Sgt. Claude Likens was born in Des Moines, Iowa, on May 15, 1917, to William H. Likens and Pearl M. Turner-Likens. (On some documents he used Claud as his first while on others he spelt his name as Claude.) With his four sisters and two brothers, he grew up on 18th Street Road in Komosdale, Kentucky, which was a company town owned by a cement company. He completed two years of high school and was later employed by the Kosmos Portland Cement Company as a carpenter’s assistant. On March 1, 1941, he was inducted into the U.S. Army in Louisville, Kentucky, and sent to Fort Knox, Kentucky, for basic training, When he arrived at the fort, he was assigned to D Company, 192nd Tank Battalion. The reason for this was that the company had been a Kentucky National Guard Tank Company from Harrodsburg, and the Army was trying to fill out the roster of the company with men from Kentucky.
Basic training for the selectees was rushed and finished in seven weeks. During week 1, the soldiers did infantry drilling; week 2, manual arms and marching to music; week 3, machine gun training; week 4, was pistol usage; week 5, M1 rifle firing; week 6, was training with gas masks, gas attacks, pitching tents, and hikes; week 7 was spent learning the weapons, firing each one, learning the parts of the weapons and their functions, field stripping and caring for weapons, and the cleaning of weapons. All the training was done with the 69th Tank Regiment of the First Armored Division under the supervision of officers and enlisted men from the 192nd.
The men from Selective Service lived in six-man tents next to D Company’s barracks. The tents had walls and doors, canvas roofs, and electricity. In addition, each tent had a stove in its center for heat. The reason the draftees lived in tents was that the battalion was assigned to temporary barracks that were smaller than the normal barracks and there was no room for them inside the buildings.
A typical day for the soldiers started at 6:15 with reveille, but most of the soldiers were up before this since they wanted to wash and dress. Breakfast was from 7:00 to 8:00 A.M., followed by calisthenics from 8:00 to 8:30. Afterward, the tankers went to various schools within the company. The classes consisted of .30 and .50 caliber machine guns, pistol, map reading, care of personal equipment, military courtesy, and training in tactics. At 11:30 the soldiers stopped what they were doing and cleaned up for lunch which was from noon to 1:00 P.M. Afterward, they attended 13-week classes at the various schools which they had been assigned to on January 13, such as mechanics, tank driving, radio operating. At 4:30, the soldiers called it a day and returned to their barracks and put on dress uniforms and at five held retreat and followed by dinner at 5:30. After dinner, they were off duty and lights were out at 9:00 P.M., but they did not have to turn in until 10:00 when Taps was played. During his time at Ft. Knox, he qualified as a motorcycle messenger on a Harley Davidson.
On June 14 and 16, the battalion was divided into four detachments composed of men from different companies. Available information shows that C and D Companies, part of HQ Company and part of the Medical Detachment left on June 14, while A and B Companies, and the other halves of HQ Company and the Medical Detachment left the fort on June 16. These were tactical maneuvers – under the command of the commanders of each of the letter companies. The three-day tactical road marches were to Harrodsburg, Kentucky, and back. Each tank company traveled with 20 tanks, 20 motorcycles, 7 armored scout cars, 5 jeeps, 12 peeps (later called jeeps), 20 large 2½ ton trucks (these carried the battalion’s garages for vehicle repair), 5, 1½ ton trucks (which included the companies’ kitchens), and 1 ambulance.
The detachments traveled through Bardstown and Springfield before arriving at Harrodsburg at 2:30 P.M. where they set up their bivouac at the fairgrounds. The next morning, they moved to Herrington Lake east of Danville, where the men swam, boated, and fished. The battalion returned to Ft. Knox through Lebanon, New Haven, and Hodgenville, Kentucky. At Hodgenville, the men were allowed to visit the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln. The purpose of the maneuvers was to give the men practice at loading, unloading, and setting up administrative camps to prepare them for the Louisiana maneuvers.
At the end of June, the battalion found itself at the firing range and appeared to have spent the last week there. According to available information, they were there from 4:00 A.M. until 8:30 A.M. when they left the range. They then had to clean the guns which took them until 10:30 A.M. One of the complaints they had about the firing range was that it was so hot and humid that when they got back from it that their clothes felt like they had stood out in the rain. Right after July 4, the battalion went on a nine-day maneuver. Twelve of the battalion’s tanks were sent to Rock Island, Illinois, to be overhauled but were returned before the battalion went to Louisiana.
Another detachment of men was sent to Detroit in July. It is not known why they were sent there, but it is known they were there for 7 days. It was during this time the men began hearing the rumor that part of the battalion was being sent to South Carolina while part of the battalion would be going to Texas. They also heard that the battalion would be taking part in maneuvers in Arkansas and that after the maneuvers, the battalion was heading to Ft. Benning, Georgia, for six weeks before they were sent to the Philippines.
During August the battalion was involved in the making of the short movie, “The Tanks are Coming” for Metro Golden Meyer starring George Tobias. It was stated that they were filmed loading and unloading their tanks, but it was not indicated if it was on and off trains or trucks. Some men stated they also took part in other scenes during the movie.
The battalion was scheduled to take part in maneuvers, but men who still were attending school remained behind to complete their courses. Two members of each company also remained behind with the job of watching over their company’s possessions. About half of the battalion left Ft. Knox on September 1 in trucks and other wheeled vehicles and spent the night in Clarksville, Tennessee. By 7:00 A.M. the next morning, the detachment was on the move. On the second day, the soldiers saw their first cotton fields which they found fascinating. They spent the night in Brownsville, Tennessee, and were again on the move the following morning at 7:00 A.M. At noon, the convoy crossed the Mississippi River which they found amazing, and spent the night in Clarksdale, Mississippi. At noon the next day, the convoy crossed the lower part of Arkansas and arrived at Tallulah, Louisiana, where, they washed, relaxed, and played baseball against the locals. It also gave them a break from sitting on wooden benches in the trucks. During the trip, the convoy was involved in a number of accidents that appeared to involve the battalion’s motorcycles but no details are known.
Some of the members of the battalion left Ft. Knox for the maneuvers by train on September 4. It is known that the tanks had been loaded onto train cars and that the train had a kitchen for them to have meals. The time of departure for the train was 6:30 PM. and the arrival time in Tremont, Louisiana, was scheduled for around midnight the night of September 5, but the train did not arrive until 3:00 AM on the 6th. When they arrived at Tremont, the men who had driven to Louisiana were waiting for them at the train station. The tanks were unloaded in the dark while the men were eaten alive by mosquitos. That night they were allowed to go to Monroe, Louisiana, and it was said there were more soldiers in the town than civilians.
When they arrived, the battalion was assigned to the Red Army, attached to the Fourth Cavalry, and stationed at Camp Robinson, Arkansas. The battalion’s bivouac was in the Kisatchi Forest. What made the bivouac worse was that the rainy season started and the men found themselves living in it. On one occasion the battalion was bivouac near a canal and the next morning the men found themselves in water over their shoes trying to dig ditches for drainage. The members of B Company captured a medium size alligator in their bivouac and pulled it around at the end of a leash made from a rope. Two days later the battalion made a two-day move, as a neutral unit, to Ragley, Louisiana, and was assigned to the Blue Army and fought with the 191st Tank Battalion as the First Tank Group.
The mobile kitchens moved right along with the rest of the battalion. In the opinion of the men, the food was not very good because the damp air made it hard to get a fire started. Many of their meals were C ration meals of beans or chili – which they called “Iron Rations” – that they carried in their backpacks and choked down. Drinking water was scarce and men went days without shaving and many shaved their heads to keep cool. Washing clothes was done when the men had a chance. They did this by finding a creek, looking for alligators, and if there were none, taking a bar of soap and scrubbing whatever they were washing. Clothes were usually washed once a week or once every two weeks.
The tankers stated that they had never seen so many mosquitoes, ticks, and snakes before. Water moccasins were the most common snake, but there were also rattlesnakes. Snake bites were also a problem and at some point, it seemed that every other man was bitten by a snake. The platoon commanders carried a snake bite kit that was used to create a vacuum to suck the poison out of the bite. The bites were the result of the night cooling down and snakes crawling under the soldiers’ bedrolls for warmth while the soldiers were sleeping on them. When the soldiers woke up in the morning they would carefully pick up their bedrolls to see if there were any snakes under them.
To avoid being bitten, men slept on the two-and-a-half-ton trucks or on or in the tanks. Another trick the soldiers learned was to dig a small trench around their tents and lay rope in the trench. The burs on the rope kept the snakes from entering the tents. The snakes were not a problem if the night was warm. There was one multicolored snake – about eight inches long – that was beautiful to look at, but if it bit a man he was dead. The good thing was that these snakes would not just strike at the man but would only strike if the man forced himself on the snake.
They also had a problem with the wild hogs in the area. In the middle of the night while the men were sleeping in their tents they would suddenly hear hogs squealing. The hogs would run into the tents pushing on them until they took them down and dragged them away.
During the maneuvers, tanks held defensive positions and usually were held in reserve by the higher headquarters. For the first time, the tanks were used to counter-attack, in support of infantry, and held defensive positions. Some men felt that the tanks were finally being used like they should be used and not as “mobile pillboxes.” The maneuvers were described by other men as being awakened at 4:30 A.M. and sent to an area to engage an imaginary enemy. After engaging the enemy, the tanks withdrew to another area. The crews had no idea what they were doing most of the time because they were never told anything by the higher-ups. A number of men felt that they just rode around in their tanks a lot.
While training at Ft. Knox, the tankers were taught that they should never attack an anti-tank gun head-on. One day during the maneuvers, their commanding general threw away the entire battalion doing just that. After sitting out for a period of time, the battalion resumed the maneuvers. The major problem for the tanks was the sandy soil. On several occasions, tanks were parked and the crews walked away from them. When they returned, the tanks had sunk into the sandy soil up to their hauls. It was said that the clay at Ft. Knox was not as bad as the sandy soil in Louisiana. To get them out, other tanks were brought in and attempted to pull them out. If that didn’t work, the tankers brought a tank wrecker to pull the tank out from Camp Polk.
It was not uncommon for the tankers to receive orders to move at night. On October 1 at 2:30 A.M., they were awakened by the sound of a whistle which meant they had to get the tanks ready to move. Those assigned to other duties loaded trucks with equipment. Once they had assembled into formations, they received the order to move, without headlights, to make a surprise attack on the Red Army. By 5:30 that morning – after traveling 40 miles in 2½ hours from their original bivouac in the dark – they had established a new bivouac and set up their equipment. They camouflaged their tanks and trucks and set up sentries to look for paratroopers or enemy troops. At 11:30, they received orders and 80 tanks and armored vehicles moved out into enemy territory. They engaged the enemy at 2:38 in the afternoon and an umpire with a white flag determined who was awarded points or penalized. At 7:30 P.M., the battle was over and the tanks limped back to the bivouac where they were fueled and oiled for the next day.
The one good thing that came out of the maneuvers was that the tank crews learned how to move at night. At Ft. Knox this was never done. Without knowing it, the night movements were preparing them for what they would do in the Philippines since most of the battalion’s movements there were made at night. The drivers learned how to drive at night and to take instructions from their tank commanders who had a better view from the turret. A number of motorcycle riders from other tank units were killed because they were riding their bikes without headlights on which meant they could not see obstacles in front of their bikes. When they hit something they fell to the ground and the tanks following them went over them. This happened several times before the motorcycle riders were ordered to turn on their headlights.
Water was rationed, so the soldiers washed in streams after making sure there were no alligators or snakes nearby. If they took a bath, they did it in cold water. Men went days without washing their faces. The popular conversation during the maneuvers was where the battalion being was being sent next. Rumors flew that after the maneuvers they were going to Ft. Ord, California, Ft. Lewis, Washington, Ft. Benning, Georgia, or Ft. Mead, Maryland.
After the maneuvers, there was a rumor they were going to be sent to Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, but many of the battalion members expected to return to Ft. Knox. Instead, the battalion received orders to report to Camp Polk, Louisiana. On October 3, Major Bacon Moore was ordered to Ft. Knox and received the orders to send the battalion overseas. At this time, Moore was relieved of command of the 192nd, because of his age, and Capt. Ted Wickord became the commanding officer of the battalion and was promoted to major. On the side of a hill, the battalion learned that it had been selected to go overseas. Those men who were married with dependents, 29 years old or older, or whose National Guard enlistments were within months of ending, were allowed to resign from federal service. They were replaced with men from the 753rd Tank Battalion who volunteered or had their names drawn out of a hat. Three of the D Company’s officers were released from service, so it is believed that it was at that time that other men resigned as enlisted men and accepted commissions as second lieutenants.
Many of the members of the battalion were given furloughs so that they could say goodbye to family and friends. He returned home to say his goodbyes. After their furloughs, the men returned to Camp Polk, where they prepared for duty overseas. Cosmoline was put on any weapon that possibly could rust while at sea. During this time, they once again lived in tents. It seemed to rain constantly during this time, so some men went days without taking a shower because they were constantly wet. The battalion was scheduled to receive brand new tanks, but there was a problem, so its new tanks came from the 753rd Tank Battalion and the 3rd Armor Division. Many of these “new” tanks were only new to the battalion and within 5 hours of their 100-hour required maintenance. The tanks were loaded onto flat cars, on different trains.
There are at least two stories on the decision to send the battalion overseas, but the decision appeared to have been made well before the maneuvers. According to one story, the decision was the result of an event that took place in the summer of 1941. 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. 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 the buoys – which was seen making its way to shore. Since communication between the Air Corps and the Navy was difficult, the boat escaped. According to this story, it was at that time the decision was made to send the tank battalions overseas.
Many of the National Guard members of the 192nd believed that the reason they were selected to be sent overseas was that they had performed well on the maneuvers. The story was that they were personally selected by General George S. Patton – who had commanded their tanks as part of the Blue Army – to go overseas. It is true that Patton praised the battalion and the 191st Tank Battalion for their performance during the maneuvers, but there is no evidence that he personally selected them for duty in the Philippines.
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 shows that the tank group had been selected to be sent to the Philippines early in 1941. Besides the 192nd, the group was made up of the 70th and 191st Tank Battalions – the 191st had been a National Guard medium tank battalion while the 70th was a Regular Army medium tank battalion – at Ft. Meade, Maryland. The 193rd was at Ft. Benning, Georgia, and the 194th was at Ft. Lewis, Washington. The 192nd, 193rd, and 194th had been National Guard light tank battalions. It is known that the military presence in the Philippines was being built up at the time and that the entire tank group had been scheduled to be sent to the Philippines.
On August 13, 1941, Congress voted to extend federalized National Guard units’ time in the regular Army by 18 months. On August 14, the 194th received its orders to go overseas. 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, but it was not the reason for the battalions going to the Philippines. It is also known that the 193rd Tank Battalion was on its way to the Philippines when Pearl Harbor was attacked and the battalion was held there. It is known one of the two medium tank battalions – most likely the 191st – had received orders for the Philippines and was on standby, but the orders were canceled on December 10 because the war with Japan had started. Some documents from the time show the name of the Provisional Tank Group in the Philippines as the First Provisional Tank Group.
At 8:30 A.M. on October 20, over different train routes, the companies were sent to San Francisco, California. One company went north to the Canadian border and then west and south down the west coast. It appears that D Company was one of the two companies that went through the middle of the country over different train routes. HQ Company left a few days earlier on the southern route through Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and up the west coast to San Francisco. A Company took the same route on the 20th. Most of the soldiers of each company rode on one train that was followed by a second train that carried the company’s tanks. At the end of the second train was a boxcar followed by a passenger car that carried some soldiers.
When they arrived in San Francisco, they were ferried, by the U.S.A.T. General Frank M. Coxe, to Ft. McDowell on Angel Island. When they got near Alcatraz, a soldier on the boat said, “I’d rather be here than going where you all are going.” On the island, they were given physicals by the battalion’s medical detachment. Men found to have minor health issues were held back and scheduled to rejoin the battalion at a later date. Other men were simply replaced by men sent to the island as replacements. It appears these men came from the 757th Tank Battalion at Ft. Ord, California. Also waiting for the battalion was Col. James R. N. Weaver who was given command of the battalion.
When they arrived in San Francisco, they were ferried, by the U.S.A.T. General Frank M. Coxe, to Ft. McDowell on Angel Island. On the island, they were given physicals by the battalion’s medical detachment. Men found to have minor health issues were held back and scheduled to rejoin the battalion at a later date. Other men were simply replaced with men who had been sent to the island as replacements. These men may have come from the 757th Tank Battalion which was stationed at Ft. Ord. The soldiers spent their time putting cosmoline on anything that they thought would rust.
The 192nd was boarded onto the U.S.A.T. Gen. Hugh L. Scott and sailed on Monday, October 27. During this part of the trip, many tankers had seasickness, but once they recovered they spent much of the time training in breaking down machine guns, cleaning weapons, and doing KP. The ship arrived at Honolulu, Hawaii, on Sunday, November 2, and had a four-day layover, so the soldiers were given shore leave so they could see the island. On Thursday, November 6, the ship sailed for Guam but took a southerly route away from the main shipping lanes. It was at this time it was joined by, the heavy cruiser, the U.S.S. Louisville, and, another transport, the U.S.A.T. President Calvin Coolidge. Sunday night, November 9, the soldiers went to bed and when they awoke the next morning, it was Tuesday, November 11. During the night, while they slept, the ships crossed the International Dateline.
On Saturday, November 15, smoke from an unknown ship was seen on the horizon. The Louisville revved up its engines, its bow came out of the water, and it shot off in the direction of the smoke. It turned out the smoke was from a ship that belonged to a friendly country, while two other intercepted ships were Japanese freighters hauling scrap metal to Japan.
When they arrived at Guam on Sunday, November 16, the ships took on water, bananas, coconuts, and vegetables. Although they were not allowed off the ship, the soldiers were able to mail letters home before sailing for Manila the next day. At one point, the ships passed an island at night and did so in total blackout. This for many of the soldiers was a sign that they were being sent into harm’s way. The blackout was strictly enforced and men caught smoking on deck after dark spent time in the ship’s brig. Three days after leaving Guam the men spotted the first islands of the Philippines. The ships sailed around the south end of Luzon and then north up the west coast of Luzon toward Manila Bay.
The ships entered Manila Bay, at 8:00 A.M., on Thursday, November 20, and docked at Pier 7 later that morning. One thing that was different about their arrival was that instead of a band and a welcoming committee waiting at the pier to tell them to enjoy their stay in the Philippines and see as much of the island as they could, a party came aboard the ship – carrying guns – and told the soldiers, “Draw your firearms immediately; we’re under alert. We expect a war with Japan at any moment. Your destination is Fort Stotsenburg, Clark Field.” At 3:00 P.M., as they left the ship, a Marine was checking off the names of the enlisted men. When someone said his name, the Marine responded with, “Hello sucker.” Those who drove trucks drove them to the fort, while the maintenance section remained behind at the pier to unload the tanks with 17th Ordnance. Most of the men rode a train to the fort.
At the fort, they were greeted by Gen. Edward P. King Jr. who apologized that the men had to live in tents along the main road between the fort and Clark Field. He made sure that had what they needed and that they all received Thanksgiving dinner – stew thrown into their mess kits – before he went to have his own dinner. If they had been slower leaving the ship, they would have had a complete turkey dinner. Ironically, November 20th was the date that the National Guard members of the battalion had expected to be released from federal service.
The members of the 192nd pitched the ragged World War I tents in an open field halfway between the Clark Field Administration Building and Fort Stotsenburg. The tents were set up in two rows and five men were assigned to each tent. There were two supply tents and meals were provided by food trucks stationed at the end of the rows of tents. The area was near the end of a runway used by B-17s for takeoffs. The planes flew over the tents at about 100 feet blowing dirt everywhere and the noise from the engines as they flew over was unbelievable. At night, they heard the sounds of planes flying over the airfield which turned out to be Japanese reconnaissance planes. Being that D Company was scheduled to be transferred to the 194th Tank Battalion – which had arrived in the Philippines in September – it is possible that the company members moved into barracks.
The 192nd arrived in the Philippines with a great deal of radio equipment to set up a radio school to train radiomen for the Philippine Army. After arriving at Ft. Stotsenburg the battalion set up a communications tent that was in contact with the United States within hours. The communications monitoring station in Manila went crazy attempting to figure out where all these new radio messages were coming from. When they were informed it was the 192nd, they gave them frequencies to use. Men were able to send messages home to their families that they had arrived safely.
With the arrival of the 192nd, the Provisional Tank Group was activated on November 27. Besides the 192nd, the tank group contained the 194th Tank Battalion and 17th Ordnance joined on the 29th. Both units arrived in the Philippines on September 26. Military documents written after the war show the tank group was scheduled to be composed of three light tank battalions and two medium tank battalions. Col. Weaver left the 192nd and was appointed head of the tank group.
It is known that during this time the two 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. Col. Weaver, the tank group commander, was able to get ammunition from the post’s ordnance department on the 30th, but the tank group could not get time at one of the firing ranges.
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. Ten days before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the reconnaissance pilots reported that Japanese transports were milling around in a large circle in the South China Sea.
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 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, the CO, 194th, Major Ted Wickord, Captain Richard Kadel, CO, 17th Ordnance Company, and Col. 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.
The tank crews were brought up to full strength at the airfield and the battalion’s half-tracks joined them there. Around 8:00 A.M., the planes of the Army Air Corps took off and filled the sky. At noon, the planes landed and were lined up, near the pilots’ mess hall – in a straight line to be refueled. While the planes were being serviced, the pilots went to lunch. The members of the tank crews received their lunches from the battalion’s food trucks.
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.
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 and the tankers 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.
That night, most men slept under their tanks since it was safer than sleeping in their barracks. They had no idea that they had slept their last night in a bed. One of the results of the attack was that the transfer of D Company, to the 194th, was never completed. The company fought with the 194th but retained its designation of being part of the 192nd for both the Battle of Luzon and the Battle of Bataan.
The 194th was sent, the night of the 12th, to an area south of San Fernando near the Calumpit Bridge arriving there at 6:00 A.M. A few days later, D Company was sent out to a dam to protect it from saboteurs. It did this job until Japanese troops landed, then the company withdrew through Manila toward Bataan. As the tanks went through Manila, the city already showed damage from being bombed.
The battalion received 15 Bren gun carriers on the 15th but turned some over to the 26th Cavalry, Philippine Scouts. These vehicles were used to test the ground to see if it could support tanks. The 194th, with D Company, was sent to the area around the Lingayen Gulf in support of the 192nd on the 21st. The tanks were near a ridge, so many of the tankers climbed to the top, where they found troops, ammunition, and guns. The soldiers were just sitting there watching the Japanese ships in the Gulf since they had received orders not to fire. The tankers walked down the ridge and waited. They received orders to drop back and let the Japanese occupy it. They watched as the Japanese brought their equipment to the top of the ridge. The Americans finally received orders to launch a counterattack which failed.
On December 22, the companies were operating north of the Agno River and after the main bridge was bombed, on December 24/25, it made an end run to get south of the river and not be trapped by the Japanese. The tanks held the south bank of the river from west of Carmen to the Carmen-Akcaka-Bautista Road with the 192nd holding the bank east of Carmen to Tayug (northeast of San Quintin). Christmas Day, the tankers spent in a coconut grove. As it turned out, the coconuts were all they had to eat. From Christmas to January 15, 1942, both day and night, all the tanks did was cover retreats of different infantry units. The tanks were constantly bombed, shelled, and strafed.
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 bridges over the Pampanga River. 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. It was also at this time that tank platoons were reduced to ten tanks, with three tanks in each platoon. This was done so that D Company, 192nd, would have tanks while those crews still without tanks were used as replacements to give other crews rest.
At Gumain River, on January 5, D Company and C Company, 194th, were given the job to hold the south riverbank so that the other units could withdraw. The tank companies formed a defensive line along the bank of the river. When the Japanese attacked the position at 2:30 A.M., they were easy to see since they were wearing white t-shirts. The tankers were able to hold up the Japanese, and at 5:00 A.M., the Japanese withdrew having suffered heavy casualties. This attack was an attempt to destroy the tank battalions. The night of January 6 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. The 192nd was the last American unit to enter Bataan before the engineers blew up the bridge at 6:00 A.M.
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 the 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 the 17th Ordnance Company. It was also at this time that tank platoons were reduced to ren tanks, with three tanks in each platoon. This was done so that D Company, 192nd, would have tanks.
The 194th was sent to reopen Moron Road so that General Segunda’s forces, which were trapped behind enemy lines, could withdraw. Attempting to do this resulted in two tanks being knocked out by landmines planted by ordnance, but the tanks were later recovered, and a Japanese anti-tank gun was also destroyed. The mission was abandoned the next day. Gen. Segunda’s forces escaped but lost their heavy equipment. The next action the tanks saw was on the 20th when they were sent to relieve the 31st Infantry’s command post. On the 24th, the tanks were ordered to the Hacienda Road to support infantry but again could not accomplish their mission because of landmines planted by ordnance.
The 194th was holding a position a kilometer north of the Pilar-Bagac Road on January 26 with four self-propelled mounts. At 9:45 A.M., a Filipino came down the road and warned the battalion that a large Japanese force was coming down the road. When they appeared the tanks opened fire on them. At 10:30, the Japanese withdrew having lost 500 of 1200 men. This action prevented the new line of defense from being breached.
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.”
On January 28, the tank battalions were given the job of guarding the beaches so that the Japanese couldn’t land troops. The 194th guarded the coastline against Japanese landings from Limay to Cabcaban. During the day, the tanks hid under the jungle canopy. At night they were pulled out onto the beaches. The battalion’s half-tracks had the job of patrolling the roads. At all times, the tanks were in contact with on-shore and off-shore patrols.
During February, malnutrition caused diseases to spread among the defenders, and the soldiers by this time had eaten all the available meat including mules and horses. The men killed monkeys but after killing them they could not eat them because they looked too human. They also found that jobs that had been easy to do that did not require a great deal of effort now required effort to do them. The Japanese dropped surrender leaflets of naked women to the defenders in an attempt to get them to surrender. They probably would have had better luck if the picture was of a hamburger and milkshake. American papers that the Japanese had been fought to a standstill and both sides were preparing for a final battle. Another reality was that the Japanese were suffering from the same diseases as the defenders.
In March, the amount of gasoline was reduced to 15 gallons a day for all vehicles except the tanks and was soon dropped to ten gallons a day. At the same time, food rations were cut in half again. Also at this time, Gen. Weaver suggested to Gen. Wainwright that a platoon of tanks be sent to Corregidor. Wainwright rejected the suggestion.
For most of March, the situation on Bataan was relatively quiet and the Japanese had been fought to a standstill. The newspapers in the United States reported both sides were strengthening their lines in expectation of an all-out attack. The reports stated that the Japanese did not have air support because their planes had been shifted south in the assault on Java. There was only one major alert in March when 73 Japanese planes came over on their way to Java.
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.
Having brought in combat harden troops from Singapore, the Japanese launched – on April 3, 1942 – an all-out attack supported by artillery and aircraft. 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. 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. 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 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, and A Company, 194th, were preparing for a suicide attack against 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, 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, 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.” 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.
As Gen. King left to negotiate the surrender, he went through the area held by B Company, 192nd, and spoke to the men. According to a member of HQ Company, 194th, Gen. King spoke to the men and said, “I’m the man who surrendered you, men. It’s not your fault.” He also spoke to the members of B Company, 192nd, and told them something similar. 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.
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 Japanese command would arrive to do the negotiations. The Japanese officer also told him that his troops would not attack for thirty minutes while King decided what he would do. No Japanese officer had arrived from their headquarters and the Japanese attack had resumed. King sent Col. Collier and Maj. Hunt back to his command with instructions that any unit in the line of the Japanese advance should fly white flags.
After this was done a Japanese colonel and interpreter arrived and King was told the officer was Homma’s Chief of Staff who had come to discuss King’s surrender. King attempted to get assurances from the Japanese that his men would be treated as prisoners of war, but the Japanese officer – through his interpreter – accused him of declining to surrender unconditionally. At one point King stated he had enough trucks and gasoline to carry his troops out of Bataan. He was told that the Japanese would handle the movement of the prisoners. The two men talked back and forth until the colonel said through the interpreter, “The Imperial Japanese Army are not barbarians.” King found no choice but to accept him at his word.
Unknown to Gen. King, an order attributed to Gen. Masaharu Homma – but in all likelihood from one of his subordinates – had been given. It stated, “Every troop which fought against our army on Bataan should be wiped out thoroughly, whether he surrendered or not, and any American captive who is unable to continue marching all the way to the concentration camp should be put to death in the area of 200 meters off the road.”
On April 10, the Japanese arrived and ordered the Prisoners of War onto the road. They quickly stripped the POWs of their watches, pens, and sunglasses. The POWs were taken to a trail and found that walking on the gravel trail was difficult. They immediately witnessed “Japanese Discipline” toward their own troops. The Japanese apparently were marching for hours, and when a man fell, he was kicked in his stomach and hit in the head with a rifle butt. If he still did not get up, the Japanese determined that the man was exhausted and left him alone.
The trial the POWs were on ended when they reached the main road. The first thing the Japanese did was to separate the officers from the enlisted men and counted them. The POWs were left in the sun for the rest of the day wondering what was going to happen. That night they were ordered north which was difficult, on the rocky road, in the dark, since they could not see where they were walking. The POWs made their way north against the flow of Japanese horse artillery and trucks which were moving south. At times, they would slip on something wet and slippery which were the remains of a man killed by Japanese artillery the day before. When dawn came, the walking became easier but as the sun rose it became hotter and the POWs began to feel the effects of thirst. It was at this time that the POWs saw a group of Filipinos being marched by the Japanese. Looking at them, they realized that they had been hungry, but the Filipinos had been starving.
When the men crossed the Lamao River, they smelled the sweet smell of death. The Japanese had heavily bombed the area causing many casualties and many of the dead lay partially in the river. The air corps POWs in front of them ran to the river and drank. Many would later die from dysentery at Camp O’Donnell. At Limay on April 11, the officers with the rank of major or above were put into a schoolyard. The officers were told that they would be driven the rest of the march. At 4:00 AM, the officers were put into trucks for an unknown destination. It was there that they joined the main column of POWs being marched out of Bataan and they began to witness the abuse of POWs. The lower-ranking officers and enlisted men walked to Balanga and Orani.
During the march, Claude witnessed the Japanese treatment of those too ill to continue marching. Of this, he said, “If you fell, they either shot or stabbed you.” On the march, the Japanese would not allow the POWs to get water from the artesian wells that flowed across the roads. He recalled, “Guys tongues would swell so much, you know, from the heat and lack of water, that when they’d see the ocean, they’d run to it. The saltwater hit their mouths and their tongues would just burst open.”
It was at this time that Claude, and another member of D Company, decided they would rather die attempting to escape. It was somewhere between Cabcaben and Orion that the men escaped. The two men made their way to the rear of the column they were marching in. “We just slowed up a little, and when we got to the end, we got rid of a guard. One of us grabbed his gun and the other grabbed his mouth. Then we struck him and took off to the mountains.”
In the mountains, they had friends. According to Claude, “Little pygmies. We’d been paying them a dollar a head for Japs so we knew they’d help us.” The Negritos showed them the way to the coast and the men swam to Corregidor. “I got a piece of board on the shore to help me float, but when I got out of the water, my whole body looked like dishpan hands.” The reason was it took him 16 hours to make the swim. During that time he prayed the Japanese artillery shells would miss them, and the sharks would leave them alone.”
After arriving on Corregidor, Claude volunteered to go to Ft. Drum to fight with the 59 Coast Artillery, which was known as the concrete battleship. He and other members of the tank group were taken by barge to the island and after arriving they showered and were given new clothes.
The fort was built over a coral reef and seemed to be invincible. When he arrived at Ft. Drum, he noticed that the soldiers stationed there did not even have sunburns. Being dirty, the first thing that he and the other volunteers did was take showers, shave, and get new clothes. During his time at Ft. Drum, he ate and slept well. The Japanese bombed the fort but those bombs that did hit it did little damage. Other bombs exploded in the water killing fish, so when the planes were gone, the soldiers went into the water and collected the fish for dinner.
On May 6, 1942, the soldiers at Ft. Drum learned of Corregidor’s surrender and were ordered to surrender. He and the other men didn’t expect the Japanese to take prisoners. They destroyed their equipment and waited until May 10 before the Japanese arrived in small boats to take control of the island. When the Japanese arrived on the island, they set up machine guns. The men believed that they were going to be shot. After they were lined up, the Japanese took what they wanted from them. They also were beaten.
By boat, the men were taken to a warehouse near Manila where they were housed. At 4:00 P.M. they formed ranks and went out the men were put to work moving rocks at the Wawa Dam on the Marikina River. The POWs worked in the area of the dam repairing roads, moving large rocks, and repairing a dock. The POWs worked all night, all the next day, and all night again. While they worked, the guards drank water but made no effort to give any to the POWs. When a Japanese officer arrived, he made sure they were treated better. They did this work until the work detail ended on May 18, and they were sent to Bilibid Prison.
His parents a letter from the War Department in May 1942.
“Dear Mrs. P. Likens:
“According to War Department records, you have been designated as the emergency addressee if Sergeant Claude Likens, 35,101,361, 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”
He remained at Bilibid until they were sent to Cabanatuan #3. The first 2,000-man detachment left on May 26 and the last left on May 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 POWs were warned that anyone who fell would be killed. Men who fell somehow made it back on their feet and continued to march after being threatened by the guards. Finally, the first man fell who could not get up even after being ordered to do so by a guard. When he didn’t get up, the guard held up a red flag and the man was put on a truck. After seeing this, a good number of the POWs fell and did not get up so they could ride to the camp.
Camp 1 was where most of the men who were captured on Bataan were held. Camp 2 did not have an adequate water supply and was closed, but it later reopened and housed Naval POWs. Camp 3 was where most of those men who were captured when Corregidor surrendered were taken and it was later consolidated into Camp 1.
After all the POWs had arrived at Camp 3, there were approximately 6,000 POWs in 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. 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, meals usually consisted of squash, mongo beans, rice, and the tops of a native sweet potato were used to make soup. Once a week the POWs received carabao meat. Other sources state a whistle weed soup with rice in it was the main meal.
It is not known how long Claude remained in the camp since POW details were sent out almost from the time they arrived. One reason this happened was that the POWs were in much better shape than the men captured on Corregidor. Four POWs working on a truck detail were wounded when it was attacked by Filipino guerrillas. One of the men died.
To prevent escapes, the Japanese instituted the “blood brother” rule on June 21. The POWs in the camp were placed in ten men groups and lived in the same barracks, slept in the same area, ate together, and worked together. If one man escaped, the other nine were executed since – according to Japanese logic – they should have been able to stop the man from escaping. The first church services were held in the camp on June 28. The next June 29, the officers organized activities for the POWs to improve morale. Teams were organized to play softball, basketball, volleyball, and ping-pong. In addition, sing-a-long groups were organized to entertain the POWs. On July 17, an organized effort started to catch flies in the camp since they spread dysentery. For one milk can filled with flies, a POW received two biscuits and some cigarettes.
Claude volunteered to be sent to Japan possibly believing things would be better there. On September 18, the POWs were taken by truck to Bilibid Prison, where they remained for a day. On September 20, the POWs were boarded onto the Lima Maru which sailed later that day. The ship arrived at Takao, Formosa, on September 22, and the POWs disembarked. During the voyage, a good number of the POWs died from beriberi, dysentery, and enteritis. They also grew weaker from the lack of food, water, and adequate rest. From there, they were taken to Taichu Camp where the POWs cleared rocks from a dry river bed. The POWs worked there for 47 days before they were returned to Takao.
This time the men boarded the Dai Nichi Maru which sailed on November 13 and arrived at Yokohama, Japan on November 28. The POWs disembarked and were cleaned up. From there, they rode a train to various POW camps.
In Claude’s case, he was taken to Yokohama #1-D, where the POWs repaired aircraft carriers, destroyers, and other ships in violation of the Geneva Convention. They did this work under the threat of death for not working. Likens said, “I worked at Mitsubishi shipbuilding plant.”
There is not a great deal of information available on the camp, but what is known is that the camp was a warehouse that had two dormitories with two tiers of platforms for the POWs to sleep on with tatami mats. The warehouse was not in good shape and it was freezing during the winter. The two stoves that were meant to provide heat were only provided heat for two hours each day.
The POWs worked at the Mitsubishi Yokama Docks and walked to the docks from the camp. They worked in rail yards, on the docks, and in construction to expand the Tokyo docks. Many of the POWs worked in ship construction as the Japanese attempted to replace ships they had lost during the war. The sick were examined each day, and those men who did not wobble as they stood were sent to work. Those who wobble were hit.
Before the end of 1942, his parents learned he was a Prisoner of War. His name was also listed as a POW on January 28, 1943, by the War Department.
REPORT JUST RECEIVED THROUGH THE INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS STATES THAT YOUR SON SERGEANT CLAUDE LIKENS IS A PRISONER OF WAR OF THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS LETTER OF INFORMATION FOLLOWS FROM THE PROVOST
ULIO THE ADJUTANT GENERAL.
Within days of receiving the first message, his wife received the following letter:
“The Provost Marshal General directs me to inform you that you may communicate with your son, postage free, by following the inclosed instructions:
“It is suggested that you address him as follows:
“Sgt. Claude Likens, 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
Claude recalled that for Christmas 1942, the POWs received a Red Cross box that came from the British Red Cross. He wrote about it in the diary he kept as a POW. He noted that there were no mufflers, gloves, caps, or woolen socks in it which would have been of use because of the climate, but he did note that it was full of food the British liked including different puddings and also meats. There was also chocolate, candies, sugar, some cheese, canned milk, and jam. There was also a can of beef stew with peas in it. He also noted they got dried fruit and what he called, “tasty” malted milk.
It should be mentioned that at some point Claude was held at Hakote Camp which supposedly was a hospital. It appears that the medical staff could not determine what he was suffering from and used “N. A. D.” – No Ailment Determined – as the reason he was hospitalized. It is not known when and how long he was there.
During his time in the camp, Claude was punished for violating a rule and hung by his thumbs for four hours. His thumbs were pulled from their sockets and, since the camp didn’t have a doctor, they could not be treated. Regardless of his injury, he had to work as a riveter. “I was a riveter, and you had to hold the drill tight when you were working.” Talking if it hurt he stated, “You bet it did. If you couldn’t work, you only got half rations.” The daily meal for the POWs was a ball of rice and a bowl of fish-head soup.
Punishment was daily and the POWs were frequently beaten for minor violations. The camp interpreter hit the POWs in the face with wooden shoes. He also made the POWs salute trees or stand at attention for long periods of time. While doing this, the POWs often had to hold their arms out to their sides while holding buckets of water. On another occasion, while at work, Claude was punished because he violated another rule. “I was punished because I fell out of rank to pick up the orange some Japanese had thrown away. They put me in the box; that was the worst of all, I think. I couldn’t stand or lie down or anything. You had to mess in your pants…..I can’t think of anything worse.” During his time in the box, he was not given adequate food or water. To keep himself from going crazy, he would pull buttons off his shirt and drop them on the floor behind his back. “It was like hiding them from myself, but it gave my arms some movement.” During his time in the box, Claude came down with pneumonia which caused him to lose consciousness. “I kinda went into a coma with pneumonia, and a British officer kept after them to let me out. He told them I was dead and they thought I was. That’s why they opened the door.”
It is known that he received mail from his mother and youngest sister on December 14, 1944. When Christmas was near, the POWs heard once again that they would receive another Red Cross box. It turned out that every five POWs had to share two boxes which was a disappointment to them. He noted his group had powdered milk, spam, beef, sugar, cheese, deviled ham, chocolate, and even several packs of cigarettes. The POWs began to trade with each other for the food they wanted. Bully beef was traded for spam, coffee for cigarettes, and cheese for deviled ham. He noted that the POWs added bully beef to the soup and rice. Of course, being that they had not eaten some things in over two years, some men got sick, but most were fine and it helped them physically.
The camp closed on April 15, 1945, after a firebombing by American planes, so the POWs were sent to Omori Headquarters Camp on May 13, 1945. In the camp, the POWs worked as stevedores at the Yokohama Ship Yard. While in the camp, some POWs made propaganda broadcasts for the Japanese.
In violation of the Geneva Convention, the camp was located near military installations and plants and factories that manufactured materials for the Japanese war effort. The POWs worked jobs directly linked to the war effort which exposed them to bombings from American planes, and the Japanese did not provide adequate air-raid shelters for the POWs.
The POW barracks at the hospital were flimsy and made out of wood and were referred to as barns or huts. Each barracks had four big rooms and two small bunks at the end of each building. There were 19 straw mats and 16 lockers in each barracks. When a window broke, it was not replaced allowing wind to blow into the barracks even though there was glass available. The POWs washed their dishes in the same sinks used to wash soiled clothing. None of the barracks were heated. The only time any type of heating took place was right before the International Red Cross visited the hospital in March 1945. The sick slept often slept together on a mat for warmth. Lice were a problem in the barracks and there was also a rat problem.
The American medical staff had little to no medicine to treat the sick with since most of the Red Cross packages had been rifled through and about half of what was in the packages had been appropriated by the Japanese. Dr. Hisakichi Tokuda also would cancel the requests for certain drugs made by the POW doctors. Another Japanese doctor at the camp, 2nd Lt. Hiroshi Fujii, beat and kicked POWs who reported for sick call and took Red Cross medical supplies for his own use. Although he was not qualified as a surgeon, he performed a hemorrhoid operation on a screaming POW without an anesthetic, although it was available for use in the camp. It was said that he said, “My knife has now found American blood.” When another POW needed an appendectomy, he performed the operation before the anesthetic took effect.
POW clothing, food, and medical care were inadequate, and the Red Cross boxes containing, medicine, medical equipment, clothing, and shoes, meant for the POWs, were misappropriated by the Japanese and used by them. The POWs were denied mail and it was not uncommon for the Japanese to burn incoming and outgoing mail.
The diet of the POWs in the camp consisted of barley and millet. and miso soup. Once in a while, the POWs would receive potatoes, seaweed, octopus, and a giant radish known as daikon.
Like in many other camps, the Japanese needed little reason to beat the POWs. Many of the prisoners were beaten across the face with wooden shoes and received judo chops. This was done as they stood at attention for hours. One guard found it amusing to have the POWs salute trees. If a man was ill and in the camp hospital, his food rations were cut in half. The POWs were also put in punishment cells without adequate water or food.
The POWs were frequently punished by being made to stand at attention, for long periods of time, during morning assembly as a collective punishment because one POW had broken a rule. In addition, as they stood at attention, the guards would slap them and beat them. In the camp were captured crew members of B-29s who were referred to as “Special Prisoners.” They were special in the sense that they were given half rations and denied medical care, mail, and religious services. All the POWs in the camp were expected to salute all Japanese soldiers and civilians and failing to do so resulted in a beating. It was said that the camp commandant confiscated reading materials from the POWs and even burned the letters they received from home while the POWs stood in front of him.
The POWs in the camp worked on the docks loading and unloading ships and train cars. Stealing became a game to the POWs. It allowed the POWs to believe that they had gotten something over the Japanese. When they unloaded foodstuffs from the railroad cars, they stole and ate what they could. The Japanese had given the POWs teapots to make tea. Instead, the POWs used them, in their barracks, to cook the rice they stole.
The Japanese transferred POWs who had been captured after their bombers had been shot down into the camp around August 15. Claude remained at Omori until he was liberated when Japan surrendered in late August 1945. On August 29, American ships made their way toward the camp. American fighters flew above the dock and the POWs jumped up and down and cheered. After they were liberated, they burned their clothes, deloused, showered, and were issued new uniforms and shoes. They boarded the USAT Benevolence where they were given medical examinations and it was determined who immediately would be returned to the United States and who would return to the Philippines. The hospital ship was moored next to the U.S.S. Missouri, so from the ship, he watched the armistice signing.
He was returned and taken to Saipan on the U.S.S. Marigold and then flown to Hawaii and later to Hamilton Field north of San Francisco. From there, he was taken to Letterman General Hospital. He later was transferred to a hospital closer to home. “I spent a year in the hospital after I came back. I used to climb the walls and pull down the curtains. For years I was a stranger to my family.”
Claude was discharged from the Army on May 3, 1946, and married and divorced. He worked hard to put his experiences as a POW behind him. Claude worked as an electrical engineer for the Atomic Energy Commission in Georgia and later owned a restaurant in West Point, Kentucky, and a Marina in Gulf Shores, Alabama.
About his time as a POW, he said that he did not hold any bad feelings against the Japanese. “It wouldn’t do any good to feel bad toward anybody. I had a lot of trouble with that at first. But the Japanese people tried to be nice to us. The military wouldn’t let ’em.” He also seldom spoke of his time as a POW because, as he said, “I always felt that nobody believed what I said. So much of it sounds so fantastic, I just felt that they thought I was making it up.”
Claude Likens lived in West Point, Kentucky, and passed away on December 12, 1996. His funeral was held at Bethany United Methodist Church, and he was buried in Bethany Memorial Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky.
