My Hitch in Hell by Lester I. Tenney

Author:Lester I. Tenney
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Potomac Books, Inc.
Published: 1995-09-20T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 8

CABANATUAN

Before World War II, Camp Cabanatuan was a Philippine Army training facility located about four miles east of the city of Cabanatuan and about sixty miles north of Manila. This newer and larger camp was roughly fifty marching miles east of Camp O’Donnell, the first camp we entered after the Bataan Death March.

Around June 1, 1942, the prisoners from O’Donnell were sent to Cabanatuan. This transfer was completed within four days, with the men who could walk marching the distance. Those too sick to walk were sent by truck.

The few books written about prison camps in the Philippines all discuss Cabanatuan. After all, it was the biggest and by far the most important POW camp the Japanese had. Its size was hard to judge, but it was estimated at one hundred acres, with the prison farm adding another three hundred acres. The Japanese quarters were in the center of the camp, on the southerly edge; the hospital area was on the west side; and the barracks for the POWs covered the entire east side of the camp. Guard towers were everywhere, and the camp was laced with old and rusty barbed wire. In fact, when I first entered the camp I thought the barbed wire was in the process of being taken down. On the southeast side of the camp was the infamous farm.

The medics, knowing the potential health problems caused by those with dysentery, set up an isolated ward for the infected on the northwest side of the camp. Close to the dysentery ward, the medics also set up a Zero ward for those considered unable to survive.

When our truck stopped at the gate to this new camp, we were turned over to a group of Japanese guards who laughed and joked about our arrival. They looked like a welcoming party, they were so glad to see us. Within minutes we were forced to stand at attention as one of the guards began his tirade about what was expected of us. As he did not speak English and we had no interpreter, we merely assumed what was meant.

We were then pushed and shoved out onto the parade ground, where we underwent first a search of our belongings and then a hand search of the clothes we had on and our bodies’ orifices. Some of us were forced to strip and then were fully examined. Those who did not have to undergo the body search had to drop everything from their pockets onto the ground in front of them. Then the guards put their hands into every pocket to make sure we followed orders and were not concealing anything. By this time, we knew the consequences of not following orders, so none of our group was punished for disobeying.

Each of us was assigned to a barracks, and as we walked to our new homes, we were shocked to see the same conditions as had existed at O’Donnell. The men we saw walking around camp were living zombies, with their eyes sunken, heads bowed down, and their backs curved in defeat.

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