Authors: Clifton La Bree
The next morning, minutes before the sun rose above the
mountains, the Japs struck with much screaming and hollering and shouting of
obscenities at the Rangers, who met the human wave with determined
concentration on their marksmanship. The Japs attacked out of the rising sun
which made them difficult to see clearly. Machine guns had been placed on each
end of the barn and stable buildings with a clear field of fire. They unleashed
a withering stream of death to the attackers. They made the difference. The
spirited assault was quickly shattered. Scattered small arms fire continued for
another ten minutes. The ground before the perimeter line was littered with the
dead bodies of Japanese soldiers.
Jonathan told his men to be on the alert for more attacks.
The Rangers were still not equipped to make a determined defensive stand. The
only ammunition they had was what each soldier had carried from the submarine.
As a matter of fact, they avoided a fire fight whenever possible except for an
attempt against the compound. At that point, they would need assistance.
Jonathon had his radio man send a call in the clear that they had been under
attack and needed supply and possible air support made available to him on
demand. Shortly a message was received:
“To the Commanding Officer of
Snapdragon
;
Your situation is understood. An air support squadron will be made available to
you during daylight hours. Call in the clear on this frequency if needed. We
plan to send you more supplies for the former prisoners. If you are in need of
immediate medical attention a doctor and a paramedic can be parachuted to you.
Congratulations on your speedy capture of the compound. A Ranger company is
scheduled to open up a safe corridor to your position immediately after the
initial assault units have come ashore. We are cognizant of your situation and
will make every effort to safely bring the former prisoners into our lines
where they can be properly cared for. Be sure to let them know that the United
States has never forgotten their plight. Signed, Lieutenant General Walter
Krueger, Sixth Army.”
The women had huddled together in the two buildings during
the intense fight between the Rangers and the Japanese. They were afraid that
the enemy would break through and massacre them all. Lisa and Madame June heard
the staccato of the machine guns and involuntarily sought refuge in the far
corner of the stable. The eruption of intense fire from the rooftop lasted a
short time. Silence and apprehension filled the buildings until the Rangers
announced that everything was under control. The Japanese had been stopped.
A few of the Rangers were ordered to leave their sentry post
and begin preparing the morning meal. They made a large pot of oatmeal. The
night before, they had taken a poll of what the women wanted for breakfast.
Oatmeal was an overwhelming winner. Reconstituted powdered milk and brown sugar
made a bowl of oatmeal the perfect form of nutrition for the starved women. It
was easy to digest and soothing to their shrunken stomachs.
Slowly the defeatist attitude that had existed in the camp
was being displaced. Food, soap, clean water to bathe in, and a change of
clothes had raised morale several notches. The thought of seeing loved ones in
the not too distant future was a powerful uplift. The concept of freedom would
have a profound meaning for the women the rest of their lives. It was an
emotion and a state of mind they had experienced firsthand.
Lisa lay on her familiar bamboo matt in the corner of the
stable. The food supplied by the Rangers had saved many of her companions who
were at death’s door. Hope was renewed, yet, some sat at their mats and stared
into the darkness of night and the light of day as if they were still
witnessing atrocities so unimaginable that their minds had snapped. Rationality
was gone and several of the women had ceased to be functional human beings,
unaware of the changes the Rangers had made. Their world remained encapsulated
in the black recesses of their mind. They were little children once again, lost
to the civilized world, perhaps forever.
Lisa felt physical satisfaction about the nutritious food
she was able to eat without vomiting. She had forgotten how comforting a bath
and clean clothes could be, and was appreciative of the blessings made possible
by their sudden freedom. Still, feelings of being violated and unclean remained
strong. The terrifying ordeal was passed, but lingering memories of the assault
still occupied her mind. Robbed of innocence, sleep had escaped her that first
night. It took a while for her to grasp the reality that she had been saved
from further violation. Her prayers and supplications had been answered.
Memories of Jeff filled her heart. Lisa and Jeff Summer, her
fiancée, grew up in the small community of Twin Mountains, a town on the
northern end of the majestic New Hampshire White Mountains. Jeff had been a
popular athlete on the high school baseball team. She had attended almost every
game he pitched during the four years at school. They had known each other
since they were five years old, when they attended Miss Lane’s first grade
class.
The country was in the midst of a crippling depression for
most of their school years. Money and jobs were scarce. The people in the small
towns of northern New England fared better than the crowded metropolitan
centers near the Atlantic coast. Yankee independence and ingenuity were
responsible for feeding and clothing the poorer families that populated the
smaller communities. Chickens, pigs, and milk cows were commonly raised to feed
the family, and for bartering with others for commodities they had available.
Money was scarcer than jobs, so the people lived and survived by being frugal.
Few ever felt that they were poor because everybody in town were in the same
situation. Those in desperate need was aided by neighbors and friends. Apples,
eggs, milk, and potatoes were exchanged amongst the community so that everyone
enjoyed a relatively healthy and nourishing diet, free of luxuries.
The tantalizing aroma of fresh baked yeast bread was one of
the scents Lisa associated with home. Once a week her mother made a large batch
of bread. It was an all day project. The ultimate scent, however, was when the
finished dough was baking. Lisa and her sister, Angeline, anxiously waited for
the bread to come out of the oven so that they could have a warm piece of bread
and butter. Nothing ever satisfied her taste buds as much as the warm bread
smothered with melting butter. She often added to the delight by dipping the
slice in a saucer of molasses. If there was enough dough, her mother would also
make a pan of cinnamon rolls. Even now, years later, she could smell and taste
the rolls. Remembering happier times during the long months of incarceration
had helped to sustain her mental balance.
The last time Lisa and Jeff saw
each other had been an especially poignant time. She had loved him from the
first time they walked to school together. He always waited for her at the end
of her driveway. They didn’t need to talk to communicate. Just being with each
other made them happy.
Jeff’s childhood dream had been to go to college. After
high school he wanted to be an engineer and had won a one year scholarship at
Boston University. Lisa enrolled in a small normal school located on Boylston
Street while he attended college. She had dreamed of being a teacher like their
beloved first grade teacher Miss Lane. She and Jeff saw each other often and
explored the wonders of Boston together.
They were small town country people intimidated by the
hustle and bustle of the city, yet, there was much about the city that they
enjoyed. They attended a Boston Pops concert one evening and continued seeing
them whenever they played in the city. The musical experience ignited the
passion she had always had for music, especially the piano, which she had been
playing since she was five years old. She frequently played at functions in
their town and had gained a reputation for her dexterity and versatility on the
keyboard. She graduated from the normal school after two years, and with her
teaching certification went to work in Twin Mountains as a fifth grade teacher.
Jobs were scarce and she was pleased to accept the job offered to her by the
school board. She enjoyed working with children, but her true love would always
be music.
Two years later, Jeff graduated from Boston University with
a degree in mechanical engineering.
The summer of 1941 was filled with anguish and concern with
stories of Japan and Germany overrunning their less powerful neighbors. The
world was becoming a dangerous place. Jeff graduated with his degree and a
commission as a second lieutenant in the army. He had taken the Reserve Officer
Training Corps program to help pay his way through school.
Lisa was disappointed that they had to be separated. The
world was volatile and the thought that Jeff might become involved in combat
was frightening. He tried to assure her that his training would help keep him
safe and that when all things were considered, he had an obligation to defend
the country they both loved. At the time when Jeff left for duty at Fort Bliss,
Texas, Lisa was offered a federal civil service position with the Census Bureau
in Washington. It paid more money than her teaching job and would give her a
chance to experience Washington, D.C. She became part of a team that was
currently preparing for a census in the Philippine Islands, where they worked
out of the U.S. Consulate Office.
Before Lisa left Washington, she and Jeff spent a day
together touring the city. She could recall every minute of that day with
clarity and a heavy heart. It was October 5, 1941, just as the leaves were
turning color in the White Mountains, a beautiful time of year. Jeff had called
to tell her that he could spend a day with her in Washington.
She watched him step down from the train to the platform of
the railroad station. He was standing tall and straight scanning the crowded
platform for her. He was a sturdy six-foot athlete with broad shoulders and a
ruddy complexion. He smiled often and had a confident air of invincibility. The
ready smile and positive disposition were a defense mechanism that shielded a
very intense private nature that he shared with few. Lisa had always liked his
strong sense of commitment and loved him dearly. He was fun to be with and
possessed many of the virtues that were a signature of his generation ─
honesty, integrity, independence, and the ability to take responsibility.
They toured most of the well-known sites in the city;
Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, and the Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier. The
latter was a sobering moment for both of them. The unsettled world around them
did not bode well for the future. Jeff tried to be upbeat and positive that
last day, but dark shadows threatened everyone’s lives. The future was
uncertain at best. They sat on a bench in the magnificent amphitheater of the
Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier watching the sentry pace back and forth twenty-one
times in tribute to the fallen Unknown.
“Lisa,” Jeff began in that resonant voice he reserved for
the serious moments in his life. “Things are not looking good in Asia. I wish
you were not going to the Philippines. War could break out anytime.”
“My director has assured us that the census team going to
the Philippines is on a temporary basis. Parts of the American fleet are
stationed at Pearl Harbor and will act as a deterrent for the area. I’ll be
fine, Jeff,” Lisa had told him.
He frowned while she spoke. “Nevertheless, I’ll worry until
you’re home again. You and I go back a long way, Lisa. I can’t remember a time
when I was not in love with you. I want you to know that wherever you go, a
part of me goes with you. The future is uncertain right now and whatever
happens, remember that I love you. Let’s get married the next time we have a chance
to be together. I can’t imagine a life without you beside me.”
“I feel the same,” she had replied, kissing him warmly. “I
promise to be careful. I’ll worry about you, too, Jeff. I’m so proud of you.
You’re handsome in your uniform. Life is too short not to be together.”
They had sealed the pact with an embrace. She could still
feel his strong arms wrapped around her. The last time she saw him was at the
train station. Tears had filled her eyes. The unknown was frightening and she
was reluctant to say good-bye. Jeff had also been silent, trying to be brave
and positive. Their world was being torn apart. The premonition each had at
their parting would soon come true. Lisa was trapped on the Philippines when
the Japanese invaded the islands on December 8, 1941.
She remembered Jeff’s last words to her as he turned to her
from the train. “My love for you will grow stronger every day we’re apart, take
care, Lisa. I need you more than you know.”
“I love you too, Jeff…” she had answered, amid choking sobs.
The only consolation Lisa had was that during the first year
of her imprisonment, the Red Cross knew that she was alive and well at the
prison camp. Three years had passed without a word from Jeff or her family. She
prayed that the Red Cross had notified her family of her situation, and they
would let Jeff know. A few prisoners were exchanged that first year but she was
not senior enough to be included. Jeff and her family were in her daily
prayers. Now she felt that her dreams and aspirations may be possible.
Lisa thought of Madame June whom she had met only briefly at
the Manila Library. She had assisted the consulate in arranging living
accommodations for the census workers. She had a large circle of Filipino
friends and acquaintances. The war made the census irrelevant. The Japanese
occupied the islands and ruled them with a heavy fist. Their cruel and arrogant
behavior strengthened the resolve of the native peoples to work for the day
when the Americans would return.
The women prisoners were surprised on January 8, 1945, by
the sudden appearance of two transport planes flying at tree-top level from the
west. They slowed as much as possible upon approaching the compound and opened
their cargo doors. Small parachutes began to appear, guiding the suspended
packages of food, ammunition, and medical supplies. The ground was littered
with bundles and collapsed parachutes. On their return to the west, the planes
buzzed the compound low enough for the inmates to see the pilots wave from
their cockpit windows.
Jonathon ordered his radio man to send a “well done” to the
pilots and ran out to the field to survey the supply drop. Several walled tents
had been delivered as requested. He was not sure how long he would have to stay
with the women inmates and wanted to get them out of the fetid insect-infested
confines of the barn and stable. The tents were a step in making that possible.
The women were carriers of every known insect endemic to the tropics, and it
was imperative that they begin a rudimentary delousing program. The insecticide
and fungicide dusts were also included in the drop, but were pushed from the
plane at a distance from the food and medical supplies so that they would not
contaminate them.
Before breakfast was prepared, Jonathon asked permission to
enter the barn and stable so that he could inform them about what was going to
take place. He maintained an alert and secure perimeter with two squads of
Rangers and used the third to set up tents and folding cots for the women. He
was determined to get them into the tents that day. The squad was also given
the task of spraying the women before they could eat or draw clean clothing.
“Please, may I have your attention?” asked Jonathon,
standing on top of a shipping crate. “I have some good news to share with you
this morning. As you know, planes dropped more supplies today. My men are
setting up a delousing station beside the bathing pool. I’d like a few of you
to volunteer for the dusting operations. It will be uncomfortable for a while
but we want to make sure that your new tent quarters will remain uncontaminated
while we’re here.”
“Lieutenant Wright,” announced a voice he had heard before.
“I am Madame June. I’ll organize the girls to handle the job.”
“Thank you, Madame June,” he replied, recognizing that the
elder lady controlled the camp like a tough drill sergeant. “I suggest that all
of you bathe first, and dry yourself completely before you allow the volunteers
to dust you. Cover your eyes with a small towel. The men will show the
volunteers how to do it. Also, there’s enough clothing so that you may burn
what you now have on. Select a complete set of fresh clothing after being
dusted. Breakfast will be ready immediately afterwards. Any questions?”
“We understand, Lieutenant. Thanks for your consideration
and understanding.”
“Incidentally Madame June, you may assign women to the
tents. We have enough cots and blankets for each of you. I hope you enjoy the
new quarters.”
“Rest assured we will, Lieutenant.”
By late morning the operation had been accomplished. Jonathon
watched the reaction of the women. They were all dressed in clean army tans and
had been fed another meal of oatmeal, rice, and canned peaches. Some of them
were hesitant about the tents. The barn and stable may have been contaminated,
but it had been a place of relative security for the past three years. Their
reluctance to abandon it was natural, so Madame June spoke to them much the
same as a mother would speak to her flock of children.