” Suddenly, a light shower began to fall on the POWs and then the rain got heavier many of the men opened their mouths in an attempt to get water. The guards allowed the POWs to lie on the road. The rain revived many of the POWs and gave them the strength to complete the march.
At Orani, the POWs were put in a bullpen and ordered to lay down. In the morning, the POWs realized that they had been lying in the human waste of POWs who had already used the bullpen. At noon, he received his first food. It was a meal of rice and salt. Later in the day, other POWs arrived in Orani. One group was the enlisted members of the tank group. They had walked the entire way to the barrio.
At San Fernando, the POWs were put in another bullpen. In one corner was a slit trench that was the washroom for the POWs. The surface of it moved from the maggots. It is not known how long he was held in the bullpen and if he was fed while there. At some point, the POWs were ordered to form detachments of 100 men and were taken to the train station. There they were packed into small wooden boxcars used to haul sugarcane. The cars were known as “forty or eights” since they could hold forty men or eight horses. Since each detachment had 100 POWs in it, the Japanese put 100 POWs into each boxcar. The POWs were packed in so tightly that those who died remained standing since there was no room for them to fall to the floors of the cars. At Capas, the POWs disembarked and the dead fell to the floors of the cars.
When the prisoners got off the train, there were Japanese offering them money to buy food. The POWs had no idea why they were doing this. The Filipino civilians gave the POWs food and the guards did not stop them. From Capas, the POWs walked the last miles to Camp O’Donnell which was an unfinished Filipino training base that the Japanese pressed into use as a POW camp on April 1, 1942, because the Japanese believed the camp could hold 15,000 to 20,000 POWs. The POWs were held in two camps with the Americans held on one side of the road while the Filipinos were held on the other side of the road.
When they arrived at the camp, the Japanese confiscated any extra clothing that the POWs had and refused to return it to them. They also searched the POWs and if a man was found to have Japanese money on them, they were taken to the guardhouse. Joe counted 38 men who were separated from the rest of the POWs. Over the next several days, gunshots were heard to the southeast of the camp. These POWs had been executed for looting. Joe was thankful that he had not taken the money at Capas, and he was even more thankful that the Japanese soldier had taken the matches from him.
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.
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, but the Japanese never had a shortage of water. This situation improved when a second faucet was added.
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 in the POW kitchens and in the food.
The POWs received three meals a day. For breakfast, they were fed a half cup of soupy rice and occasionally some type of coffee. Lunch each day was a half of a mess kit of steamed rice and a half cup of sweet potato soup. They received the same meal for dinner. All meals were served outside regardless of the weather. There was not enough housing for the POWs and most slept under buildings or on the ground. The barracks were designed for 40 men but those who did sleep in one slept in a barracks it was with as many as 80 to 120 men.
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.
To get out of Camp O’Donnell, Joe volunteered to go out on a work detail to rebuild the bridges they had destroyed during the withdrawal into Bataan. Three Hundred POWs arrived at Calauan on May 10th, from there, the POWs were divided up into detachments and sent to different barrios. In Joe’s case, he was sent to a sawmill near Lipa Batangas. Joe recalled that he and the other POWs slept on the ground. He also said that each POW had to pick up a log and carry it to the mill.
It was in May when his family received a message from the War Department.
Dear Miss M. Lajzer :
According to War Department records, you have been designated as the emergency addressee of Private Joseph D. Lajzer, 35,017,526, 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.
Mr. F. Wisniowski
Report had been received that your son, Private Joseph E. Wisniowski, 36,016,232, Infantry, is now a prisoner of war to the Japanese Government in the Philippine Islands. This is to confirm my telegram of February –, 1943.
The Provost Marshall General, Prisoner of War Information Bureau, Washington, D. C., will furnish you the address to which mail may be sent. Any future correspondence in connection with his status as a prisoner of war should be addressed to that office.
Very Truly yours
(signed)
J. A. Ulio
Major General
The Adjutant General
On the detail, Joe and his fellow POWs had one of the few moments that could be described as humorous. The POWs had been working in the hot sun and wanted a break. Joe being the brave one went up to the Japanese officer in charge of the detail and in his poor Japanese, asked the officer for a break for the POWs. The officer did not respond. Joe returned to his fellow POWs cursing in English and Polish about the officer. The officer looked at him and said in perfect English that Joe was right and that the men deserved a break. Joe felt pretty silly. When the officer was done talking, Joe asked him where he had learned to speak English. As it turned out, the officer had been educated at a university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He told Joe he returned to Japan to visit his mother and father and that the Japanese government would not let him out of the country.
Later in the day, an American sergeant escaped. During the escape, a Japanese soldier had been killed. The Japanese had forty Filipinos and seven GIs lined up. A Japanese lieutenant had a hat with 22 pieces of paper in it. He came up to Joe and the POWs he was with and told each man to pull out a sheet of paper. Three sheets of paper had “Xs” on them. He told them that the men who pulled out the sheets with the “Xs” would be killed. Another lieutenant, who went to the school in the U. S. came by and asked what was going on, when he found out, he said to the first Japanese officer that Joe and the other POWs had been with him. This prevented them from being executed.
He remained on the detail until September 8th when the POWs were sent to Cabanatuan which had opened to replace Camp O’Donnell. Cabanatuan was three camps. Camp 1 was where most of the men who captured on Bataan and took part in the march were held. Camp 2 did not have an adequate water supply and was closed, but it later reopened and housed Naval POWs. Camp 3 was where most of those men captured when Corregidor surrendered were taken and it was later consolidated into Camp 1 on October 30th.
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.”
Rice was the main food given to the POWs fed to them as “lugow” which meant “wet rice.” The rice smelled and appeared to have been swept up off the floor. The other problem was that the men assigned to be cooks had no idea of how to prepare the rice since they had no experience in cooking it. During their time in the camp, they received few vegetables and almost no fruit. Once in a while, the POWs received corn to serve to the prisoners. From the corn, the cooks would make hominy. The prisoners were so hungry that some men would eat the corn cobs. This resulted in many men being taken to the hospital to have the cobs removed because they would not pass through the men’s bowels. Sometimes they received bread, and if they received fish it was rotten and covered with maggots.
To supplement their diets, the men would search for grasshoppers, rats, and dogs to eat. The POWs assigned to handing out the food used a sardine can to ensure that each man received the same amount. They were closely watched by their fellow prisoners who wanted to make sure that everyone received the same portion and that no one received extra rice.
The enlisted POWs were sent out on work details to cut wood for the POW kitchens. Other POWs worked in rice paddies. Each morning, as the POWs stood at attention and roll call was taken, the Japanese guards hit them across their heads. While working in the fields, the favorite punishment given to the men in the rice paddies was to have their faces pushed into the mud and stepped on by a guard to drive their faces deeper into the mud. A typical day on any detail lasted from 7:00 A.M. until 5:00 P.M. Returning from a detail the POWs bought or were given, medicine, food, and tobacco, which they somehow managed to get into the camp even though they were searched when they returned.
The burial detail was one the hardest details to work. The cemetery was in a swamp area less than a half-mile from the camp. The prisoners were divided into work crews. The first crew would dig the graves. The second crew would carry the dead in shoulder litters to the graves. A chaplain would conduct a service at the grave. Phil and the other prisoners would salute the man as he was lowered into the grave. Since the water table was high, the body would be held down while the POWs covered it with dirt. The next, just like Camp O’Donnell, the dead were often sitting up in the graves or dug up by wild dogs.
Six POWs were executed on June 26th by the Japanese after they had left the camp to buy food and were caught returning to camp. The POWs were tied to posts in a manner that they could not stand up or sit down. No one was allowed to give them food or water and they were not permitted to give them hats to protect them from the sun. The men were left tied to the posts for 48 hours when their ropes were cut. Four of the POWs were executed on the duty side of the camp and the other two were executed on the hospital side of the camp.
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 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.
After arriving in the camp, Joe began to suffer from hemorrhoids and was put into Zero Ward on Tuesday, September 9, 1942. He recalled that he was surrounded by dying men. To get out of the ward, Joe would take a walk. It would take him four hours to walk a block and four more to walk back. He was finally discharged on Friday, October 16th.
While he was in the hospital from September to December, the Japanese issued numbers to the POWs. The first POWs to receive them sailed for Manchuria on October 8th on the Tottori Maru. It was at this time that Joe became POW 1-07007 This was his number as long as he remained in the Philippines.
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 12th 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.
It is not known when and if his family learned he was a Prisoner of War. It is possible that they never learned he was alive until he was liberated.
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.
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. 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 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, fought 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.
POWs stated the the Japanese commandant liked to kill POWs. On March 1, 1944, the POWs watched as a POW was bayoneted the man to death. On another occasion, a POW was beaten for 20 minutes on his legs with a club. Several days later, he was taken from the guard house to a clump of trees. The next morning the POWs were told to make a cross for his grave. On another occasion in August 1944, when one POW asked for more food all the POWs were lined up and required to walk pass the Japanese guards who hit them with pick handles, rifle butts and bamboo poles for complaining. They also made POWs kneel and placed a bamboo pole behind the POW knees to cut off circulation. Often this lasted for three days without the man receiving any water or food.
Later in 1944, while the POWs were building runways, the airfield was attacked by American planes. For safety, they hid in the revetments as the planes strafed and bombed the field. As they watched the events, they enjoyed watching the damage the planes were doing. The detail ended in August 1944 and the POWs were sent to Bilibid Prison which was the processing center for POWs being sent to Japan or another part of its empire. The POWs received a basic physical and those who failed it – usually because they had dysentery – remained at the prison until they were considered healthy enough to be sent to Japan or another occupied country.
A list of POWs being sent to Japan was posted at the prison on September 21st and on October 1st the POWs were taken to Pier 7 in Manila, where the detachment of POWs boarded the Hokusen Maru – the ship was a captured French freighter – but the ship did not sail until October 3rd. It was said by men on the ship that there were 750 prisoners crowded into a hold just a few feet larger than a master bedroom. The ship moved and dropped anchor at the harbor’s breakwater and remained there for three days. The temperature in the hold rose to over 100 degrees causing some men to go crazy. The Japanese threatened to kill the POWs if they didn’t quiet the men. To do this, the sane POWs strangled those out of their minds or hit them with canteens. It was said that their food was a little rice and very little water, that there was no ventilation or sanitary facilities, that many died of suffocation, and that most of the POWs suffered from dysentery and malaria. At first, the POWs were allowed on deck to relieve themselves, but this was changed to buckets tied to ropes that were used to haul the excrement from the hold. As they were pulled up, the buckets hit the hold’s walls spilling the waste onto the POWs. The POWs called the ship the Benjo Maru (toilet in Japanese) because of the conditions in the hold.
In the hold, there was no place to lie down, so the POWs rested on top of a pile of coal. The POWs stood and squatted with their knees under their chins, in shifts, all of the 38 days they were in the hold. At 5:00 P.M., each day, steamed rice was sent down in buckets, but most of the POWs were too sick to eat. Those who could eat ate as much as they could. Water was also sent down in pockets, and it appears that there was simply not enough for all the POWs.
As part of a ten-ship convoy, (some sources say thirteen ships were in the convoy) it sailed again on October 4th and stopped at Cabcaban. The next day, it was at San Fernando La Union, where the ships were joined by four more ships and five escorts. The ships stayed close to the shoreline to prevent submarine attacks which failed since, on October 6th, two of the ships were sunk. The attacks continued for the next several days and the POWs lived in fear of the ship being sunk. The ships’ captains were informed, on October 9th, that American carriers were seen near Formosa and sailed for Hong Kong when it was informed that American planes were in the area. The ships changed course during this part of the trip and attempted to reach Hong Kong. The ships ran into American submarines which sank two more ships. It was said that only three of the ships reached the island.
Cpl. Wade Chio, C Co.,192nd, said, “There were a thousand of us in a hold, 40-by-40. There wasn’t room to lie down or stand up. You had to sit, and you defalcated and urinated right where you sat. Finally, towards the end of the trip, the Japanese decided to fill our canteens with salt water. Some of the guys drank it and it killed them.”
The Hokusen Maru arrived in Hong Kong on October 11th and 50 PWs at a time were allowed on deck and allowed to wash with seawater. While it was in port on October 16th, 27 B-29s bombed the harbor followed by 8 P-51s. The ship nearest to the Hokusen Maru took several hits and was a wreck. The ship left the dock on October 18th and moved around the harbor. A bomb from a sole plane hit close to the ship while it was maneuvering in the harbor. Two days later, the POWs heard explosions as several ships were hit by torpedoes from American submarines. It was said by Capt. Alvin Poweleit, Tank Group, that the ships were sinking before the debris from the explosions hit the water. The ships were close enough to Formosa for the Japanese to send out planes that dropped depth charges. On October 21st, the ship sailed for Takao, Formosa, arriving on October 24th. According to some sources, only three of the ten ships in the convoy reached the island. Four survivors of the Arisan Maru were put on the ship on the 29th. One of the men was dying but the other three were in good health. When they were allowed to talk to the other POWs, they told them about the ship’s sinking and how the POWs were left to die.
The POWs remained in the ship’s hold until November 8th. It was on that date the Japanese had decided they were too ill to be sent to Japan. The POWs were brought up on deck for physicals by Japanese doctors. Some were so weak that they had to be pulled from the holds with ropes. It was at this time that it was estimated that 200 POWs had died during the trip. The POWs were marched down the gang blank, taken ashore that same day, and washed down with saltwater. The POWs formed detachments of 100 men and marched through Takao. The Chinese threw stones at them. The POWs boarded a train and most of the POWs, but not all of them, were sent to Inrin Temporary which was specifically opened for them. The POWs worked in a garden and cleaned up the camp.
The POWs did light work and gardened. The healthier POWs worked at a sugar mill. The Japanese told the POWs that if the Americans invaded Formosa they would all be killed. When the Japanese decided to send the Hokusen Maru POWs to Japan, they determined Joe was too ill to go. Joe was reassigned to OKA Camp where the POWs constructed runways. Joe also was held at Heito and Taihoku #6 and was one of eleven Americans held in his camp. Joe also worked on a sanitation detail at one of the camps. He recalled two men would carry a bucket and dump it into a concrete pool.
The prisoners had no idea how the war was going. The first hint that something was happening was when they saw B-29s and P-38s over the island. The P-38s were involved in dogfights with Japanese planes. Around September 1, 1945, food was dropped for the POWs from planes. The Japanese then gave each POW five cigarettes and a handful of peanuts. The POWs were told that they did not have to work that day.
On September 6, 1945, the U.S. Navy came to the island, and the POWs were liberated. It was at that time that his parents received another message from the War Department.
“Mr. Katherine Lajzer: The secretary of war has asked me to inform you that your son, Pvt. Joseph D. Lajzer was returned to military control Sept. 6 and is being returned to the United States within the near future. He will be given the opportunity to communicate with you upon his arrival if he has not already done so.
“E. F. Witsell
“Acting Adjutant General of the Army”
In September 1945, Joseph was returned to the Philippine Islands for medical treatment. He was boarded onto the U.S.S. Yarmouth and arrived in San Francisco on October 8, 1945.
Joseph Lajzer married, Adelina Lopez, and became a father of two children. He re-enlisted, but this time in the U.S. Air Force. He was a veteran of the Vietnam War, and after Vietnam, he was an airplane mechanic at Kelly Air Force Base. When he retired from the Air Force, he resided in San Antonio, Texas.
Joseph Lazjer passed away on March 16, 2013, in San Antonio, Texas. He was buried at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas. The photograph at the top of this page was taken immediately after Joe was liberated from the POW camp on Formosa.
