As Good As Dead by Stephen L. Moore

Author:Stephen L. Moore
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2016-10-31T10:09:44+00:00

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DEAL HAD SURVIVED his struggle with the guard, but with a bullet in his shoulder, he had no intention of swimming out into the bay. He hoped to sneak over the bluff and disappear into the nearby jungle, but he didn’t make it far. In the wake of the scuffle, the other guards opened fire as he fled, and he was quickly cornered near the top of the cliff.

He found himself with another gunshot wound, but the guards decided against killing him outright, resorting instead to the same blood sport used against other captured Americans. He pleaded and cried out in pain as they stabbed him with bayonets, deep puncture wounds lacerating his legs, hips, and torso in more than twenty places. He tried to fend off his assailants’ blows and suffered a terrible wound to his right arm in the process.

In seconds, Deal was in severe shape, disoriented from the swiftness of the attacks and loss of blood. From below, several sudden bursts of rifle fire distracted the guards. Deciding the American was nearly dead, one soldier gave a final bayonet thrust into Deal’s body and shoved him off the cliff. He tumbled into the brush far below as the Japanese rushed downhill.24

Balchus had scrambled down the steep hill, right out to the water’s edge, before he dared to look back. Up on the bluff, the other two guards were easy to spot with their torches glaring in the darkness. Balchus aimed his captured rifle and fired. To his disgust, he found there were only three bullets in the rifle, and worse, the flames that spewed from the barrel had clearly given away his position.

He had no choice now—he had to swim. He smashed the rifle against the coral rock and splashed out into the bay. As he moved from shore, he spotted the wreckage of a Japanese seaplane destroyed during the October 19 bombing attack. He reached the partially submerged plane about a hundred yards offshore and grabbed onto its side. Japanese guards were now moving about on the beach, shouting to Lieutenant Ogawa’s guards on the barge that was sweeping along the beach from offshore. The gunboat approached the wreckage, making a wide circle around it. Balchus eased around the broken fuselage, keeping himself out of view.

Eventually, the gunboat moved on. Gunfire erupted from the beach, but he knew the bullets were not aimed at him. The guards must have located Mo Deal, Pop Daniels, or Bill Williams. He could only hope for the best for them. The commotion made for a good distraction, so he pushed away from the seaplane wreckage, setting his sights on the far shore of Puerto Princesa Bay. After nearly three years as a prisoner of war, Willie Balchus was finally beginning his swim to freedom.

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