Rampage by James M. Scott

Author:James M. Scott
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Epub3
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

AMERICAN TROOPS on the ground saw a far different battle than the artillerymen perched atop the National City Bank of New York. The retreating Japanese had left a trail of massacres for the Americans to follow, like macabre breadcrumbs. Often lured by the rancid smell of the dead—or tipped off by survivors, family, and neighbors—troops cautiously entered the ruins of homes, schools, and churches only to discover hundreds of men, women, and children, slain by gunfire, bayonets, and swords.

In one such case, soldiers on San Antonio Street stopped at the home of Spanish businessman Bartolome Pons and his wife Rosario. The Japanese had brutally murdered most of the family and household staff. American forces tallied the dead—five women, two men, and an infant, the majority of whom had been shot. “The baby,” noted Maj. Donald Forward, “had been bayoneted.” Some of the deceased were dressed in pajamas. Around the neck of one woman dangled rosary beads. Another was pregnant. Several showed signs of abuse, including a victim whose head the Japanese had rammed into the coils of a rocking chair. “One of the persons was scalped,” Technician Fourth Grade Stevens Loska testified. “There were hairs lying on the floor.”

The soldiers explored the home, rescuing a dog that had refused to leave the bloated body of its master. The Japanese had eaten the food in the refrigerator and had stripped the residence of valuables before smashing the furniture and picture frames and even slashing cushions. Amid the scattered personal papers, troops found the Spanish and American passports of Bartolome Pons and his wife, Rosario. “There is no visible motive,” one report noted, “other than the desire to kill.”

The discovery of the dead in the Ponses’ home proved all too common for advancing American troops, who functioned not just as soldiers but as crime scene investigators. Outraged over the slaughter, MacArthur ordered all massacres investigated. “Desire full details,” the general cabled, “of all authenticated cases of atrocities committed by the enemy in the Manila area as soon as possible.”

The Japanese frequently attempted to cover up such massacres, largely by using fire as a means to destroy the bodies and the evidence. As the pace of the battle accelerated, enemy troops more often simply left the dead behind.

Along with the bodies, American soldiers occasionally found survivors. Pvt. First Class Serifine Ruggio with the 129th Infantry was advancing through Paco when he discovered a group of wounded civilians. Staff Sgt. Harlow Clark sliced the bindings of the survivors, while Ruggio helped them back to an American aid station. “All four of the men,” he noted in his affidavit, “were wounded and 2 of them had big, deep gashes in the back of their necks which looked as though they had been cut with sabers.”

“Japanese,” one said, imitating bayonet thrusts. “Stick, stick!”

Capt. William Kropf, a surgeon with the 129th Infantry, gave the survivors blood plasma and readied them for medical evacuation. He likewise treated a wounded mother and her six-year-old daughter, who also had survived the slaughter.

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