PFC Fred Jack Bolinger was born on August 23, 1919, in Truth, Arkansas, to Samuel W. Bolinger and Aura C. Fowler-Bolinger. With his eight sisters and four brothers, he lived near Wharton, Arkansas, but by 1936, he was living at 801 East Works in Sheridan, Wyoming, and working for his brother-in-law, Charles Mitchell, as a truck driver. His family and friends called him Freddie. In 1939, he joined the Wyoming National Guard as a member of the 115th U.S. Calvary. Although he was in the National Guard, he registered when the Selective Service Act took effect on October 16, 1940, and named his sister, Martha Mitchell, as his contact person. Freddie joined the 115th Calvary which was a Wyoming National Guard unit that was federalized on February 24, 1941, in Sheridan, Wyoming, and sent to Fort Lewis, Washington, for training. According to Fred, he did his basic training at the base.
In August 1941, the 194th Tank Battalion took part in maneuvers. During the maneuvers, the battalion was ordered back to Ft. Lewis, where its members learned they were being sent overseas. The reason for the deployment was a point of debate. The story that Col. Ernest Miller, in his book Bataan Uncensored, told was that the decision to send the battalion overseas was made on August 15, 1941, and was the result of an event that took place in the summer of 1941.
In the story, a squadron of American fighters was flying over Lingayen Gulf, in the Philippines, when one of the pilots, who was flying at a lower altitude, noticed something odd. He took his plane down and identified a flagged buoy in the water and saw another in the distance. He came upon more buoys that lined up, in a straight line for 30 miles to the northwest, in the direction of Taiwan which had a large radio transmitter used by the Japanese military. The squadron continued its flight plan south to Mariveles and returned to Clark Field. When the planes landed, it was too late to do anything that day. The next day, when another squadron was sent to the area, the buoys had been picked up by a fishing boat – with buoys covered on its deck covered by a tarp – which was seen making its way to shore. Since communication between the Air Corps and the Navy was difficult, the boat escaped. It was at that time the decision was made to build up the American military presence in the Philippines.
The fact was that on August 13, 1941, Congress voted to extend federalized National Guard units’ time in the regular Army by 18 months. That same day, Major Miller was ordered to fly to Ft. Knox. The next day after he arrived, he was told the 194th was being sent overseas. On August 18, Miller stopped in Brainerd to see his family after receiving the battalion’s orders. When asked, he informed the Brainerd Daily Dispatch that the battalion was being sent overseas, but he did not disclose where they were being sent. He later flew to Minneapolis and then flew to Ft. Lewis.
Different newspapers speculated that the battalion was being sent to the Philippines. The reality was there were only three places where the tanks could be sent; Alaska, Hawaii, or the Philippines. Alaska was already eliminated since B Company was being sent there. The fact was that the battalion was part of the First Tank Group which was headquartered at Ft. Knox and operational by June 1941. Available information suggests that the tank group had been selected to be sent to the Philippines early in 1941. Besides the 194th, the tank group was made up of the 70th and 191st medium tank battalions at Ft. Meade, Maryland. The 70th was a regular Army tank battalion while the 191st had been a National Guard tank battalion. The 193rd at Ft. Benning, Georgia, and the 192nd at Ft. Knox, Kentucky, were also part of the tank group. The 192nd, 193rd, and 194th had been National Guard light tank battalions. It is also known that the 193rd Tank Battalion had sailed for Hawaii – on its way to the Philippines – when Pearl Harbor was attacked. After it arrived in Hawaii, the battalion was held there. One of the two medium tank battalions – most likely the 191st – had received standby orders for the Philippines, but the orders were canceled on December 10 because the war with Japan had started. Some military documents from the time show the name of the Provisional Tank Group in the Philippines as the First Provisional Tank Group.
The battalion’s new tanks were sent west from Ft. Knox, Kentucky, where they had been requisitioned by an officer of the 192nd Tank Battalion, 2nd Lt. William Gentry, for the battalion. Gentry was given written orders from the War Department giving him authority to take tanks from any unit so the 194th had its full complement of tanks. In some cases, the tanks he took had just arrived at the fort on flatcars and were about to be unloaded when he and his detachment arrived and took the tanks from soldiers waiting to unload them. From Ft. Knox, the tanks were sent west by train and were waiting for the battalion at Ft. Mason.
It was at this time men who were 29 years old or older and/or married were allowed to be transferred from the battalion. Freddie stated that he was led to believe the entire 194th was being sent to Alaska, and since he had a sister living there that he wanted to see, he volunteered to join the battalion. He joined the 194th Tank Battalion as it prepared to go overseas and was assigned to A Company – and the tank crew of Sgt. Herb Strobel as a radioman – to replace a National Guardsman released from service. On September 4, 1941, the 194th, without B Company, was sent to Ft. Mason, north of San Francisco, by train and arrived at 7:30 A.M. on the 5th. From there, they were ferried, on the U.S.A.T. General Frank M. Coxe to Ft. MacDowell on Angel Island where they were inoculated. Those men with medical conditions were replaced with men who had never trained in tanks.
The battalion’s new tanks had to have their turrets removed to fit them in the ship’s hold. So that the turrets went on the tanks they came off of, the tanks’ serial numbers were painted on the turrets. The soldiers boarded the U.S.A.T. President Calvin Coolidge and sailed at 9:00 P.M. for the Philippine Islands on September 8 and found themselves living in the ship’s hold with the tanks. When the ship sailed, Fred thought he was on his way to Alaska. The tanks were lashed down but one tank broke loose and rolled into the ship’s hull – with each wave – until it was lashed down again. Almost every soldier was suffering from seasickness. The ship arrived at 7:00 A.M. on September 13 in Honolulu, Hawaii, which totally surprised Freddie. The soldiers were given four-hour passes ashore. At 5:00 PM, the ship sailed. The next morning, they learned their destination. Freddie said, “They told us just after we had our breakfast that we were headed to the Philippines. We were the first troops they moved under President Roosevelt. We landed in September.”
On the next leg of the voyage, the ship was joined by the heavy cruiser, U.S.S. Astoria, the U.S.S. Guadalupe, a replenishment oiler, and an unknown destroyer. The ships crossed the International Dateline on Tuesday, September 16, and the date became Thursday, September 18. A few days past Guam, the soldiers saw the first islands of the Philippines. The ships sailed south along the east coast of Luzon, around the southern end of the island, and up the west coast. On Friday, September 26, the ships entered Manila Bay at about 7:00 in the morning. The soldiers remained on board and disembarked at 3:00 P.M. and were bused to Fort Stotsenburg. The battalion’s maintenance section, remained behind at the pier, with the 17th Ordnance Company, to unload the tanks and reattach the tanks’ turrets which had been removed so the tanks would fit in the ship’s hold.
Upon arriving at the fort, they were greeted by General Edward P. King Jr. who apologized that they had to live in tents and receive their meals from food trucks until their barracks were completed on November 15. He informed the battalion he had learned of their arrival just days before they arrived. After he was satisfied that they were settled in, he left them. That night there was heavy rain and many of the tents flooded. The soldiers also quickly learned not to leave their boots on the ground or they would be covered with mold. After spending three weeks in tents, they moved into their barracks on October 18. The barracks were described as being on stilts. The walls were a weaved matting called sawali that ran up from the floor for five feet. This allowed the men to dress in privacy. Above five feet the walls were open and allowed for breezes to blow through the barracks making them more comfortable than the tents. There were no doors or windows. The wood that was used for the support beams was the best mahogany available. For personal hygiene, a man was lucky if he was near a faucet with running water when he got up in the morning.
The days were described as hot and humid, but if a man was able to find shade it was cooler in the shade. The nights never really cooled down and were always hot. The Filipino winter had started when they arrived and by morning the soldiers needed a blanket. They turned in all their wool uniforms and were issued cotton shirts and trousers which were the regular uniform in the Philippines. They were also scheduled to receive sun helmets.
A typical workday was from 7:00 to 11:30 A.M. with an hour and a half lunch. The afternoon work time was from 1:30 to 2:30 P.M. At that time, it was considered too hot to work, but the battalion continued working and called it, “recreation in the motor pool.” Tank commanders studied books on their tanks and instructed their crews on the 30 and 50-caliber machine guns. The tankers learned to dismantle the guns and put them together. They did it so often that many men could take the guns apart and assemble them while wearing blindfolds. They never fired the guns because Gen. King could not get Gen. MacArthur to release ammunition for them.
For the next several weeks, the tankers spent their time removing the cosmoline from their weapons. They also had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with their M3 tanks. None of them had ever trained in one during their time at Ft. Lewis. In October, the battalion was allowed to travel to Lingayen Gulf. This was done under simulated conditions that enemy troops had landed there. Two months later, enemy troops would land there. It is known that they were paid at least once after arriving which was confusing since they were paid in pesos and centavos and the men at first had to learn how much things cost in a new currency.
At the end of their workday, the men had free time. The fort had a bowling alley and movie theaters. The men also played softball, horseshoes, and badminton. Men would also throw footballs around. On Wednesday afternoons, the men went swimming. Once a month, men put their names for the chance to go into Manila. The number of men allowed on these trips was limited. Other men were allowed to go to Aarayat National Park where there was a swimming pool that was filled with mountain water. Other men went canoeing at the Pagsanjan Falls and stated the scenery was beautiful.
The 192nd Tank Battalion arrived in the Philippines on November 20. It was at this time that the process of transferring the battalion’s D Company to the 194th was begun which would give each tank battalion three tank companies. The 192nd was sent to the Philippines with a great deal of radio equipment to set up a radio school to train radio operators for the Philippine Army. The battalion had a large number of ham radio operators and set up a communications tent that was in contact with the United States within hours after its arrival. The communications monitoring station in Manila went crazy attempting to figure out where all these new radio messages were coming from. When it was informed it was the 192nd, they gave the battalion frequencies to use and men were able to send messages home to their families.
With the arrival of the 192nd Tank Battalion, the Provisional Tank Group was activated on November 27. Besides the 194th, the tank group contained the 192nd and the 17th Ordnance Company which arrived in the Philippines with the 194th joined on the 29th. 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. James Weaver who had been put in command of the 192nd in San Francisco left the 192nd and was appointed head of the tank group and promoted to brigadier general.
It is known that during this time the battalions went on at least two practice reconnaissance missions under the guidance of the 194th. They traveled to Baguio on one maneuver and to the Lingayen Gulf on the other maneuver. Gen. Weaver, the tank group commander, was able to get ammunition from the post’s ordnance department on the 30th, but the tank group could not get time at one of the firings ranges at the base.
The tanks also took part in an alert that was scheduled for November 30. What was learned during this alert was that moving the tanks to their assigned positions at night was a disaster. In particular, the 194th’s position below Watch Hill was among drums of 100-octane fuel and the entire bomb reserve for the airfield. The next day the tanks were ordered back to the airfield to guard against Japanese paratroopers after reconnaissance planes reported Japanese transports milling about in a large circle in the South China Sea. The 194th’s position was moved to an area between the two runways below Watch Hill. From this time on, two tank crew members remained with each tank at all times and were fed from food trucks.
It was the men manning the radios in the 192nd’s communication tent who were the first to learn of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 8. Major Ernest Miller, Major Ted Wickord, CO, 192nd, Captain Richard Kadel, CO, 17th Ordnance Company, and Gen. Weaver read the messages of the attack. Maj. Miller left the tent and informed the officers of the 194th about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. All the members of the tank crews were ordered to their tanks which were joined by the battalion’s half-tracks. Besides Sgt. Strobel, the other members of Fred’s tank crew were Privates Max Dobson and Alfonso Lopez.
Around 8:00 A.M., the planes of the Army Air Corps took off and filled the sky. No matter what direction they looked American planes could be seen. At noon, the planes landed and lined up – near the pilots’ mess hall – in a straight line to be refueled. While the planes were being serviced, the pilots went to lunch. The members of the tank crews received their lunches from the battalion’s food trucks.
At 12:45 in the afternoon on December 8, 1941, just ten hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the company lived through the Japanese attack on Clark Field. The tankers were eating lunch when planes approached the airfield from the north. At first, they thought the planes were American and counted 54 planes in formation. They then saw what looked like “raindrops” falling from the planes. It was only when bombs began exploding on the runways that the tankers knew the planes were Japanese. It was stated that no sooner had one wave of planes finished bombing and were returning to Formosa than another wave came in and bombed. The second wave was followed by a third wave of bombers.
The bombers were quickly followed by Japanese fighters that sounded like angry bees to the tankers as they strafed the airfield. The tankers watched as American pilots attempted to get their planes off the ground. As they roared down the runway, Japanese fighters strafed the planes causing them to swerve, crash, and burn. Those that did get airborne were barely off the ground when they were hit. The planes exploded and crashed to the ground tumbling down the runways. The Japanese planes were as low as 50 feet above the ground and the pilots would lean out of the cockpits so they could more accurately pick out targets to strafe. The tankers said they saw the pilots’ scarfs flapping in the wind. One tanker stated that a man with a shotgun could have shot a plane down.
When the Japanese were finished, there was not much left of the airfield. The soldiers watched as the dead, the dying, and the wounded were hauled to the hospital on bomb racks, trucks, and anything else, that could carry the wounded, was in use. When the hospital filled, they watched the medics place the wounded under the building. Many of these men had their arms and legs missing. One of the results of the attack was D Company was never transferred to the 194th and remained part of the 192nd throughout the Battle of the Philippines.
The tankers lived through another attack on December 10. On the night of the 12th, the battalion was ordered to bivouac south of San Fernando near the Calumpit Bridge. Attempting to move the battalion at night was a nightmare, and they finally arrived at their new bivouac at 6:00 A.M. on December 13. On the 15th, the battalion received 15 Bren gun carriers but turned some over to the 26th Cavalry, Philippine Scouts. These were manned by grounded Air Corps men and used to test the ground to see if it could support the weight of tanks. That night the tanks left Clark Field the tanks and took positions along the bank of a river. During this time, little happened, but the tankers were strafed a few times by Japanese planes. According to members of the company, the 194th was sent to Southern Luzon and remained there for about two weeks. They then went back north toward the Lingayen Gulf.
On December 22, they were ordered to the Agno River near Carmen. There, they engaged the Japanese. The Japanese attempted to cross the river in several places. The tankers fired on them with their machine guns killing as many as 500 enemy troops. On the night of December 22, the battalions were operating north of the Agno River when they found that the bridge they were supposed to use had been bombed. On December 23 and 24, the battalion was in the area of Urdaneta and found the bridge they were going to use to cross the Agno River was destroyed. The tankers made an end run to get south of the river and ran into Japanese resistance early in the evening, but they successfully crossed the river in the Bayambang Province. Later on the 24, the battalions formed a defensive line along the southern bank of the Agno River with the tanks of the 192nd holding the Agno River from Carmen to Tayug, and the 194th holding the line on the Carmen-Alcala-Bautista Road.
According to Col. Ernest Miller, on Saturday, December 26, the tanks were parked awaiting orders on the south bank of the Agno River. It was about 2:45 in the afternoon when mortar shells began landing around the tanks on the right flank. The tanks were shuttling back and forth to make it difficult for the Japanese to find the range. Herbert was standing in the turret of his tank attempting to get it in a new position when one shell exploded in the treetops above his tank. Herbert did not have a chance to close the turret hatch and was hit by shrapnel. He fell into the tank.
Freddies told a slightly different story, “The first day we was engaged with the Japs, I was up on the Agno River about 30 miles from Lingayen Gulf, and I lost my tank. There were four of us in the tank. I was on the radio. The shell hit just above the turret and got the tank commander, but he saved our lives, Herb Strobel, he was the commander. Dobson and Lopez were wounded. I was the only one that got out with just a scratch. I got a piece of shrapnel down between my fingers. And I was scared. But after that I never worried a whole lot; I just – well to be honest with you, I just prayed to the Lord to help guide us. And I promised the Lord that if he helped and guide me, I’d just do the best I could (after the surrender). I never had a whole lot of hopes about gettin’ back, but I just done the best I could. Them that did give up, didn’t get back. That’s the best way I can explain it.”
The 192nd received the order to withdraw, but for some unknown reason, the 194th did not receive the order. The battalion finally was ordered to withdraw and 1st Lt. Harold Costigan informed the members of A Company, and D Company, 192nd, that they would have to fight their way out. The tanks fought their way through Carmen losing two tanks but saving the crews except for Capt. Edward Burke. He had been hit by enemy fire and presumed dead. D Company found the bridge they were supposed to cross had been destroyed and abandoned their tanks. The company commander had them disable the tanks, but he hoped they would be recovered, but they were captured and put into use by the Japanese. One tank commander found a place to ford the river and – at gunpoint – got his driver to take the tank across the river. He received the Silver Star for saving the tank.
The tankers were at Santo Tomas near Cabanatuan on December 27, and at San Isidro south of Cabanatuan on December 28 and 29. On January 1, conflicting orders were received by the defenders who were attempting to stop the Japanese advance down Route 5. Doing this would allow the Southern Luzon Forces to withdraw toward Bataan. 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, about withdrawing from the bridge and half of the defenders withdrawing. Due to the efforts of the Self-Propelled Mounts, the 71st Field Artillery, and a frenzied attack by the 192nd Tank Battalion the Japanese were halted.
From January 2 to 4, the 192nd held the road open from San Fernando to Dinalupihan so the Southern forces could escape while the 194th held the bridge open. The tanks and Self Propelled Mounts were the only units that held the line against the Japanese at Guagua on January 5. It was also in January 1942, 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.
On the night of January 5, the tank battalion was holding a position near Lubao. It was about 2:00 in the morning when one of the battalion’s outposts challenged approaching soldiers that turned out to be Japanese. When they attacked, the Japanese were mowed down by the guns of the tanks. The Japanese sent up flares to show where the American tanks were located and then charged toward the tanks through an open field and were mowed down. When the Japanese disengaged at 3:00 A.M., there were large numbers of Japanese dead and wounded in front of the tanks.
At 2:30 A.M., on January 6, the Japanese attacked Remedios in force using smoke which was an attempt by the Japanese to destroy the tank battalions. The wind was blowing in the wrong direction and the smoke blew toward the Japanese. That night the tanks withdrew into the peninsula with the 192nd holding its position so that the 194th Tank Battalion could leapfrog past it, cross the bridge, and then cover the 192nd’s withdrawal over the bridge. Once the 192nd crossed the bridge, the engineers destroyed it ending the Battle of Luzon.
On January 8, a composite tank company was formed 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 up, 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.
A composite tank company was created on January 8 under the command of Capt. Donald Hanes, B Company, 192nd, and sent to defend the Wast Coast Road north of Hermosa. Its job was to keep the north road open and prevent the Japanese from driving down the road before a new battle line had been formed. The Japanese never launched an attack allowing the defensive line to be formed. The tanks withdrew after they began receiving artillery fire.
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. 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 9 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 actually 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 it didn’t take the Japanese long to zero in on where the guns were located. It didn’t take long for the gun crews to learn how to “shoot and scoot.”
On January 12, Co. D, 192nd, and Co. C, 194th, were sent to Cadre Road in a forward position with little alert time. Land mines were planted on January 13 by ordnance to prevent the Japanese from reaching Cadre Road. C Co., 194th, was sent to Bagac to reopen the Moron Highway which had been cut by the Japanese on January 16. At the junction of Trail 162 and the Moron Highway, the tanks were fired on by an anti-tank gun which was knocked out by the tanks. They cleared the roadblock with the support of infantry.
General Weaver also issued the following orders to the tank battalions around this time: “Tanks will execute maximum delay, staying in position and firing at visible enemy until further delay will jeopardize withdrawal. If a tank is immobilized, it will be fought until the close approach of the enemy, then destroyed; the crew previously taking positions outside and continuing to fight with the salvaged and personal weapons. Considerations of personal safety and expediency will not interfere with accomplishing the greatest possible delay.”
During this time, the tanks often found themselves dealing with officers who claimed they were the ranking officer 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 Waver gave a written order to every tank commander that if an officer attempted to change their orders, they should pull their revolvers and tell the officer that they have been ordered by him to shoot any officer who attempted to change their orders. This ended the problem.
On January 20, A Company was sent to save the command post of the 31st Infantry. On the 24, they supported the troops along the Hacienda Road, but they could not reach the objective because of landmines that had been planted by ordnance. The battalion held a position a kilometer north of the Pilar-Bagac Road with four self-propelled mounts. At 9:45 A.M., a Filipino warned the tankers that a large force of Japanese was on their way. When they appeared the battalion and self-propelled mounts opened up with everything they had. The Japanese broke off the attack, at 10:30 A.M., after losing 500 of their 1200 men. It was also at this time that the Japanese ended the assault and waited for fresh troops to arrive.
The defenders were ordered to withdraw on the 25th to a new line known as the Pilar-Begac Line. The tanks 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.
On January 28, the tank battalions were given beach duty with the 194th assigned the coast from Limay to Cacaben. The half-tracks 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. The tank crews made arrangements with the PT boats to be at a certain place at a certain time and waited for the Zeros to arrive and attack. This time they were met by machine gun fire from the boats but also from the machine guns of the tanks and half-tracks. When the Zeros broke off the attack, they had lost nine of twelve planes.
The Battle of the Points also took place at this time. The Japanese landed Marines behind the main line of defense in an attempt to cut the supply lines from Mariveles to Baguio. After they had landed they were quickly trapped on a point sticking out into the China Sea. When the Japanese attempted to reinforce the point, they landed on another point, and the second group was quickly trapped. The Army Air Corps men converted to infantry, the 45th and 57th Philippine Scouts. and companies from the 192nd and 194th Tank Battalion were involved in the elimination of the points. When the Japanese attempted to send in a third detachment of reinforcements, the last three P-40s appeared and strafed the barges. The strafing ended the Japanese attempt to reinforce their troops. Through a coordinated attack by the infantry and the tanks, the Japanese were pushed back to the caves below the points before being wiped out.
Tanks parts were now rare and 17th Ordnance made repairs however they were able to make them. Tanks that had damaged main guns often had the barrels cut down – similar to a sawed-off shotgun – to keep them firing. 17th Ordnance also provided anti-personnel by converting WWI shells from the Philippine Ordnance Department so that they could be fired by the tanks. The company also had to deal with the fact the tane tanks’ suspension systems were locking up after being near or in salt water. The information was sent to the War Department which replaced the suspension system on all vehicles using it.
On March 1, rations were cut in half again which meant the soldiers were now eating twice a day and most of the meals were rice. 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. On March 1, the soldiers had their rations cut in half again and the men were starving. This meant that they only ate two meals a day. The Japanese also were dropping surrender leaflets with a picture of a scantily clad blond on them. They 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 may have surrendered for a good meal. Since the leaflets were printed on tissue paper, they made good toilet paper. The amount of gasoline was reduced to 15 gallons a day for all vehicles except the tanks. This would later be dropped to ten gallons a day. There was only one major alert in March when 73 Japanese planes came over on their way to the Dutch East Indies. Gen. Weaver suggested to Gen. Wainwright that a platoon of tanks be sent to Corregidor, but Wainwright declined this suggestion.
During this time, two tanks had gotten stuck in the mud, and the crews were working to free them. While they were doing this, a Japanese regiment entered the area. Lt. Colonel Ernest Miller ordered his tanks to fire on the Japanese at point-blank range. He also ran from tank to tank directing the crew’s fire. The Japanese were wiped out. On March 21, the last major battle was fought by the tanks.
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. Having brought in combat harden troops from Singapore, the Japanese launched a major offensive on April 3 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 down 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.
It was the evening of April 8 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. B and D Companies, 192nd, and A Company were preparing for a suicide attack in an attempt to stop the advance. At 6:00 P.M. that 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.”
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. A truck driver for A Company, 192nd, 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, 192nd, and A Company received the 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. At 6:45 A.M., the order “CRASH” was sent out and the tank crews circled their tanks. Each tank fired an armor-piercing shell into the engine of the tank in front of it. They also opened the gasoline cocks inside the tank compartments and dropped hand grenades into the tanks. Most of the company waited in their bivouac for the Japanese to make contact, while others attempted to reach Corregidor which had not surrendered.
Freddie recalled, “They withdrawed to Cabcaban Field near Mariveles Point. The we had orders to do away with the equipment and surrender. We bogged down in the bog there off of Cabcaban Field, and destroyed them the best we could, and surrendered.”
According to a member of HQ Company, Gen. King spoke to the men and said, “I’m the man who surrendered you men. It’s not your fault.” He also spoke to the members of B Company, 192nd, and told them something similar. King ordered them to surrender and threatened to court-martial anyone who didn’t. Gen. King with his two aides, Maj. Cothran and Captain Achille C. Tisdelle Jr. got into a jeep carrying a large white flag. They were followed by another jeep – also flying another large white flag – with Col. Collier and Maj. Hurt in it. As the jeeps made their way north they were strafed and small bombs were dropped by a Japanese plane. The drivers of both jeeps and the jeeps were provided by the tank group and both men managed to avoid the bullets. The strafing ended when a Japanese reconnaissance plane ordered the fighter pilot to stop strafing.
At about 10:00 A.M. the jeeps reached Lamao where they were received by a Japanese Major General who informed 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. After a half-hour, 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 line with 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 King 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.”
According to Freddie, he wasn’t ready to become a Prisoner of War. He said, “But me and Bob Jesser and three Filipinos – Sgt. Decombo and Infante Torres and another one of the Filipino Constabulary – five of us, we went to Mariveles Point to a supply dock. And an old Supply Sergeant there, well, he let us have some guns. Said he wasn’t supposed to, but we could take them if we wanted to. And we taken two machine guns. Well, the Filipinos had got word that if they had reinforcements on Corregidor, they might hold out there. And the Supply Sergeant told us that also. I believe it was Sgt. Decombo knew where a boat was at, just there on the beach, you know. It was a small sailboat, but we just used the paddles. The Filipinos were really good at paddlin’. We were out about three miles, and they came out (from Corregidor) and picked up. We held out there until May 6th.”
The tankers reached the island and received the first good meal they had had for months. He was assigned to the 4th Marines and he and the other new men were given shovels and told to dig foxholes. It is known that the tankers were assigned to defend Skipper Hill which faced Bataan and was under constant bombardment from the Japanese, but men were also assigned to other hills. Other men were assigned to guard an area along South Shore Road. This area was within range of the guns of Japanese guns in several locations including Cavite. The men also lived through attacks from Japanese bombers and dive-bombers. The island’s defensive weapons had been designed to fight off attacks from the sea and not from land.
It was said that during the nights for the next four days after the surrender of Bataan, the men on Corregidor could still see flashes from battle as troops who refused to surrender continued to fight. This may be an apocryphal statement. During this time, the Japanese set up artillery on the beach that fired on Corregidor. Most of the Japanese artillery was knocked out by the guns on Corregidor, so the Japanese set up the rest in the jungle. Men stated that at night that they could count as many as 24 separate batteries firing on the island. Between the shelling and bombing by Japanese planes, they were slowly knocking out the guns and weakening the defenses. The men on Corregidor knew that a landing was going to be attempted, they just didn’t know when it would take place.
The Japanese barrage of April 29 was intense and it was said that it was because it was the emperor’s birthday. One shall hit the magazine for Battery Geary resulting in a tremendous explosion. The exchange between the Japanese guns and American guns lasted all day. The men guarding South Shore Road were moved to Monkey Point at the beginning of May. The reason this was done was that the Japanese landings were expected to take place there.
The Japanese began shelling Monkey Point on the night of May 5 in preparation for the landing. The men on the island watched as Japanese barges began concentrating at various points off Bataan. The barges began to make their way toward Corregidor, and the island’s remaining guns began shelling them. It was said that one of the island’s mortar batteries got so hot that the crew had to stop firing to let the mortar cool down. Another gun turned blue from the continuous firing and its breach warped and would not open. The landing came the night of the 5th. When the Japanese landed, the defenders pushed them from the beach at Monkey Point three times. Anti-aircraft guns from Ft. Hughes were firing on the Japanese as they landed. The shells exploded above the barges killing many. When the final assault on the island took place it was said that the Japanese believed that it had failed. The first tank to land on the island was one of the tanks abandoned by Danny’s tank platoon. The Japanese inflicted heavy casualties and the defenders fell back to the Malinta tunnel.
The official surrender of the island was at noon on May 6, but many units had surrendered earlier in the morning. The Japanese herded them onto an area covered with concrete known as the 92nd Garage which they had hastily surrounded with barbed wire. The POWs were told if they left the area without a guard that they would be shot. The only POWs not to be sent there were the men who were hospitalized in the Malinta Tunnel. The area was said to be approximately 500 feet wide and 1500 feet long and was located between the beach and cliffs along Corregidor’s southern shore The Japanese put the POWs into detachments of 1000 men with a colonel in charge of each detachment. While they were on the concert slab, the Japanese soldiers took whatever they wanted from the POWs. They were not fed for three days. When they were fed, they were fed rice. Each POW was given a number which was painted on the back of his shirt or his pants if he didn’t have a shirt. The Filipino POWs were put on one side of the slab and separated from the Americans by an imaginary line.
Open slit trenches were dug for the POWs to use as latrines. The surface of the latrines crawled with life and flies and other insects were everywhere which helped to spread disease.
The POWs were put to work by the Japanese cleaning up debris on the island and the POWs were used to resume construction of the airfield that was being built on the island. Any ordnance left on the island was collected and the POWs loaded the captured food fMalinta Tunnel on barges that took it to Manila. The POWs supplemented their meals with canned food they found while cleaning the debris or stealing it while it was being loaded onto barges. Fred stated he went out on water detail. “But there was one time we was carryin’ water from a little ravine, and waterin’ this truck garden with buckets and pails. There was an officer watchin’ and I guess this guard thought he’d show off. Four or five of the boys were walking to close together and talkin’, and he made ’em set their buckets down and just kneel down and slap and hit one another. And I don’t guess they was hittin’ hard enough cause he started in on ’em with a rifle butt, and that time this officer did holler at him and stopped it.”
For two weeks, the POWs were held in the garage area without any shade and with little water. To get off the beach, POWs volunteered to bury the dead. This allowed them to hunt for food and water. The Japanese finally allowed the POWs to run a water line to a reservoir two miles from the garage. When this was done, the POWs stood in line for four to six hours to fill their canteens.
Fred stated that the Formosan guards appeared to want to try to treat the POWs decently, but when a Japanese officer came around they would abuse the POWs. It was his belief that it was because the guards were afraid of the officers.
The POWs were finally taken by barge to a point off the coast of Luzon and made to swim to shore. Onshore, they worked to fill craters in a pier that had been damaged by the battle for Bataan. After they finished, they formed detachments and marched to Manila. At first, the POWs feared they would experience the same treatment given the POWs on the march from Bataan. Instead, they were marched at a reasonable pace and given breaks. They marched down Dewey Boulevard to Bilibid Prison. The prison was described as having high walls with guards all around it. The POWs were fed rice twice a day on little tin plates. The rice was described as being of poor quality with insects in it. They remained there until sent to Cabanatuan.
In May, his sister received a letter from the War Department.
“Dear Mrs. M. Mitchell:
“According to War Department records, you have been designated as the emergency addressee of Private First Class Fred J. Bolinger, 20, 949, 661, who, according to the latest information available, was serving in the Philippine Islands at the time of the final surrender.
“I deeply regret that it is impossible for me to give you more information than is contained in this letter. In the last days before the surrender of Bataan, there were casualties which were not reported to the War Department. Conceivably the same is true of the surrender of Corregidor and possibly other islands of the Philippines. The Japanese Government has indicated its intention of conforming to the terms of the Geneva Convention with respect to the interchange of information regarding prisoners of war. At some future date, this Government will receive through Geneva a list of persons who have been taken prisoners of war. Until that time the War Department cannot give you positive information.
“The War Department will consider the persons serving in the Philippine Islands as “missing in action” from the date of surrender of Corregidor, May 7, 1942, until definite information to the contrary is received. It is to be hoped that the Japanese Government will communicate a list of prisoners of war at an early date. At that time you will be notified by this office in the event that his name is contained in the list of prisoners of war. In the case of persons known to have been present in the Philippines and who are not reported to be prisoners of war by the Japanese Government, the War Department will continue to carry them as “missing in action” in the absence of information to the contrary, until twelve months have expired. At the expiration of twelve months and in the absence of other information the War Department is authorized to make a final determination.
“Recent legislation makes provision to continue the pay and allowances of persons carried in a “missing” status for a period not to exceed twelve months; to continue, for the duration of the war, the pay and allowances of persons known to have been captured by the enemy; to continue allotments made by missing personnel for a period of twelve months and allotments or increase allotments made by persons by the enemy during the time they are so held; to make new allotments or increase allotments to certain dependents defined in Public Law 490, 77th Congress. The latter dependents generally include the legal wife, dependent children under twenty-one years of age, and dependent mother, or such dependents as having been designated in official records. Eligible dependents who can establish a need for financial assistance and are eligible to receive this assistance the amount allotted will be deducted from pay which would otherwise accrue to the credit of the missing individual.
“Very Truly yours
J. A. Ulio (signed)
Major General
The Adjutant General”
At some point during this time, he and the other POWs were marched to the train station. From there, they rode the train to Calumpit, disembarked, and marched to Cabanatuan #3. The first 2,000-man detachment left on the 26 and the last left on the 28. The POWs were marched to the train station and put into steel boxcars that they rode to the barrio of Cabanatuan. There, they were organized into 100 men detachments and marched to Camp 3. The guards warned them that anyone who fell to the ground and did not get up would be shot.
During the march, the first time a POW fell to the ground and the guard aimed his gun at the man, the man was able to get up and rejoin the formation. This appeared to have happened several times. Finally, a POW fell, and even after the guard aimed his gun at the man he did not get up. Instead of shooting the man, the guard raised his arm and had a red flag on it. A truck pulled up to the man and he was put on the back of the truck. Being that other POWs saw this, it wasn’t long until a good number of POWs fell to the ground and were unable to get up. Those still marching figured these men wanted to ride to the camp.
The camp was actually three camps. Camp 1 was where most of the men who were captured on Bataan and took part in the death march were held. Camp 2 did not have an adequate water supply and was closed. It later reopened and housed Naval POWs. Camp 3 was where most of those men captured when Corregidor and Ft. Drum surrendered were taken.
After all the POWs had arrived at Camp 3, there were approximately 6,000 POWs in the camp. The first group of POWs who arrived on May 26 was assigned barracks in the north sector of the camp. The group that arrived on May 27 was assigned barracks in the center sector of the camp, and the final group that arrived on May 28, was given barracks in the south sector of the camp. When they arrived, the camp was not finished and there was no fence on the north side of the compound.
Four POWs walked away from the camp on May 30. After they escaped, the men realized that they had no place to go, so they attempted to surrender themselves to the Japanese. The Japanese tied them to posts and left them to hang in the sun. They also beat the POWs with boards. The Japanese also showed the men water but would not give them any to drink. It was said that their hands were tied behind their backs and boards tied between their legs in such a way that they were forced to crouch.
The next day, while the POWs were eating dinner, the Japanese marched the men to where the prisoners were eating. They had the men dig their own graves and gave each man a cigarette and water. They also offered blindfolds to the men. All the men took a blindfold except one. That man spat at the Japanese before they shot him. After they were shot, the men fell backward into the graves. When one man who had survived the execution attempted to crawl out of the grave, a Japanese officer shot him with his pistol. He next shot each man to make sure they were dead.
The first meal the POWs received was an onion soup that had no onions on it or carrots in it. After the initial meal, the daily meal for the POWs was squash, mongo beans, and greens (which were the tops of native sweet potatoes) for soup, and rice. They also received Carabao meat about once a week. Other sources state a whistle weed soup with rice in it was the main meal. Men in the camp reported that most meals were 1½ cups of rice and a watery soup.
The American officers convinced the Japanese, on June 8, to allow them to hand out punishments for minor offenses. The POWs organized themselves into administration groups on June 14. Since the Army had the largest number of POWs, it was divided into Groups I and II while Group III was Naval personnel. An Army major was the adjutant for both Groups I and II and there were officers that did various jobs under him. Each group had a number of officers who dealt with the enlisted men. Thorman and Burholt were in Group II and they were two of seven officers assigned to administer the group.
On June 21 the Japanese initiated the “Blood Brother” rule. The POWs were placed in groups of ten men. The men worked together, lived in the same barracks, and slept together. If one man of the group escaped from the camp, the other nine would be executed. To prevent escapes, the day before this took effect, the POWs organized a patrol that walked the inside perimeter of the camp fence. The POWs went out on work details.
On June 17, trucks left the camp on a lumber detail. The trucks were ambushed by Filipino guerrillas resulting in three POWs in one truck being wounded. The fourth POW from the truck was not found. One of the three wounded men later died.
The first church services were held in the camp on June 28. To improve morale among the POWs, on June 29, the officers organized activities for the men. Softball teams, basketball teams, volleyball teams, and ping-pong teams were formed as well as singalong groups to provide entertainment. The POWs were joined by 151 civilians in the camp on July 6. The Japanese handed out a limited number of shoes, shirts, trousers, and blankets on July 17. It is not known how it was determined who would receive any of the clothing.
POWs during this time were sent out on details and returned to the camp. On July 14, 100 POWs were sent to Manila. 26 sick POWs were transferred to Camp 1 on July 20. 360 POWs left the camp, on July 24, for a work detail in Manila. Another group of 150 men was sent there on July 30. Dysentery was a real problem in the camp and to slow the spread of dysentery, a program was started to catch flies on August 17. Any POW who turned in a full milk can of flies received two biscuits and a few cigarettes. They also dug deep latrines, which were 18 feet deep, to slow the spread of disease.
On September 1, 198 POWs were transferred to the Manila detail which was followed by another 120 men on September 8. Also on that date, 120 returned to the camp from Field Labor Detail. Another detachment of 198 men on September 1 was sent to Manila. One hundred POWs left the camp on an unnamed work detail on September 23, followed by another 100 POWs the next day. Another 32 men were sent to the detail at Manila on September 28 followed by 119 POWs the next day. It should be mentioned that during this time Virginia Burholt joined the Women’s Auxiliary Corps and left for Des Moines, Iowa on September 2 for training.
The transfers continued in October. On October 4, 374 POWs were sent to Manila and were joined by 526 POWs from Camp 1. The Japanese gave physicals to 344 POWs who they referred to as “producers” and were sent to Japan. (The term producer meant the POWs had training in areas that the Japanese wanted to exploit.) Before they left the camp, Col. Mori, the Japanese Commanding Officer of the camp gave a speech to them and said, “You men will be taken to a better place, will have better food, and you will meet your friends from Wake and Guam Islands.” On October 5, 1942, another 676 POWs were transferred to Manila. They marched to Camp 1 and were joined by 123 men from that camp. From available information, it appears that a total of 1700 POWs were sent to Manila. The Japanese intended to give each man 2 bananas, 2 egg sandwiches, 5 biscuits, 2 rice balls, and 1 roll. The only problem was they did not have enough to go around. The POWs were taken to Manila to be sent to Japan.
The POWs remaining in the camp reorganized the POWs still there and created Group I made up of Army personnel and Group II made up of Navy personnel. It was at this time that the Japanese began the transfer of sick POWs to Camp 1 with 20 men being sent to the hospital there on October 14 and another 10 men being transferred there the next day. On October 21, 322 POWs, from Group I, were sent to Camp 1 followed by another 15 sick POWs on October 23. Another 297 POWs were sent to Manila to the work detail there o October 26. The POWs still at Camp 3 on October 27 received word that they were all going to be sent to Camp 1. The 74 sick POWs in the camp were sent to the hospital at Camp 1 on October 28. On October 29, 1,126 POWs boarded trucks and rode to Camp 1. The next day, the remaining 775 POWs were taken by truck to the camp. Camp 3 officially went out of existence on October 30, 1942.
The barracks in the camp were built to house 50 POWs, but most had between 60 to 120 POWs in them. The POWs slept on bamboo slats, without mattresses, bedding, or mosquito netting. Many quickly became ill. The POWs were assigned to barracks and divided into groups of ten men. This meant that the members of their group lived together, went out on work details together, and would be executed together since they were Blood Brothers. Officers were assigned to barracks with other officers. Rice was the main food given to the POWs fed to them as “lugow” which meant “wet rice.” During their time in the camp, they received few vegetables and almost no fruit. Once in a while, they received bread. If they received fish it was rotten and covered with maggots.
The Japanese had started to assign numbers to the POWs in September. The first POWs to receive them were those who sailed to Manchuria or Japan on the Tottori Maru on October 8. After arriving at Cabanatuan 1, Freddie was assigned I-07623 as his POW number. As long as he was in the Philippines and no matter where he was sent, this was his POW number.
The camp was divided between the camp side and the hospital side. The barracks on the hospital side of the camp were called wards. In the camp, the prisoners continued to die, but at a slower rate. The camp hospital was on one side of the camp and 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 with human excrement which was made worse by the excrement dripping on it from the higher platform. 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. Freddie recalled, “And a boy named Herny Peck – and hadn’t had a shave or haircut in three of four months. I sharpened up a mess kit knife, and I shaved old Henry! Then I had an old piece of comb and tied that onto the knife and give him a razor-cut, you know. He mentions that every time I see him.”
Fr. Antonio Bruddenbruck, a German Catholic priest, came to the camp – assisted by Mrs. Escoda – with packages from friends and relatives in Manila on November 12. There was also medicine and books for the POWs but he was turned away because he did not have the proper paperwork. The POWs started a major clean-up of the camp on November 14 and deep latrines, sump holes for water only, and began to bury the camp’s garbage. Pvt. Peter Lankianuskas was shot while attempting to escape on November 16. Two other POWs were put on trial by the Japanese for aiding him. One man received 20 days in solitary confinement while the other man received 30 days in solitary confinement. Pvt. Donald K. Russell, on November 20, was caught trying to reenter the camp at 12:30 A.M. He had left the camp at 8:30 P.M. and secured a bag of canned food by claiming he was a guerrilla. He was executed in the camp cemetery at 12;30 P.M. on November 21. The Japanese gave out a large amount of old clothing – that came from Manila – to the POWs on November 22. On November 23, the Japanese wanted to start a farm and needed 750 POWs to do the initial work on it. It was noted that there were only 603 POWs healthy enough to work. During this time, 9 POWs died each day and approximately 250 POWs died in November.
Freddie recalled an incident involving three POWs. “Over at Cabanatuan One there was an office and two enlisted men got out of the compound under the fence and went to a little barrio. I think they got some eggs and some sugar patties and what-not off-a the Filipinos, and the guards caught ’em comin’ back into the compound. They kept ’em tied up out there at the guard house for about three days; shaved their hair off, and every time they changed guard, they’d beat them up with a rifle. And I think it was the third day, they took ’em out back of the compound – the two, not the officer, They already had taken him down to the little barrio where they’d been, taken him on a flatbed truck, and they said they beat him to death. Of course, we wasn’t down there to see it. But they taken the other two guys, one of them was Spanish and the other was a big red-headed boy, and they taken them out back of the compound, and they dug a grave. And at sundown, they shot ’em in that grave.”
Fr. Bruddenbruck returned on December 10 without proper authorization from the authorities in Manila so he was turned away. He had brought a truckload of medicine and food for the POWs. It was estimated by the POWs that he spent $300.00 for fuel to make the trip. A POW Pvt. Art Self was beaten so badly on December 12, that he died. Fr. Bruttenbruck returned on December 24 with two truckloads of presents for the men and a gift bag for each man. This time he was allowed into the camp. The next day, Christmas, the POWs received 2½ Red Cross boxes. In each box was milk, in some form, corn beef, fish, stew beef, sugar, meat and vegetable, tea, and chocolate. The POWs also received bulk corn beef, sugar, meat and vegetables, stew, raisins, dried fruit, and cocoa which they believed would last them three months. The POWs also were given four days off from work. Fr. Bruddenbruck was later executed for smuggling messages to the POWs.
He recalled, “The first Red Cross parcels we got was at Cabanatuan One just before I left there. One guy in the barracks next to us set down and eat just about everything he got. And the next morning he was dead. But a lot of them, they just give up.”
Freddie was one of 1,200 POWs who left the camp on a work detail on January 27, 1943, on a work detail to Lipa Batangas. Medical records show that that the same date he left Cabantuan he was admitted to the hospital at Bilibid Prison with a lumbar strain. He remained at Bilibid until February 10 when he was returned to Cabanatuan.
It is not known when, but Fred was sent to Clark Field as a replacement for a POW who had been sent to Bilibid Prison due to illness. Many of the POWs considered this the best POW camp in the Philippines. When they arrived, they were put into barracks that had been constructed for the Philippine Scouts. Each POW had his own bunk and while cleaning up the junk from the fighting, the POWs found mattresses and blankets They also had washrooms with toilets and sinks with running water. They also has a commissary where the POWs were allowed to purchase items. Freddie said, “They brought a little commissary at Clark Field. You could get tobacco, or mung beans or brown sugar, a few things like that. Ot Brown Dogies – they’re like a Filipino cigar. Before the war started – we were there about three months before – I’ve seen the natives set around, you know, playin’ cards, they were great hands for play’ games, cards and chess, and they’d get around and smoke them things with the fire-end in their mouths!
“And you could get salt. You could kindly eat the rice if you had salt. It was like what we call stock salt here, but it was better’n nothin’.
“At Clark Field, there was three of us real close all the time. James Colt and Fountain Bates from Texas, and me. We divided everything. They sold everything by the canteen cup, or the package. You could buy a package of Alhambra, that was something like Bull Durham, mostly ground leaves, for 2 pesos. Or you could buy a cup of mung beans for 75 centavos. We’d pour what we got together and divide it. That kept us going. And I think the one thing that kept us alive was we divide our Red Cross parcels when we did start gettin’ a few of those. We’d open up a can of potted meat and eat that; then a day or two later another of the boys would open up a can. If we got a package of American cigarettes, those Formosa Japs would trade you ten packages of Filipino cigarettes for them. It was taking a chance, but we traded them quite a bit.”
The barracks they lived in were surrounded by a single strand of barbed wire and escapes could have happened at any time since it would have been easy. The Japanese also put the POWs in “Blood Brother” squads. It was stated that they chose not to escape since there was no place to go if they did, but that didn’t mean that POWs didn’t try. One POW escaped on April 1, 1943, and the Japanese responded by lining up the POWs in front of machine guns that were aimed at them. They also told them that they were going to be killed. The next time a POW escaped the POWs were not fed, they could not use the latrines, and they could not smoke. They also lost their commissary privileges. After another POW escaped, the POWs were not fed for 18 to 24 hours and were not allowed to use the latrine or smoke. They also lost other privileges for 3 to 4 months.
The Japanese did not give the POWs any medical supplies, and if they had them it was because the POWs had scrounged them. Being sick did not get a POW out of working. If a POW came down with malaria, he was excused from working since the reason was that the Japanese knew the symptoms of malaria. POWs who had been hurt while working were also excused from working. POWs who were really ill were returned to Cabantuan. Freddie stated, “Out there at Clark Field, I had a toenail that turned down and grew through my toe., working out the bottom. They split that down and cut half of it without any anesthetics or nothin’.”
The guards the POWs stated were actually pretty decent when Japanese officers were not around. The guards were combat veterans who didn’t care how much dirt the POWs moved; all they had to do is look busy. The only time the POWs were expected to work hard was when big shots came around to expect the work.
Freddie said, “The Formosa Japs were pretty good Japs as long as the officers weren’t around, and sometimes other things happened which revealed the Japanese as human beings with human feelings. I remember runnin’ one guard at Monte Lupa who picked the guitar and somebody asked him in English what he was singin’. And he said “Tomorrow I’ll go to Australia and die.’ He knew he was shippin’ out for Australia, and he had a pretty good idea he was goin’ to die.”
The War Department on Jun 6, 1943, his name was released to the general public as being a Prisoner of War. His sister learned he was a Prisoner of War weeks earlier.
“REPORT JUST RECEIVED THROUGH INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS STATES THAT YOUR BROTHER PRIVATE FIRST CLASS FRED J BOLINGER IS A PRISONER OF WAR OF THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT IN PHILIPPINE ISLANDS LETTER OF INFORMATION FOLLOWS FROM THE PROVOST MARSHALL GENERAL=
“ULIO THE ADJUTANT GENERAL=”
It was a few days later that his family received another message.
“Martha Mitchell
801 Works
Sheridan, Wyoming
“The Provost Marshal General directs me to inform you that you may communicate with your brother, postage free, by following the inclosed instructions:
“It is suggested that you address him as follows:
“PFC Fred J. Bolinger, U.S. Army
Interned in the Philippine Islands
C/O Japanese Red Cross, Tokyo, Japan
Via New York, New York
“Packages cannot be sent to the Orient at this time. When transportation facilities are available a package permit will be issued you.
“Further information will be forwarded you as soon as it is received.
“Sincerely
“Howard F. Bresee
“Colonel, CMP
“Chief Information Bureau
It is known that in December 1943, his parents received a postcard from him. Whether or not this was the only communication they had from him is not known.
He commented on the POWs’ lack of clothing. “They never gave us clothes or anything. A lot of boys wore G-string. But some of the Red Cross parcels did have needles and such in them. And I had some old shelter halves (pup tents), and we’d cut them and make shorts out of them. And make shoes out of boards -2x4s, and strap off a barracks bag, or whatever you had to hold’em on, just anything to keep your feet off the ground.”
After the guards were replaced, the POWs worked long hours starting at 6:00 A.M. even during the typhoon season without a day off. The POWs also built revetments and runways. One POW reported they built seven runways, eight-hundred revetments, and emplaced numerous anti-aircraft guns. At first, the original Japanese guards did not care how much work was done since they wanted the detail to last as long as possible. The one thing that was not allowed was the POWs could not talk to each other. When the guards were switched, things changed. The POWs worked long hours starting at 6:00 A.M. and even during the typhoon season without a day off.
Filipinos were caught stealing corrugated metal at the airfield and Freddie recalled what happened. “There at Clark Field, I’ve seen ’em and Filipinos by their hands (tied) behind them, so their toes would barely touch the ground, and let ’em hang there until they died. One I know that died that way. And that night we were screenin’ rock and sand out there just off-a Clark Field. We had to go right by him to go to work.”
POWs who committed a serious violation of a camp rule were put into the camp cooler. It was said it was designed to be uncomfortable and made of sheet metal with only one opening which was the door. It was too low for a man to stand up and too short for a man to lie down. The POW had to squat or curl up. It was placed in a location so the sun beat on it throughout the day. At night it cooled off but the mosquitos came out and continued the misery.
It was stated that on March 20, 1944, the POWs were broken into two groups, and work on the airfield started in earnest. One group built the airfield and the other dug rock from the ground for the base of the runway. Since no rock was available from a gravel pit, the POWs dug the rock out of the ground, with picks and shovels, and screened it. If the POWs had their quota by 4:00 P.M., they were done for the day, but if they had not met their quota, they worked until they met it.
A typical workday started so their first meal was breakfast at 6:00 AM which was usually a cup of steamed rice. Supper for the POWs was at 6:00 PM and was again a cup of steamed rice. The POWs worked on repairing the runways at the airfield. The one problem was that there wasn’t a quarry nearby so they had to dig the rocks out of the ground. The POWs worked in squads of eight to ten men and were given a quota of how much rock they needed to collect that day. If they were lucky, they found a place where they could dig out the quota of rock by 4:00 PM, if they weren’t lucky, they worked until they reached their quota. It was not unusual for the POWs to work until almost midnight. Some POWs stated that there were no days off while others stated that if they completed their quotas by Friday, they got the weekends off.
The POWs also built revetments and runways. One POW reported they built seven runways, eight-hundred revetments, and emplaced numerous anti-aircraft guns. At first, the original Japanese guards did not care how much work was done since they wanted the detail to last as long as possible. The one thing that was not allowed was the POWs could not talk to each other. When the guards were switched, things changed.
As they neared the completion of the runway, the rock the POWs used, for the base of the runway, ran out. The Japanese engineers decided that sand would be used for the base on the last part of the runway. After the runway was finished, the first Japanese bomber that landed on it had its landing gear sink into the runway, where the sand had been used, and the plane flipped over on its back. The POWs wanted to cheer but couldn’t.
The detail ended on August 20, 1944, and the POWs were sent to Bilibid Prison near Manila. Charles was admitted to the Naval Hospital at Bilibid on August 25 with cellulitis – a tissue infection of the skin and tissues below the skin – of the right knee. It is not known how long he was a patient. It was at this time that his name appeared on a list of POWs being transported to Japan. The POWs on the list were scheduled to sail on the Noto Maru.
The POWs left the prison and went to Pier 7. According to some POWs, they were taken by barges to the Noto Maru. The POWs boarded the ship and they were sent down into one of its holds which was extremely hot. Another company of POWs arrived by barge and were also put into the ship’s hold. The last two companies also entered the hold. According to men who were on the ship they boarded and disembarked the ship two more times. The last time they boarded the ship was on August 25th. Some men believed this happened because American submarines had been seen in the area. After they were in the hold, the Japanese removed the ladder. The ship finally sailed on August 27, but it spent the night in Subic Bay.
Since all the POWs were in one hold, there was no place for anyone to lie down to sleep. The POWs either stood or squatted. The POWs lost their tempers with each other at times, but it appeared they understood they were all in the same situation and there were no major fights.
A large barrow cut half length-wise below the hatch was supposed to serve as the latrine but it was almost impossible to get to it. To get to it the POWs had to crawl over other men. When the man was finished, he found someone else had taken his place. Many men simply could not make it to the tub, so the floor of the hold was soon covered with human waste. When the half-barrow was hoisted out of the hold, human feces fell on the men below in the hold. The smell coming out of the hold was so bad that the Japanese covered the hatch which made the hold get hotter and made the smell worse.
The ship remained in the bay until three other ships were ready to sail. The ship finally sailed as part of a convoy on August 28th. Once at sea, the convoy was hunted by American submarines. The POWs chanted for the subs to sink the ship. At least two torpedos were fired at the ship, but since they ran deep, the torpedos went under the ship. It is known that several other ships in the convoy were sunk. One POW said, “That is an eerie feeling. Here, it’s an American sub firing at you. You’re below the waterline.”
The POWs were fed boiled barley once a day and given water once or twice a day. A POW was lucky if he received a tablespoon of water. As the ship made its way to Japan men died of sickness and starvation. With each death, there was more room in the ship’s hold. The dead were hoisted from the hold by rope and thrown into the sea. The suction of the ship’s propellers pulled the bodies into them and resulted in the bodies being cut up.
The ship arrived at Takao on August 30. While it was docked, the smell from the hold was so bad that the POWs who could walk were brought up on deck, taken ashore, and hosed down with salt water. The Japanese also washed down the hold to clean out the waste on the floor. After the POWs went back into the hold, the temperature dried the water off them but left a layer of salt on their skin.
It arrived in Moji, Japan on September 4, and the POWs were given a piece of colored wood as they left the ship. The color of the piece of wood determined what camp the POWs were going to be sent to. When the POWs left the ship, the Japanese civilians held their noses to show them how bad they smelled.
From Moji, some of the POWs were later sent to Aishio Camp – also known as Tokyo #9-B – which was located on the side of a mountain. Living conditions in the camp were atrocious. The camp had a limited amount of water because the water line was broken. This meant the POWs could not wash after working and there was little water for cooking. The POWs’ kitchen was 40 feet from the latrines resulting in flies being everywhere in the kitchen and in the food since the Japanese did not supply lids for the cooking utensils. The Japanese guard in charge of the POWs’ mess stole food for himself that was meant for them. The POWs reported he was seen carrying sacks of rice and sugar, assigned to them, from the camp. Meals were always the same. It was a mixture of barley, maize, Indian corn, and rice. Once a month the Japanese slaughtered a horse for the civilian workers, and the POWs got the bones which they cooked for days to soften them. They divided the hones among the POWs.
The POWs were housed in two barracks that were inadequately heated. During the nights, the POWs only had thin blankets to cover themselves with. The beds in the barracks were two platforms that went around the perimeter of the barracks, one above the other, with ladders to the upper platform. Each POW had a straw mat to sleep on, but the mats were infested with lice and bedbugs. The barracks were inadequately heated and during the cold nights, the POWs had only thin blankets to cover themselves with. The Red Cross blankets that were sent to the camp, for the POWs, were issued to the guards.
The Japanese misappropriated the Red Cross packages for themselves and stored them in a warehouse near the camp. Red Cross blankets sent to the camp for the POWs were issued to the guards to use. They also took chocolate, canned meats, fruit, milk, and clothing meant for the POWs. They also used the medicine and medical supplies sent to the camp by the Red Cross. The camp POW doctor was slapped many times for asking for medical supplies.
It was a common practice in the camp for the POWs to be hanged by their legs and arms from the rafters, with ropes, in a building with their backs to the ground. This lasted for 20 minutes then they were lowered to the ground for ten minutes to rest. They then were hung again by their arms and legs. When one POW was caught stealing food, all the POWs in his detachment were made to stand at attention all night. The next morning they were sent to the mine.
The POWs worked in the Ashio Copper mine. The mine had been closed but reopened because of the war. When they entered the mine or left it, they had to bow to the mine god. Many said their own prayers since the mine was in poor condition. Safety regulations were almost nonexistent and the POWs were frequently injured. The POWs used sledgehammers to break large rocks into smaller ones so they could be loaded into the mine cars.
Recalling the work, he said, “We worked at the Osaka-Dozen Steel Mills right in between Tokyo and Yokohama, and the Americans were movin’ in. They shipped us outta there to the Ashio Valley to a copper mill. We ran copper coins mostly, ones they had brought out of Hong Kong, Chinese coins. They used some ore in with the coins to separate it, and it was melted down with some ore but mostly coins.”
Being sick was no excuse for not working. Since a certain number of POWs had to work each day, the Japanese medic in charge of the sick bay sent men to work who were too sick to do heavy work. Medicine was given out on a limited basis. Since a certain number of POWs had to report for work each day, the Japanese medic in charge of the sickbay, sent men to work who were too sick to do heavy work. The Japanese also withheld medicine and medical supplies sent for POW use and used it for themselves.
After the surrender, the Japanese camp commanders received an order, from Gen. Douglas MacArthur, that the following statement had to be read by them, or a translator, in English.
A group of about 100 POWs got tired of waiting to be liberated and left the camp. The remaining POWs were liberated on September 4, 1945. Eleven of the POWs were so ill that they were flown from the camp to the USHS Marigold for medical treatment while the remaining POWs were taken by train to Yokohama. It took the train 14 hours to make the 80-mile trip to the city. On the side of the train was an American flag they had made from the parachutes that dropped food to them. When they arrived at the station, Gen. Robert Eichelberger, commander of the Eighth Army, was waiting to meet them and threw his arms around some of them. As they rushed from the train, the former POWs hugged the American soldiers there. Eighteen nurses were also waiting and one POW threw his arms around a nurse and kissed her. He said, “That was my first kiss in four years and believe me it sure tasted good.”
At Yokohama, the former POWs stripped off the clothing they had dropped in the drums and threw it into burning barrows. They were next sprayed with DDT and then took showers before they were issued new clothing. After receiving physicals, it was determined who should immediately be sent back to the United States, and who should be returned to the Philippines. When he returned to the Philippines, he was promoted. His sister also received a message from the War Department that he had been rescued.
“Mrs. M. Mitchell: The secretary of war has asked me to inform you that your brother, PFC Fred J. Bolinger was returned to military control Sept. 5 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”
Fred appears to have been in relatively good health because he was selected to leave for the U.S. on September 24, 1945, on the U.S.S. Gosper. The ship sailed and went to Marianas Islands to pick up Marines before sailing for Hawaii. When they arrived at Pearl Harbor, they were not allowed off the ship because it was believed the former POWs who were British would steal from the merchants in Honolulu. The ship arrived in Seattle, Washington, on October 12, 1945, and the former POWs were taken to Madigan General Hospital at Ft. Lewis, Washington. From there, he was sent to a hospital closer to his parents’ home. Fred was discharged from the Army on February 24, 1946.
Fred married Juanita Belle Taylor on May 17, 1947, and they became the parents of two daughters and five sons. One son died as a toddler. The family resided in the Huntsville, Arkansas, area.
Fred J. Bolinger passed away on October 14, 1987, from a heart attack. His funeral was held at Marble United Baptist Church, and he was buried at Big Sandy Church Cemetery, in Purdy, Arkansas.
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