Pvt. Robert Eugene Faubion was born on March 16, 1918, in Lawrence County, Indiana, to Thomas T. Faubion and Juanita M. Byars-Faubion, and had a sister. He was known as “Gene” to his family and friends. The family resided at 2411 E Street in Bedford, Indiana, and he attended high school for two years before he went to work as a self-employed interior house painter. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on July 1, 1940, and did his basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and received his training in ordnance. He was a member of the 1st Armor Division and then the 19th Ordnance Battalion. What is known about his training was that members of the battalion attended specialized schools where they learned to repair the 57 vehicles used by the army. Other members learned about the supply and storage of weapons, ammunition, and related equipment. A great deal of their training was alongside the 192nd Tank Battalion. In Robert’s case, he became a mechanic.
While taking part in the maneuvers in Arkansas, A Company of the battalion received orders to return to Ft. Knox. Once there, the company was inactivated and activated the next day, August 17, 1941, as the 17th Ordnance Company and received orders to go overseas. The reason the 17th Ordnance Company was created appears to be tied to the First Tank Group, and there are at least two stories of how the tank group ended up in the Philippines.
In the first story, told by Col. Ernest Miller of the 194th Tank Battalion, the decision to send the tank group overseas was the result of an event that happened earlier in 1941. According to this 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, 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 that the Japanese military used to communicate with its troops. 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 a tarp on its deck covering something – 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.
In the second story, the 192nd Tank Battalion members believed that the reason they were selected to be sent overseas was that they had performed well on the Louisiana maneuvers in September 1941. The story was that they were personally selected by Gen. George Patton – who had commanded the tanks of the Blue Army – to go overseas. There is no evidence that this was true.
The fact was that both battalions were 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. The group was made up of the 70th and 191st Tank Battalions – the 191st had been a medium National Guard tank battalion while the 70th was a regular army tank battalion – at Ft. Meade, Maryland, the 192nd, at Ft. Knox, the 193rd at Ft. Benning, Georgia, and the 194th at Ft. Lewis, Washington. The 192nd, 193rd, and 194th had been light tank National Guard battalions.
It is known that the military presence in the Philippines was being built up at the time, so in all likelihood, the entire tank group had been scheduled to be sent to the Philippines. The buoys being spotted by the pilot may have sped up the transfer of the tank battalions to the Philippines with only the 192nd and 194th reaching the islands. The 193rd Tank Battalion was on its way to the Philippines when Pearl Harbor was attacked and the battalion was held there. One of the two medium tank battalions had standby orders for the Philippines, but because the war with Japan had started the orders were canceled on December 10. It is possible that the 19th Ordnance Battalion was part of the tank group, but nothing has been found to confirm this. Creating the 17th Ordnance Company allowed the tanks of the two battalions to receive support without sending the entire battalion to the Philippines.
Traveling west the company was assigned to a train that was also carrying the M3 tanks that were assigned to the 194th Tank Battalion. The company arrived at Ft. Mason north of San Francisco, California, and was ferried by the U.S.A.T General Frank M. Coxe to Ft. McDowell on Angel Island. On the island, the company received medical examinations from its medical detachment. Men found to have medical conditions were replaced.
The members of the company spent the next several days preparing the tanks and weapons for transport overseas. This meant that all weapons had cosmoline put on them to prevent them from rusting. Since – in some areas – the hold of the ship was not tall enough to fit some of the tanks in with their turrets on, the turrets were removed. To ensure that the turret went on the tank it came off of, the tank’s serial number was painted on the turret.
The men boarded the U.S.A.T. President Calvin Coolidge around 3:00 P.M. on September 8, and the ship sailed at 9:00 P.M. that night. The enlisted men were quartered in the hold with the tanks. During this part of the trip, the seas were rough and many of the soldiers were seasick. One tank broke free from its moorings and rolled back and forth in the hold slamming into the side of the ship’s hull until it was tied down again.
They arrived at Honolulu, Hawaii, on Saturday, September 13 at 7:00 A.M., and most of the soldiers were allowed off the ship to see the island but had to be back on board before the ship sailed at 5:00 P.M. After leaving Hawaii, the ship took a southerly route away from the main shipping lanes. It was at this time that it was joined by the replenishment oiler the U.S.S. Guadalupe with the U.S.S. Astoria, a heavy cruiser, and an unknown destroyer as the two ships’ escorts. During this part of the trip, on several occasions, smoke was seen on the horizon, and the Astoria took off in the direction of the smoke. Each time it was found that the smoke was from a ship belonging to a friendly country.
The ships crossed the International Dateline on Tuesday, September 16, and the date changed to Thursday, September 18. They entered Manila Bay at 7:00 A.M. and reached Manila several hours later. The 194th soldiers disembarked at 3:00 P.M. and rode a train to Clark Field. 17th Ordnance remained at the dock to unload the battalion’s tanks and reattach the turrets. To do this, they worked all night sleeping in shifts.
The company rode a train to Fort Stotsenburg and was taken to an area between the fort and Clark Field, where they were housed in tents since General Edward P. King, commanding officer of the fort had learned of their arrival only days earlier. After he was satisfied that they were settled in, he left them. The officers were put in two men tents while the enlisted men were assigned to six men tents. Each man had a cot, cotton pads, white sheets, a wool blanket, and a footlocker for personnel belongings. During the first night in the tents, there was heavy rain that caused his footlocker to float out of the tent.
After spending three weeks in tents, they moved into their barracks on October 18, the barracks were described as being on stilts with walls that from the floor were five feet of a weaved matting called sawali; this allowed the men to dress. 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.
The days were described as hot and humid, but if a man was able to find shade it was always cooler in the shade. The Filipino winter had started when they arrived, and although it was warm when they went to sleep 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.
The company’s job was to provide battlefront maintenance known as 4th Echelon Maintenance to the tanks of the 192nd and 194th. The company arrived in the Philippines with spare parts, supplies, and wreckers to retrieve and tow disabled tanks to the field shops of the company. They also had to maintain and service all mechanical, electrical, communication systems, and armament used by the tanks and other vehicles.
Since the job of ordnance was to service the tanks, they followed the workday used by the 194th Tank Battalion. 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.” It is not known what precisely the members of the company did at this time.
For the next several weeks, they spent their time removing the cosmoline from the weapons. They also had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with their M3 tanks. Many of them had never trained on one during their time at Ft. Knox. In October, the 194th was allowed to travel to Lingayen Gulf, since 17th Ordnance’s job was to keep the tanks running they went with the battalion. This was done under simulated conditions that enemy troops had landed there. Two months later, enemy troops would land there.
Things went well until they turned onto a narrow gravel road in the barrio of Lingayen that had a lot of traffic. A bus driver parked his bus in the middle of the road and did not move it even after the tanks turned on their sirens and blew whistles. As they passed the bus, the tanks tore off all of one side of it. The company bivouacked about a half-mile from the barrio on a hard sandy beach with beautiful palm trees. The men swam and got in line for chow at the food trucks. It was then that the doctors told them that they needed to wear earplugs when they swam because the warm water contained bacteria and they could get ear infections that were hard to cure. No one came down with an ear infection. The soldiers went to sleep on the beach in their sleeping bags.
When the 192nd Tank Battalion arrived in the Philippines on November 20th which was Thanksgiving, the members of the company were waiting at the pier to unload the battalion’s tanks. To do this, they slept in shifts and worked all night with the battalion’s maintenance section. The one good thing is that they had a real turkey dinner on the ship. It was with the arrival of the 192nd that the Provisional Tank Group was activated and Robert was assigned to it.
When the general warning of a possible Japanese attack was sent to overseas commands on November 27; 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 30. 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. It appears that 17th Ordnance did not have an area assigned to it.
On December 1, 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. The tanks were sent to predetermined positions with the 192nd being sent to an area north and east of Ft. Stotsenburg and the 194th going to an area with heavy Cogan grass, below Watch Hill, between the two main runways of Clark Field. It appears that 17th Ordnance was not assigned a location.
Some members of the company were in the mess hall when they heard of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on the radio. They ate breakfast and then went to their trucks and other vehicles. Other enlisted members of the company were putting down stones for sidewalks when they were told of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. On a map, one of the officers saw a thicket that the company could use for cover so they moved there.
The company on its own moved to a bamboo thicket and set up its trucks. Later that morning the alert was canceled and the company was ordered back to Clark Field. The cooks had just finished preparing lunch so they remained in the thicket. The members of the company watched as B-17s were loaded with bombs but remained on the ground because they could not get the order to bomb Taiwan. They received permission to fly there but not to bomb.
While they were eating lunch, at 12:45 the Japanese planes approached the airfield from the north, The men had time to count 54 planes in the formation. As they watched, what looked like raindrops fell from under the planes, but it was when the bombs began exploding on the runways, they knew the planes were Japanese. The Zeros that followed strafed the airfield and banked and turned over the thicket the company was located in. The planes banked and returned to strafe the airfield again. The members of the company were ordered not to fire because some of the machines they had to manufacture tank parts were the only ones of their type in the Philippines.
After the attack, the company remained at Clark Field until the 192nd was ordered north to Lingayen Gulf. From this time on, wherever the tank battalions were sent the members of 17th Ordnance. The company members often made repairs to tanks on the frontlines and under enemy fire. They repaired tanks damaged by Japanese fire and those damaged by the tankers. To make the repairs they manufactured many of the parts themselves.
From the Lingayen Gulf, the tanks were sent to the Urdaneta area, they were at Santo Tomas near Cabanatuan on December 27, and at San Isidro south of Cabanatuan on December 28 and 29. With every move the tanks made, 17th Ordnance moved with them. The tanks were next at Culo and Hermosa and the half-tracks kept throwing their rubber tracks and members of 17th Ordnance assigned to each tank battalion had to re-track them in dangerous situations.
The tanks bivouacked south of the Pilar-Bagac Road and about two kilometers from the East Coast Road in mid-January. It had almost been one month since the tank crews had a rest and the tanks had long overdue maintenance work done on them by 17th Ordnance. Most of the tank tracks had worn down to bare metal and the radial engines were long past their 400-hour overhauls. The company also took over 1000 rounds of World War I anti-personnel ammunition and converted it for use by the tanks.
The food rations were cut in half in January and diseases soon began to spread among the soldiers. 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.
The battalions were sent to cover the junctions of the Back Road and East Road with the Abucay-Hacienda Road on January 25. While holding the position, the 45th Infantry, Philippine Scouts, fought its way to the position at 3:00 A.M. One platoon was sent to the front of the column of trucks that were loading the troops. The tanks provided heavy fire so that the infantry could withdraw and inflicted heavy losses on the Japanese. Later on January 25, both the 192nd and 194th held a defensive line on the Bakanga-Cardre-BaniBani Roads until the withdrawal was completed at midnight. They held the position until the night of January 26, when they dropped back to a new defensive line roughly along the Pilar-Bagac Roads. When ordered to withdraw to the new line, the 192nd found that the bridge at Balanga, which they were supposed to use had been destroyed by enemy fire. To withdraw, they had to use secondary roads to get around the barrio and tanks were still straggling in at noon.
The tanks 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 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.
One of the major problems the tanks had at this time was when the tank battalions arrived in the Philippines all they had were armor-piercing shells. The Philippine Ordnance Depot had a large amount of World War I 37 MM anti-personnel ordnance. The company was able to remove the armor-piercing projectiles from their housings and add the correct amount of powder to create anti-personnel shells that proved extremely effective against the enemy.
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.
What made this job of eliminating the Japanese so hard was that the Japanese 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.
The tankers, from A, B, and C Companies, 192nd, were able to clear the pockets by February 18. But before this was done, one tank which had gone beyond the American perimeter was disabled and the tank just sat there. 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 the Japanese seemed to have expected this move. It appears that most of the crew was killed with grenades as they attempted to escape through the turret. One man apparently was still alive when the Japanese filled the crew compartment with dirt and was buried alive inside the tank. When the Japanese had been wiped out, 17th Ordnance helped with the recovery of the tank and the tank on its side to remove the dirt and recover the bodies of the crew. The tank was put back into use after repairs were made.
The company was informed by Tank Group Headquarters that the tanks were experiencing suspension problems with the suspensions failing. The company members determined that the volute springs were freezing up from operating in and around salt water. The Chief of Ordnance in Washington was notified of the problem which resulted in the redesign of the track systems of all vehicles using the springs.
It is known that the company set up its operations in a large ordnance building on Bataan which had been emptied of all its ordnance. The company remained in the building throughout the Battle of Bataan. Companies A and C, 192nd, were ordered to the west coast of Bataan while B Co. 192nd – which 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. 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.
On March 1, food rations for the soldiers had been caught again. 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 that they most likely would have surrendered for a good meal.
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.
Having brought in combat harden troops from Singapore, the Japanese launched a major offensive on April 3 supported by planes and artillery. A large force of Japanese troops came over Mount 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. The tanks were sent to various sectors in an attempt to stop the advance. On the 6th, four tanks were sent to support the 45th Philippine Infantry, Philippine Scouts. One tank was knocked out from anti-tank fire at the junctions of Trails 6 & 8, and the other tanks withdrew. On April 8, the 192nd was fighting on the East Coast Road at Cabcaban. A counter-attack was launched – on April 7 – by the 57th Infantry, Philippine Scouts which was supported by tanks. Its objective was 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, was attached to the 192nd and had only seven tanks left.
It was the evening of April 8 that Gen. Edward P. 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. 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. 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. It was 11:00 P.M. when the company was told it had 30 minutes to evacuate the ordnance building before the ammunition dumps on both sides of the building were destroyed. At 11:40 P.M., the ammunition dumps went up in flames. 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.” Capt. Robert Sorenson, 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 a number of men attempted to reach Corregidor.
As Gen. King left to negotiate the surrender, he went through the area held by B Company and spoke to the men from the company and men from 17th Ordnance. 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. 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 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. 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.
Shortly after this was done a Japanese colonel and interpreter arrived and King was told the officer was Homma’s Chief of Staff who had come to discuss King’s surrender. King attempted to get assurances from the Japanese that his men would be treated as prisoners of war, but the Japanese officer – through his interpreter – accused him of declining to surrender unconditionally. At one point King stated he had enough trucks and gasoline to carry his troops out of Bataan. He was told that the Japanese would handle the movement of the prisoners. The two men talked back and forth until the colonel said through the interpreter, “The Imperial Japanese Army are not barbarians.” King found no choice but to accept him at his word.
Unknown to Gen. King, an order attributed to Gen. Masaharu Homma – but in all likelihood from one of his subordinates – had been given. It stated, “Every troop which fought against our army on Bataan should be wiped out thoroughly, whether he surrendered or not, and any American captive who is unable to continue marching all the way to the concentration camp should be put to death in the area of 200 meters off the road.”
The company was at kilometer 181 and remained in its bivouac until the Japanese arrived and ordered them to Mariveles at the southern tip of Bataan, where they were searched and stripped of anything the Japanese could use. He was placed into a detachment of 100 POWs that was guarded by six to eight guards and ordered to 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 simply because the guards did not want to stop for them. When the distance was covered, the column was stopped and allowed to rest and the guards were replaced. The new guards also had a certain distance to cover, so they too wanted the POWs to move as fast as possible.
As the POWs made their way north, the Filipinos filled containers with water and placed them along the road. The POWs could not stop but many were able to scoop water into their canteens. By doing this the Filipinos saved a great many lives. The POWs also could see them flashing the “V” for victory sign under their folder arms.
The further north they marched the more bloated dead bodies they saw. The ditches along the road were filled with water, but many also had dead bodies in them. The POWs’ thirst got so bad they drank the water. Many men would later die from dysentery. The column of POWs was often stopped and pushed off the road and made to sit in the sun for hours. While they at there, the guards would shake down the POWs and take any possession they had that they liked. When they were ordered to move again, it was not unusual for the Japanese troops riding past them in trucks to entertain themselves by swinging at the POWs with their guns or with bamboo poles.
When they were north of Hermosa, the POWs reached pavement which made the march easier. They received an hour break, but any POW who attempted to lay down was jabbed with a bayonet. After the break, they were marched through Layac and Lubao. It was at this time that a heavy shower took place and 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.
The men were marched until they reached San Fernando. Once there, they were herded into a bullpen, surrounded by barbed wire, and put into groups of 200 men. One POW from each group went to the cooking area which was next to the latrine and got food for the group. Each man received a ball of rice and four or five dried onions. Water was given out with each group receiving a pottery jar of water to share.
The POWs were organized into detachments of 100 men and were marched to the train station, where they were packed into small wooden boxcars known as “forty or eights.” Each boxcar could hold forty men or eight horses, but the Japanese packed 100 men into each car because there were 100 men in each detachment and closed the doors. The POWs were packed in so tightly that the dead could not fall to the floor. At Capas, as the living left the cars and those who had died – during the trip – fell to the floors of the cars. As they left the cars, the Filipino civilians threw bananas, mangos, rice cakes, and sugarcane at the POWs and gave the POWs water. The guards did not stop them. The POWs walked the last eight kilometers to Camp O’Donnell. The camp was an unfinished Filipino Army Training Base that the Japanese pressed into use as a POW camp on April 1, 1942.
Once in the camp, they were taken into a large field where they were counted and searched and all extra clothing that they had was taken from them and not returned. Blankets, knives, and matches were taken from them. If a man was found to have Japanese money on them, they were taken to the guardhouse. Finally, the camp commandant came out, stood on a box, and told them that they were enemies of Japan and would always be Japan’s enemies. He also told them that they were captives and not prisoners of war and would be treated accordingly. After the speech, the prisoners were allowed to go to their barracks. Over the next several days, gunshots were heard to the southeast of the camp as the POWs who had Japanese items on them were executed for looting.
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 as 80 to 120 men. Most of the POWs slept on the ground under the barracks. There was no netting to protect the men from malaria-carrying mosquitos as they slept, so many men soon became ill with malaria. The ranking American officer was slapped after asking for building materials to repair the buildings.
The POWs received three meals, mainly rice, a day. For breakfast, they were fed a half cup of soupy rice and occasionally some type of coffee. Lunch each day was half of a mess kit of steamed rice and a half cup of sweet potato soup. They received the same meal for dinner. All meals were served outside regardless of the weather. By May 1, the food had improved a little with the issuing of a little wheat flour, some native beans, and a small issue of coconut oil. About once every ten days, 3 or 4 small calves were brought into the camp. When meat was given out, there was only enough for one-fourth of the POWs to receive a piece that was an inch square. A native potato, the camote, was given to the POWs, but most were rotten and thrown out. The POWs had to post guards to prevent other POWs from eating them. The camp had a Black Market and POWs who had money could buy a small can of fish from the guards for $5.00.
There was only one water faucet in the camp, and the prisoners stood in line for two to eight hours waiting for a drink. The Japanese guards at the faucet would turn it off for no reason and the next man in line would stand as long as four hours waiting for it to be turned on again. This situation improved when a second faucet was added by the POWs who came up with the pipe, dug the trench and ran the waterline. Just like the first faucet, the Japanese turned off the water when they wanted water to bathe, but unlike the first water line, the POWs had the ability to turn on the water again without the Japanese knowing it.
There was no water for washing clothes, so the POWs would throw out their clothing when it had been soiled. In addition, water for cooking had to be carried three miles from a river to the camp, and mess kits could not be washed. The slit trenches in the camp were inadequate and were soon overflowing since most of the POWs had dysentery. The result was that flies were everywhere in the camp including the POW kitchens and in the food.
The camp hospital had no soap, water, or disinfectant. When the ranking American doctor at the camp wrote a letter to the camp commandant, Capt. Yohio Tsuneyoshi, asking for medical supplies. He was told never to write another letter. The Archbishop of Manila sent a truckload of medical supplies to the camp, but the Japanese commandant refused to allow the truck into the camp. When the Philippine Red Cross sent medical supplies to the camp the Japanese took 95% of the supplies for their own 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.
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.
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. Many of these men returned from the work details only to die in the camp. The death rate among the POWs reached 50 men dying a day.
In May, his parents received a letter from the War Department.
“Dear Mrs. J. Faubion:
“According to War Department records, you have been designated as the emergency addressee if Private Robert E. Faubion, 15,042,224, 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”
Wilbur went out on a work detail to Clark Field to get out of the camp. It is believed that he was in the original POW detachment that arrived at Clark Field on May 22. When they arrived, the POWs assigned as cooks had made their first meal from a rancid pig. The POWs ate it without complaint. Since the airfield had been an American base before the war, each of the POWs had a bunk and mattress. The POWs were used to repair the runways that had been bombed by the Japanese on the first day of the war. Men who were on the detail stated that somewhere around 700 POWs were on the detail, but only 630 were healthy enough to work each day.
The POWs spent about a year clearing junk and unexploded ordnance from the airfield. To do this, the POWs were broken into detachments under the command of a sergeant. While doing this, they were able to come up with bandages and some medicines that they could use. The only thing they did not find was quinine.
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.
While the POWs were working at Clark Field, two Filipinos were caught stealing corrugated metal from the airfield. The Japanese tied them to posts and used them for bayonet practice while the POWs were forced to watch.
On March 15, 1943, his name was released by the War Department on a list of men known to be Japanese Prisoners of War. His parents had learned he was a POW weeks earlier.
REPORT JUST RECEIVED THROUGH THE INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS STATES THAT YOUR SON PRIVATE ROBERT E FAUBION IS A PRISONER OF WAR OF THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS LETTER OF INFORMATION FOLLOWS FROM THE PROVOST
ULIO THE ADJUTANT GENERAL.
Within days of receiving the first message, his mother received a letter confirming the telegram and then received the following letter.
“Mrs. J. Faubion
1411 E Street
Bedford In
“The Provost Marshal General directs me to inform you that you may communicate with your son, postage free, by following the inclosed instructions:
“It is suggested that you address him as follows:
“Pvt. Robert G. Faubion, 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 was in September 1943, his family received a POW Postcard. On it, he wrote, “I am okay and will be home soon, I hope, so don’t worry.”
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.
At first, the guards were combat veterans who didn’t care how much dirt the POWs moved; all they had to do is look busy. The reason the guards did this was that they liked the detail and wanted to stretch it out as long as possible. The only time the POWs were expected to work hard was when big shots came around to expect the work. When the guards changed the climate on the detail changed.
After the guards were replaced, the POWs worked long hours starting at 6:00 A.M. working long hours even during the typhoon season without a day off. They were fed twice a day but the amount of food, two cups of rice, was inadequate. The Japanese did not give the POWs any medical supplies, and if they had them it was because the POWs had scrounged them. They were housed in the same barracks that many of them had lived in before the war. The only difference was the Japanese put barbed wire around the barracks. Although they could have escaped, most POWs did not try since there was really no place to go.
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.
When a third POW escaped, on May 30, 1944, the remaining POWs were not fed and they sat in the sun without head coverings. The 19 POWs who were working with him received this treatment for three days. The Japanese also offered the Filipinos a 100-pound bag of rice for turning in escaped POWs.
The Japanese instituted the “Blood Brother” rule since several POWs escaped from the detail. If one man escaped, the other nine men in the group would be executed. Men were often thrown into the metal shack that served as a cellblock that had no windows and only enough room for the man to squat. They also witnessed the execution of Filipinos who had been caught stealing sheet metal. They were tied to poles and used for bayonet practice.
Beatings were common and the POWs stated that someone was always being hit over the head with a saber by one lieutenant. They were also beaten by the guards with a golf club for no reason. Men were often thrown into the metal shack that served as a cellblock that had no windows and had only enough room for the man to squat. They also witnessed the execution of Filipinos who had been caught stealing sheet metal. They were tied to poles and used for bayonet practice.
Medical Treatment was basic since there were no medical supplies and any they had were found by POWs on the base. They were expected to keep working regardless of health. Those POWs who were injured were treated without medical supplies. POWs with malaria did not have to work, but the Japanese determined if a POW was sick. If the POWs weren’t “too sick” they worked. Those who could not work were severely beaten. The POWs had to work during a typhoon in loincloths.
It is known that he was sent to Bilibid Prison near Manila and admitted to the hospital there for varicose veins on May 10, 1944. No date of discharge has been found. After he was discharged, his name was on a list of POWs being transferred from the Philippines.
The POWs were marched to the Port Area of Manila and put on the Canadian Inventor. The prisoners were packed into the hold of the ship so tightly that they had to sleep in shifts. The bathroom for the prisoners was a rack that hung over the side of the ship. To get to it, the POWs had to climb up ladders from the hold. This situation meant that there was always a line of men on the ladders attempting to get to the rack. Since many of the men were suffering from dysentery, vomiting, or diphtheria, they did not always make it out of the hold before they relieved themselves. This was due to the fact that they were so sick and weak that they could not control their bodily functions. The ship sat for over a day before it sailed on July 4, 1944, as part of a convoy but the Japanese did not remove the hatch covers.
After sailing, because of boiler problems, the ship returned to Manila for repairs. The first meal for the POWs was rice and water, but the POWs were not organized and not everyone received it. That night the Japanese also removed the hatch cover. It sailed a second time on July 16, and by this time the POWs had given it the name the “Mati Mati Maru” which in Japanese meant “wait wait ship.”
The stench from the human waste in the hold was so bad that the Japanese allowed 100 POWs on deck and hosed them down with salt water and gave them soap to wash. After two hours another group of POWs was allowed on deck. The ship arrived at Takao, Formosa, on July 23 where it unloaded salt, but it remained there until August 4 while more boiler repairs were made. The POWs were brought on deck in groups and washed down with salt water from fire hoses. From this point on, its only cargo was the POWs. When it sailed, it went to Keelung, Formosa, for more boiler repairs and remained there until August 17 when it sailed again. It stopped again at the Ryukyu Islands where more repairs were made to the boiler.
It then sailed for Naha, Okinawa, where it left and returned several times. During its time there, American submarines attacked the ships in the harbor. Since the only cargo on the ship was the POWs, it was high in the water and any torpedos fired at it went under it. When it finally sailed it ran into a typhoon and bounced back and forth in the water since the POWs were its only cargo. The POWs in the hold were flung from side to side and bounced off the sides of the haul and each other. The ship arrived at Moji, Japan, on September 1, 1944. Even though it took the ship 62 days to reach Japan available information states only ten POWs died during the trip.
Of the trip, he said, “George Hadley and I were on the same ship which left Manila for Japan proper, taking 62 days for the trip because they were dodging American submarines.”
The POWs disembarked the ship at Moji and were taken to Omine Machi which was also known as Hiroshima #6-B. Of the POW camps, this was the camp the Japanese showcased as a “model” camp. The camp was also known as Hiroshima #6-B, where the POWs worked in a coal mine that had been condemned as being unsafe before the war. The work shifts were 9 hours and 30 minutes long, and it was common for the POWs to be beaten if the Japanese believed that they were not working hard enough. To get to the mine, the POWs made a 25-minute walk. George Hadley, 17th Ordnance, was with him.
Of this, he said, “Hadley and I were in a coal mining prison camp when liberated. We were paid 10 sen a day for working from 3 o’clock in the morning until 5 o’clock in the afternoon.
“If you didn’t work you got a half ration. The full ration was one bun or a dish of rice. If we were able to work all month the total pay was three yen, which I would trade for one cigarette.”
Red Cross packages when they arrived at the camp were locked in a storeroom and withheld from the POWs from three to seven months. The camp guards stole items from Red Cross packages and withheld the packages from July 1, 1944, to September 2, 1945. The Japanese intentionally opened packages and mixed up contents so that the ranking Allied officer would not know how much should be in each package.
The food ration in the camp was one bun and bowl of rice each day. The camp commandant intentionally gorged on food just to make the POWs suffer. When the POWs received food in the Red Cross packages most of the food in the packages was gone. What was given to the POWs had little nutritional value since it was in extremely small amounts. In December 1944, when a new commander took over the camp, there were no more problems with Red Cross boxes.
Medical supplies were meager. The American medical officer was beaten and put into confinement when he requested medical supplies for the sick. It was not uncommon for sick POWs who reported to the camp hospital to be abused and beaten by the Japanese orderly. The Red Cross medical supplies intended for the POWs were misappropriated or withheld from the POWs and used by the Japanese.
Beatings were common in the camp and numerous POWs were beaten. POWs were beaten for trading clothing for cigarettes or trading for food. The POW doctor was beaten with a wooden sword after giving the sick report to the commandant. The Japanese had 32 POWs beaten by guards until the guards were tired and then made the POWs beat each other. POWs were made to stand at attention holding heavy boxes at arm’s length for long periods of time. POWs being beaten with clubs, kicked, and struck with clubs also was a frequent event. After this was done, the POWs were denied medical treatment.
As the war went on and American planes flew over on a regular basis, the POWs dug air raid shelters in the camp. The POWs given the job had a guard who would give them his cigarettes and allow them to hide and rest. It is known that the POWs who were in the camp on August 6, 1945, heard a tremendous roar after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. They told the POWs who had been in the mine about what had happened.
When and how the POWs learned of the Japanese surrender is not known. On August 16, 1945, B-29s came over the camp and dropped food, clothing, and medicine to the POWs. The POWs took the chutes, which were red, white, and blue, and made an American flag from them, and put it on the camp flag pole.
The POWs were officially liberated on September 15, 1045, and taken to Wakayama, Japan, where – after being stripped of their clothing, deloused, and taking showers – they boarded the U.S.S. Consolation. From Wakayama, he was taken to Okinawa. The U.S.S. Haskell took him and other POWs back to the Philippines arriving on September 25th. It was during this time that he was promoted to corporal and then sergeant.
His grandfather, Fred Faubion, received the following telegram from the acting adjutant general of the Army, Robert H. Dunlop.
“The Secretary of War has asked me to inform you that your grandson, Pvt. Robert Eugene Faubion has been returned to military control and is being returned to the United States within the near future. He will be given opportunity to communicate with you upon his arrival.”
His family received a message from him that was addressed to his father who had died on June 6, 1944. The letter came through the War Department.
“The following message has been received in the War Department to be delivered to you from your son, Cpl. Robert Eugene Faubion; ‘Dearest Dad and Mother, will be home soon.’ Report further states physical condition fair.”
The letter was forwarded to his mother who appears to have been living with his sister and her husband in Louisiana.
After his liberation, he learned of events at home. He said, “My father died while I was over there and I didn’t know anything about it until I came back. I only received one letter in the three and one-half years that I was a prisoner, although my mother and father wrote daily. Some of the boys would receive as high as 30 letters where others would receive none.”
After he arrived in the Philippines no information has been found as to how he returned to the United States. This means that he may have been flown to the U.S. by the Air Transport Command and landed at Hamilton Field north of San Francisco, and taken to Letterman General Hospital. From there, he was sent to Fletcher General Hospital in Cambridge, Ohio.
He was discharged from the Army in January 1946 and stated that he planned to reenlist. After registering with Selective Service on January 23, he reenlisted in Cambridge, Ohio. After reenlisting he was sent to Knoxville, Tennesse, where he worked as an Army recruiter. With him in the office was Aaron Combs who had been a member of D Co, 192nd, and his friend while a POW.
He married Ella Stotts on August 5, 1946, in Martinsville, Indiana. At some point, he transferred to the U.S. Air Force and worked as a recruiter. He reached the rank of Sergeant First Class. He also gave testimony during the Yokohama War Crimes Trails against the Omine Machi camp commander.
He became ill in October 1964 and was hospitalized before passing away at 5:00 P.M. on November 25 at the Valley Forge General Hospital, Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. He was buried at Beech Grove Cemetery in Bedford, Indiana, with full military honors.
