Belly of the Beast by Judith L. Pearson

Author:Judith L. Pearson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HISTORY/Military/World War II
Publisher: Diversion Books
Published: 2014-04-24T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Caged Rats

Myers had catnapped during the night, fearing he’d be killed by a bloodthirsty POW if he fell completely asleep. Once awake, he wasn’t sure whether the Oryoku Maru had been reality or nightmare. Within seconds, he realized it was both. The men around him still struggled to breathe and the mad ones were still raving. All of them suffered from what psychologists often call “crowd poisoning.” The phobia is similar to what some Christmas shoppers suffer in a crowded store: stale air, heat, and too many other bodies. Here, the affliction could be deadly.

It was a study in human psychology to see who had lost control and who was maintaining a sense of normalcy. Men whom Myers had come to know over the past years were no longer recognizable. The calm major from a wealthy Connecticut family had slit his wrists the day before rather than wait for what new terrors the Japanese might impose. The cheerful, freckle-faced private from Kansas threatened anyone who came near him with his mess kit knife, as if he’d been a hardened killer all of his life.

Equally peculiar was the size of the average survivor, in camp and now on the ship. The big, brawny men, like the ones Myers had admired on opposing teams in high school, didn’t seem to fare as well as those who were smaller. The men with more compact builds, like his own, seemed to have an advantage over the Charles Atlas, muscleman types.

Myers heard the waspish whining of aircraft overhead. The planes didn’t attack, apparently on reconnaissance for the fighters. Shortly after the sounds faded, Wada screeched at the doctor who was in charge of Myers’ hold.

“No shoes, only shirts and pants to wear. Must leave packs but can take food kit and canteen,” he said in broken English. “Japanese soldiers very good with guns. Will kill any man who tries escape. All men be very careful. You go twenty-five at one time. Must swim to land.”

The doctor protested, saying that some of the men were wounded and wouldn’t be able to swim. Wada was visibly angered by this complication and went off to consult with Lieutenant Toshino. He came back and agreed to allow the wounded to go ashore in lifeboats. Men were chosen to act as lifeboat oarsmen, including Tex.

Around 0830, as the first lifeboat was about to shove off, the day’s initial wave of bombers, six in all, arrived. There would be no resistance from the Japanese since all of the gun crews had been killed the day before. Toshino signaled frantically for the lifeboat to leave. The prisoners believed he was hoping it would draw the Americans’ fire. Toshino dove for cover along with the other POWs left on deck. The planes’ first target was, indeed, the lifeboat. They flew low, strafing the water as they screamed by, and blew the little boat apart like a toy made of balsa wood.

More of the wounded prisoners were brought out of the holds as the next group of bombers arrived.

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