The Japs issued documents
certifying that each death was caused by malaria, beriberi, pellagra,
diphtheria, in fact, anything but the real cause starvation and
malnutrition.
After the war, when the Graves Registration searched the Cabanatuan
cemeteries, they found and disinterred 2,637 bodies.
Sanitation: From the beginning of camp, sanitation was a serious
problem. Flies, including the blue and green bottle types, were
present everywhere. Maggots thrived in the latrines, weakened the
walls, resulting in cave-ins, and sometimes engulfing the visitor.
Daily rains further weakened the walls.
After several months some engineer officers, under the leadership of
Major Fred Saint of Elmhurst, Illinois, organized a sanitary detail,
and succeeded in building deep septic tank type latrines that would
not cave in. They applied lime daily to control flies and maggots.
Gradually they dug ditches along all walks and around all buildings in
order to promote draining and to prevent quagmires.
Labor Details: The camp had not been in operation many days before the
Japanese requested that the American headquarters furnish labor
details of various sizes and types to work both inside and outside the
camp.
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