This was followed
by billows of black smoke lasting several hours.
It was a great show! It was tough trying to repress our elation. There
was no food served that day - a typical Japanese reaction.
We all believed that freedom must be close that the Americans would be
making landings soon. That night morale was high; the camp literally
buzzed with rumors. A few Navy planes appeared almost daily.
October, 1944: MacArthur invaded Leyte producing 100,000 Japanese
casualties. The attitude of the Nip guards changed very markedly; they
lost the arrogance they had when they were winning the battles; some
became sadistic; some became friendly.
A big Jap "shakedown." Every prisoner had to display all his
possessions. Japs picked up all mosquito netting and tropical helmets,
saying, "You vill not need these in Japan! You vill be sent to Japan!"
The camp began to buzz with rumors again. U.S. Medical officers were
ordered to examine all prisoners to determine the ones well enough to
make a trip to Japan and the ones too disabled to travel. The Japanese
did not want any amoebic dysentery cases in Japan. Suddenly, there was
a new commodity "warm stools.
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